Potential Gearbox Issue?

[DaMadBoy 6]

Hello everyone. 

 

After finally getting my smart car to a place where I thought I did not need to replace anything for a while, it seems my car has other ideas.

 

So my issue started with clicking coming from my SAM unit and my gear selector going to 0. I had to roll my car to the curb and restart it. This happened a second time and then the third time it happened the gear selector went blank so I rolled it to the curb again and after I came to a stop the gear selector showed the gear and I was able to drive off without restarting.

 

This issue then stopped happening but my 2nd and 3rd gears then started doing, what I can only describe as the clutch engaging twice within half a second. It only seems to do this when accelerating quickly or going uphill. 

 

The even weirder thing is, this morning the issue seems to have gone away, whether it be temporary, I don't know.

 

So what could be the issue? The gearbox? The actuator?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Willys 747]

I'll guess actuator not set up correctly firstly, then possibly a ground short or electric issue going to the gear select motor as it can't correctly count the revolutions to know where each gear is. Next I would say take gear select motor off and carefully open it up and see what it looks like corrosion wise inside. I have seen a few badly corroded on other people's search to find out why. Also check continuity of all wires where they go into and through the gear select plug and then also past the connector  connection to find out if one wire has possibly been cut or broken inside the connection plugs. It has happened. A simple volt meter should have a continuity setting. Reseal each pin hole you make in any wire with women's nail polish after cleaning the wire off if greasy/oily.

 

[DaMadBoy 6]

I will give this a go. Thank you. I'm not sure if I have all the tools to do it all myself but I'll give it a go.

 

The actuator should be fine. Until yesterday, I've never had an issue with the gears in regards to changing gear. I've been driving the car for almost 2 years now.

Edited April 2, 2021 by DaMadBoy

[Willys 747]

The actuator will age and wear or rust and seize....so if you haven't cleaned and readjusted it it's the first thing to go after. then go after the grounds and power  or wiring to the gear motor. Remember these cars are notorious for grounding issues.....never over look this simple issue. Always open up each grounding pin to look for corrosion between each eyelet as that is why it looses it's connection, corrosion between too many eyelets. The broken wires in connection plugs are a rarer thing, I have only found 2 while working on these cars but it happen in all cars.
I'm also not sure which computer controls the gear select motor but i think i remember stickman007 say he found a broken wire running from the SAM to the ECU on the airbox  that caused this issue also...Could be mistaken, but it rings a bell.

That takes a bit more commitment finding that type of break as you must be very careful and have longer leads etc and clamps not pins to join the two ends of each wire being tested. You also can't do this with power in the car especially when messing with the ECU as it will fry itself quickly!