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Hi all, I’ve just got my hands on a Roadster that’s been sitting for a bit over three years, I’ve got the engine running smoothly, and with the engine off it will happily switch into reverse and first gear, however with the engine on, if I try placing it in reverse, or drive, I simply hear a loud, repeated clicking sound, quite a hefty one, as well as the revs dying down in line with the clicking, almost thumping, and it will simply refuse to go into gear (although I suspect not for a lack of trying) I’m not sure about other models, but it will also refuse to start in reverse or drive, asking me to shift into neutral fast. Understandable. Thanks to the transmission being constant mash, rather than synchromesh, I suspected the clutch was at fault, as this somewhat remind me of what I would expect to happen if you tried changing gears in a constant mesh transmission, without the clutch properly pressed in. I may be mistaken, as I only have a little experience with them. Throwing a camera under my car, I saw that the clutch actuator was incredibly slow, and didn’t sound all that happy at all. For reference, I also looked at the clutch actuator for my happy, healthy, fortwo (450), and saw that the clutch actuator slammed forwards and backwards like you would not believe. As such, I grabbed a spare clutch actuator from a wrecked 450 I had lying around, however it would not move at all in the roadster. Not surprising, given the wreck was in rather bad shape. I then grabbed the clutch actuator off my healthy fortwo, tested it in the roadster, and while it seemed faster at times, still, on occasion, it would actuate rather slowly. Some contact cleaner on the plugs did not seem to affect this. I installed it in the roadster, jamming that dam thing against the clutch as hard as I could with one hand, and while it worked once or twice, activating swiftly, and once, when the car was still on jack stands, it even shifted into reverse, upon lowering the car down and trying again, all I heard was that dreaded clicking sound. From this point onwards, the clutch actuator no longer move forwards particularly fast, nowhere near as fast as it did in the fortwo. Before I forget, I have followed evilution’s guide on servicing clutch actuators on the original roadster actuator, and the one from the scrap fortwo, however have left the one from my working fortwo mostly as is, spare some desperately sprayed in white lithium grease post installation. Additionally, I have done most of this testing with and without the roadster connected directly to the aux battery on my Toyota hybrid, and that thing can jumpstart a freight train, so I am not at all concerned about low-voltage issues. I am wondering if this is an issue with either the power being delivered to the clutch actuator, the clutch actuator, or, perhaps, issues with the clutch itself? The actuator is behaving slowly when not installed against the clutch suggests the issue lies somewhere in between the ignition key and the clutch actuator, but, as this car rested in a rather humid climate for three years, I would not discount the possibility that the clutch is possibly the main problem here. Any and all suggestions are warmly welcomed, short of getting the thing toes to my local smart specialist I am somewhat lost for ideas. Thank you kindly for all of your help, I appreciate it more than I can express in words.

Hello I have an 05 smart cdi I just purchased this car. I have electrical problems and this is my first smart car. So not very familiar with the product. When I put the key in and try to start the is clicking from the Sam. It sounds like several relays clicking. The wipers turn on and will not shut off. Every time the wipers cycle it almost sounds like turn signal clicking from Sam. The key is flashing on the cluster but can’t seem to reprogram to clear. The power seems to really dim when wipers cycle. And slow operation. It is a new battery that has been charged and tested. The fuse box was not bolted in but seems dry without any corrosion from prev leak. When I hit the lock/unlock when key is in run position the cluster dims and clicks but that is it. Any suggestions on things to check 05 cdi cabrio