Home News Models Alternatives
 
Smart Car of America - America's Largest Smart Fortwo Enthusiast Community   Smart Fortwo, smart car, smartcar
HOME FORUMS GALLERY

Go Back   Smart Car of America Forums > Smart Car Technical > Smart Car Operation and Maintenance

Notices

» Supporting Partner
» Recent Threads
Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-22-2009, 07:31 PM   #1 (permalink)
 
LisaERei's Avatar
 
Location: Fairfax, VA
Drive: 2008 SmartForTwo PURE
My car won't start!

My car won't start! I took it to the dealer and the smart guy wasn't there so they could only test the battery which works fine. The electrical aspects of the car also completely turned off while I was driving on the highway (radio, light, etc) after sitting for a while everything was non functional to the point I had to manually open the doors. Got a jump start and made it to the dealer, what do u guys think?

LisaERei is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2009, 07:39 PM   #2 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
cubefx's Avatar
 
Location: Lake Wales, FL
Drive: Trickcruiser PT, Smart
My SCOA Gallery
Quote:
Originally Posted by LisaERei View Post
My car won't start! I took it to the dealer and the smart guy wasn't there so they could only test the battery which works fine. The electrical aspects of the car also completely turned off while I was driving on the highway (radio, light, etc) after sitting for a while everything was non functional to the point I had to manually open the doors. Got a jump start and made it to the dealer, what do u guys think?
I would say faulty alternator.


CUBE

cubefx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2009, 08:41 PM   #3 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
Location: Mobile, AL
Drive: 2008 Passon fortwo Black++
My SCOA Gallery
Yup. Faulty alternator, maybe a loose ground or battery cable, but they probably would have found that. If it drives, you're running on borrowed time. It takes a certain amount of power to run even the engine and engine control computer. If a jump start got you running, and it still lost radio and light power, yes, you have a problem with the charging system including the alternator. You should have had a red warning light on the dash for that while driving. It takes a few minutes to show up.

Most older cars will stutter and stall if battery voltage drops too far while driving since they can't maintain a spark. The Smart probably shut down nonessential systems to survive. Interesting behavior; wonder if it's really intentional. It does have a "limp home mode," after all.

I hope you left the car at the dealer... it doesn't sound like it's very safe to drive right now. Trust me, you don't want to have your engine quit due to low battery power in traffic. You probably won't have brake lights, emergency lights or anything to show people behind you that you're stopped.

SuperGeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Today
 


This ad will not be shown if you are logged in.

Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Car wouldn't start... and then did unicycle Smart Car General Discussion 10 04-19-2009 01:33 PM
Car will not start - again! 8X5X5ft Smart Car Operation and Maintenance 2 02-24-2009 11:12 AM
Won't Start - HELP! graphix1998 Interior & Exterior 2 07-25-2008 01:59 AM
Won't start... Nicholas Smart Car Operation and Maintenance 7 05-12-2008 02:28 PM
My car won't start! esrazor Smart Car Operation and Maintenance 3 05-01-2008 06:03 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0.1

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:58 PM.


Smart Cars of America, LLC is not affiliated with, authorized by, associated with or have any connection with G&K, Zap, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AMG, Mercedes-Benz McLaren Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, smart Canada Division, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler LLC, DaimlerChrysler AG, Maybach, smart gmbh, a division of Mercedes Benz LLC, the manufacturer of SMART automobiles, smart USA Distributor, LLC, a division of Penske Automotive Group, Inc, the exclusive authorized U.S. importer and distributor of the smart vehicle or any of their official dealerships


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0
Ad Management by RedTyger