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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.

My 2006 (150,000 km) Smart car is having problems with the clutch. Especially in continuous stop and go during slow traffic. To start, since I got my car I felt the clutch was rough when stop and drive on intersections or traffic lights, but I thought that it was normal for Diesel engines. Also, ocassionally during gear change, the clutch stopped working but just needed to turn off the car, wait few minutes and everything went to normal. But lately the problem is more frequent and the car has left me in the middle on the road which is not safe specially in main highways. I checked the counterpart that is pusheds by the clutch actuator rod (I believe is called the clutch fork), and it seems fine. I notice the rod is passing very near to the edge of the clutch cover hole, actually it almost touches the edge. I removed and checked the actuator and it seems ok. In the past I lubricated the actuator with white grease. By the way, I mounted the actuator in a way that the rod is against the clutch fork so there is no free space between the rod and the clutch fork, so I´m not sure if that is the correct wat to install it. Do you think the problem is the actuator or the clutch? Before I spend money on trying to fix this, I would apppreciate your comments. Thanks