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My 2006 CDI with 190,000km has started having shifting problems. Im going to run through my diagnosis in order to hopefully help others that develop this problem. Problem: Car was shifting fine, then it was making a creaking noise with shifting(lubricated it), then it was intermittently failing to downshift followed by 3 bars (temporary solution, switch the car to neutral, turn off and restart the car), Now the car is failing to shift gears about 50% of the time, and when the car is stopped in first gear it makes a strange vibration(no clutch drag). I drive on a lot of dusty gravel roads, very dry environment. Common problems are clutch actuator wiring, clutch actuator issue, or clutch fork wear, where the actuator rod pushes on the fork. As of right now, a new actuator is $450 cad shipped, new fork is $85. Diagnosis: Ill drive the back of the car onto ramps, get under the car and see if the clutch actuator has slipped(unlikely), then I will put penetrating oil on the 3 clutch actuator bolts. Ill unplug the electronic plug for the actuator and check the wires for fraying. Then I will mark the position of the actuator on the car with permanent marker. I will hit the head of the '3 actuator bolts' hard with a hammer a few times, then take my propane torch to try and heat the areas the bolts thread into. Ill gently try to remove the bolts and not snap them, if they don't come out, ill re apply penetrating oil and repeat the hammer and heat process until they do come out. Once the actuator is off, ill examine the actuator rod for signs of wear(if the rod has punched through the fork). Ill take a pic on my phone of the fork through the hole and see if the fork is in ok condition. That will tell me what my problem is (im going to guess wiring fray due to bumpy roads, clutch actuator sluggishness due to lots of dust getting in, or lots of clutch fork wear). I will give the actuator a good cleaning and regreasing (if this fails ill order a new actuator) If the rod has worn a hole in the fork I will try to weld a washer on the actuator rod to increase contact patch between the rod and the fork. Ill update this post until the problem is fixed.

I made this video for a friend of mine to show how to lubricate the clutch actuator. One of the easiest things you can do to extend the life of one of the main wear components on your car. Cheers, -Iain

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.

I have a problem with my smart, i thing the Actoator is the problem... Car won't move, but i can ear something under the car. I remove the actuator, evrerything look good, but when i want to reinstall it, impossible ! The "arm" seems to be extented at the max. I can not align the hole for the screw.. It is possible to "press in" the arm ? ANd I have this Code : P0702 Transmission Control System Electrical Mine looks longer ??

Hello and thanks to all that will probably answer my questions soon as these are common failures on the cdi smart 451 2009 reg. Hoping for the answer. i have the three bars after doing a service on my friends car, i have checked the wiring harness between the ecu under the carpet to the gearbox with a multi-meter and all seems fine also to the gearbox selector module. First question is the clutch actuator supposed to engage when you turn on the ignition or only when in neutral with brake pressed? Number two to reset the gearbox i have read that you hold the brake pedal down and turn on the ignition is this correct? should the clutch actuator depress the clutch whilst doing this reset? Number three--- should i just set fire to it... lol only kidding. I look forward to hopefully some advice as my friend isn't very happy with me at the moment. Thanks Chris.

Hey everyone! New to the forum and would like to ask for some advice from some more knowledgeable people. Recently obtained a smart fortwo CDI 2005 model. I've also owned another but have never experienced this problem. I was driving my smart fortwo CDI and was accelerating in the acceleration lane. I attempted a downshift (note that I don't have a tach on the dash) and the car had a bit of a kickback but continued on. About a mile later, there was another kickback (I forget if I downshifted or not) but the 3 dashed lines appeared on the dash. I was still driving at around 40mph and was still able to accelerate to 50mph but once there was traffic, I slowed down and realized the transmission was no longer engaged to the engine. I was unable to shift the car back into drive or reverse and when I do, it is accompanied by a rumble from the transmission. I am still able to start the car but unable to shift it into gear. So the possibilities I came up with are: 1) First two gears in the transmission are stripped, which would require a new transmission. 2) Clutch was already worn and burned out due to downshift at high speed. Clutch actuator was already adjusted all the way in from previous owner which leads me to believe that it was already worn out to a certain extent. Thanks in advance, Cheers!

Evilution says to loosen the 3 bolts, slide to right and then let it slide back itself and tighten after 5 seconds. Does the car need to be in gear or in neutral and do I need to disconnect the electrical connector? http://www.evilution.co.uk/Engine/clutch_adjustments.htm On the other hand, on another forum, a guy actually moved the actuator 1/8 inch to the drivers side and said it worked wonders. Any thoughts which way to go on this? I'm eager to try this today. http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f1...justment-43284/