dream19

Engine or gearbox issues

12 posts in this topic

Posted (edited) · Report post

Hello all!

My Smart sat idle in my garage for about a year and a half, until i could find a proper electrician to fix my broken SAM unit. After, finally, i 've brought it back home i noticed that the gearbox often fails to automatically up-shift and have to "help" it manually. When it fails to shift, i notice that the engine is revving but seems it needs a few more RPMs to shift. Also when trying to rev it out of gear, it only reaches ~3200 RPM, and the accelerator pedal is "dead" in the upper half. It is true that i don't quite remember how much RPMs i was getting about a year ago before the electrical problems. So, my questions are as follows:

1. How much RPMs do your CDIs get when revved while stationary (and in neutral, of course) ?

2. Is it more likely to be a gearbox issue or engine one? 

I must mention that the engine seems to run as smooth as ever with no black smoke or rough starts. Also the gearbox works perfectly in manual mode.

 

LE: Sorry if/for posting in the wrong subcategory. Only now i've observed it's an area for mdifications

Edited by dream19

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Engine is in limp mode to protect itself.  Check for fault codes.

 

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It sounds to me as though you may have a stuck wastegate actuator. The car could be going into "limp" mode because of over-boost due to the stuck actuator, making the car drive normally at lower RPM and seem dead at higher RPM and causing the shifting issues in automatic mode.

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Posted (edited) · Report post

I understand.

So i need an OBD reader to find out more. But, if there are some error codes registered, shouldn't the engine warning light be lit in the dashboard?

Edited by dream19

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Thank you or your answers!

I'll do an error code scanning and hopefully have a starting point on what to do next.

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Posted (edited) · Report post

So, I bought a cheap-ish OBD2 scanner and did a test. It seems there are no stored error codes, buuuut one of the gauges shows and peaks at 3 psi turbo boost at 3280 RPM (and the same gauge shows 1.87 in/HG VACUUM at idle). The throttle peaks at 3280 RPM.

Any opinions regarding this new data?

Edited by dream19
Added 1.87 value explanation

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I still think you should try to confirm that the wastegate has not become stuck from sitting.

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Thank you for your answers!

Is there a simple way of checking/fixing that valve without taking it to a garage?

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Yes, you will need to remove the rear bumper cover, and the rear crash bar, so that you can gain access to service the wastegate actuator rod/flap.

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the one thing a smart knows is to corrode while it sits alternators are a real problem to seize while not being used making it look like the engine is seized 

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