Brake Light Switch Failure Locks Shifter.

[a2jack]

A new cause for shifter lock up (as if we didn't have enough). Wife's car locked in park repeatedly on a trip over to Canada this week end.

As she is now quite adept with the little yellow button trick, she was able to keep going, finish her visit, and drive home. The car would start in "N".

On my way to the dealer another driver informed me the brake lights were not working. ( I also had a Stability and an ABS warning on.)

Smart Bloomfield told me they found a defective stop light switch which denied the shifter the "brake on" signal, thus locking it in park. A2Jac

[jwight]

Are the Bloomfield guys saying the stop light switch sends a signal even if the brakes aren't applied, or do they mean the brakes need to be applied to move the shifter out of Park? Just trying to be sure I understand the brake - shifter relationship. Thanks!

[putzie]

if its the same as on the 450 models , it need the brakes to be applied to get reverse gear , this is a problem when i the switch goes faulty!, normal reasons why is that its get water damage from water off your feet traveling down the pedal to the bottom of the switch and it then gets damp and stops working , would imagine its similar to fix to the 450 model , if its under warranty get them to do it or look on FQ101 : Smart Car Modifications

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by jwight

Are the Bloomfield guys saying the stop light switch sends a signal even if the brakes aren't applied, or do they mean the brakes need to be applied to move the shifter out of Park? Just trying to be sure I understand the brake - shifter relationship. Thanks!

J, You always have to turn on the switch, then press the brake peddle before you can move the shifter out of park.

The dog will only move out and unlock when it gets the signal from the brake light switch. It's all electronic. A2Jack.

[Kidbyte]

I have the same exact symptoms on my Passion. The wrecker is picking it up right now as I am typing. I will report back here on Dallas Smartcenter's findings as soon as possible. My money is on the brake switch, too!

Kidbyte

-UPDATE-
I received a phone call earlier this evening from Allison. They have TWO cars ahead of me, so it will probably be tomorrow before they look at my car.

Kidbyte

-UPDATE #2-
I received a phone call this morning (6-26-08) from Allison. It WAS a "defective" brake switch. They have no estimation as to when they can get the switch and make the repair. Any dealers out there have a switch you can overnight to Dallas? :-)

Kidbyte

Originally Posted by a2jack

......brake lights were not working. ( I also had a Stability and an ABS warning on.)

Smart Bloomfield told me they found a defective stop light switch which denied the shifter the "brake on" signal, thus locking it in park. A2Jac

[a2jack]

Well guys, this time we know for sure Smart corporate knows all about this problem.

Dave Schembri (Smart Corp President), Rick, (Bloomfield GM) and Mark, (Bloomfield Service Manger) were all there (in person) and became part of the problem discussion.

I was assured a correct and speedy fix. A2Jack

BTW, Marty on another list had this problem also. They found the factory had installed the wrong fuse in the stop light circuit. Fuse #38 should be a 15 amp, a 7.5 amp was wrongly installed instead.

Check your owners manual to be sure, than check out YOUR car. A2Jack

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by a2jack

Well guys, this time we know for sure Smart corporate knows all about this problem.

Dave Schembri (Smart Corp President), Rick, (Bloomfield GM) and Mark, (Bloomfield Service Manger) were all there (in person) and became part of the problem discussion.

I was assured a correct and speedy fix. A2Jack

BTW, Marty on another list had this problem also. They found the factory had installed the wrong fuse in the stop light circuit. Fuse #38 should be a 15 amp, a 7.5 amp was wrongly installed instead.

Check your owners manual to be sure, than check out YOUR car. A2Jack.

And yet another thing to add to the list of things to check when the shifter doesn't shift....Go figure.. and an electronic fix to a mechanical symptom. It surely would seem near impossible for one of these to be stolen by your run-o-the-mil car thief! All the smart ones will be reading these posts!! LOL

John

[Macaw]

I've had to replace the brake switch in our '99 beetle twice and they have redesigned it twice and a recall on it...I removed the interlock solenoid as it is not fun to be stuck latest switch has lasted a year so far.

[Kidbyte]

A2jack,

Has anybody said anything yet about a switch redesign to correct this issue? I have an electrical engineering background and I am pretty amazed they put a switch (non-hermetically sealed) in that location to begin with. Has anyone had to have TWO of these replaced as yet? If there has been no effort to try and correct the root cause of this problem, we will most likely see it again and again........

Kidbyte

Originally Posted by a2jack

Well guys, this time we know for sure Smart corporate knows all about this problem.

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by Kidbyte

A2jack,

Has anybody said anything yet about a switch redesign to correct this issue? I have an electrical engineering background and I am pretty amazed they put a switch (non-hermetically sealed) in that location to begin with. Has anyone had to have TWO of these replaced as yet? If there has been no effort to try and correct the root cause of this problem, we will most likely see it again and again........

Kidbyte

I don't think this problem is common yet, as most of the cars have not racked up the miles. We just turned 11k on the ode so we are seeing all the early warnings.

Macaw, has the fix, and if we have another problem with the switch I will jumper it.

We had the dealer route out the edge of the shifter cover so that my wife can get at that yellow trip switch easier. A2Jack.