My Car Won't Start! [3 lines thru "P"]

[stevenvillatoro]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

If I understand right, the Teach-In process takes it back to factory default from whatever the transmission learned, and I think shifting may be a little rougher than usual for a little while.

Could someone confirm if it's okay and possibly beneficial to do an UNnecessary (i.e., not for repair reasons) teach-in simply for the purpose of unlearning my initial-ownership shift habits? Someone once suggested that 'starting over' could help to boost MPGs by repatterning the transmission with better driving habits.

[jwight]

Steven, I may be wrong here (haven't checked the manual) but I believe the teach-in only relearns the shift positions. I think to reset the transmission "memory" we need to disconnect the battery and then reconnect. But I could be 100% wrong.

[artist]

Friday after driving more than 150 miles and starting the smart 7 times, all of a sudden it would not start. I have 3700 miles on the car. The shift lever was stuck in park. After a ten minute wait on hold for smartusa in 97 degree heat they decided it had to be towed. Waited 2 hours for tow truck. Tow truck driver was good, but because the rear wheels were locked he had to use motor oil on the tires to make them slide onto the truck. Today dealer(Orlando) tell me parts may be in today(May 27) and the problem was the "shifter". I'll let you know when I really get my smart back.

[saskdiesel]

Originally Posted by artist

Friday after driving more than 150 miles and starting the smart 7 times, all of a sudden it would not start. I have 3700 miles on the car. The shift lever was stuck in park. After a ten minute wait on hold for smartusa in 97 degree heat they decided it had to be towed. Waited 2 hours for tow truck. Tow truck driver was good, but because the rear wheels were locked he had to use motor oil on the tires to make them slide onto the truck. Today dealer(Orlando) tell me parts may be in today(May 27) and the problem was the "shifter". I'll let you know when I really get my smart back.

Are you sure it wasn't soap?
Oil is bad news for tires.

[bull8042]

Originally Posted by stevenvillatoro

Could someone confirm if it's okay and possibly beneficial to do an UNnecessary (i.e., not for repair reasons) teach-in simply for the purpose of unlearning my initial-ownership shift habits? Someone once suggested that 'starting over' could help to boost MPGs by repatterning the transmission with better driving habits.

Steven, I wouldn't do it intentionally without having the issue mentioned here. From what I understand, if the procedure fails for whatever reason, you will not be able to recover from the error yourself and will have to get the smart back to the dealership for the fix.
Not worth the risk if you ask me.... unless you do it in the dealership's parking lot. That way, if it doesn't work, you won't have far to go!

[Broken Kid]

They told me it was the shifter gate or shifter mechanism. They replaced it, and it should be fine. Based on my experiences, I assume that's only for another week. Regardless, they told me they don't deliver the car for the customer, and now they expect me to get a ride 80 miles to pick it up? Yeah, right...

[artist]

The tow truck driver used oil, not soap to get my smart on the platform. Because he was using the tow bolt from the rear, the car went right for a while, then he swicthed to the left. After two series of this the car was on the platform, but only by two to three feet. Today is the 28th and still have not heard that car is fixed.

[saskdiesel]

Originally Posted by artist

The tow truck driver used oil, not soap to get my smart on the platform. Because he was using the tow bolt from the rear, the car went right for a while, then he swicthed to the left. After two series of this the car was on the platform, but only by two to three feet. Today is the 28th and still have not heard that car is fixed.

He dragged your car onto the deck with the wheels locked?
This can cause serious damage to a transaxle as the differential wants to spin each wheel opposite to the other not to mention busting a parking pawl (if the Smart has one).
The proper way is to lift the rear wheels one at a time, dolly each wheel, winch onto the deck, level the deck.
I would assume he had to drag the car off the flat deck also.
I though he was soaping the tires to get them over a dolly.
Sloppy, very sloppy.........

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by Broken Kid

They told me it was the shifter gate or shifter mechanism. They replaced it, and it should be fine. Based on my experiences, I assume that's only for another week. Regardless, they told me they don't deliver the car for the customer, and now they expect me to get a ride 80 miles to pick it up? Yeah, right...

Did you arrange the tow through the smart 800 #? I think I've read that they're better equipped to do a two-way tow, and the individual dealer would not typically volunteer what could be a $500 tow fee. I've been told by my own dealer and read here that by calling the 800 # they'll do a two-way tow if at all possible. I'm hoping it's just that you haven't talked to the right person.

[esrazor]

After reading the other experiences here I'm very lucky and glad that all my car needed was a reteach. I'm sorry it didn't work for the rest of you. I've got over 1200 miles now and haven't had any other issues other than dirty windows from people touching my windows when looking into my parked car