Insufficient lube on the shifter button cam. The fix is....
pop off the shifter and put some silicone grease on the cam and the sliding *T* bar that rubs against the cam......or.........
As a deterent to this happening to mine, I sprayed some WD-40 into the space between the top edge of the button and the shifter and along the sides of the button, into the shifter, and my button works even smoother now even though it has not bothered. Preventive maintenance....;)
John
At best, WD40 is a VERY temp fix. By design it is NOT a lubricant! It is a solvent (Water Diffuser, formula 40). Once the solvent evaporates you will have a larger problem as now there will be NO lubricant! Try some nice Triflow or even motorcycle chain lube.
At best, WD40 is a VERY temp fix. By design it is NOT a lubricant! It is a solvent (Water Diffuser, formula 40). Once the solvent evaporates you will have a larger problem as now there will be NO lubricant! Try some nice Triflow or even motorcycle chain lube.
Sorry but I must correct you; it is "Water Displacement" (not Water diffuser) . It was the 40th experiment. As an engineer, I am a 'Stickler' for exactness
I have to give you all the utmost respect for your forgiving nature for the smart, as few new car owners would ever bother with pictures and illustration on how to fix a brand new car themselves. If it had been a GM or Ford, others would be talking to lemon law lawyers by now.
I saw other members who would go and buy an error code scanner/resetter to fix the check engine light. Wow! smart mentioned how much it cost to build a new dealership, and perhaps they forgot to mention how much the owners need to invest in tools to keep the car running at their homes.
I would not be surprised to see smart raise prices to cover for a 5/60 warranty in the near future to restore consumer confidence. As the car seems to be far from trouble free, and in my opinion it NEEDS a longer warranty with 0 deductible to make me feel comfortable owning one.
You know part of the propensity of the current group of smart owners to fix things themselves is that they are early adopters, like to play with thier toys (or take them apart), and the dealerships aren't exactly on every corner like a Ford or Chevy. ANY (and I mean ANY) new car model has some first year growing pains. The 2002 Explorer had ALOT of problems that were rectified by 2003; the first year of the E46 BMW 3-series - same thing, a good number of issues occured that they fixed.
The Canadian warranty is 48 months... so its not a company confidence thing it's a weak dollar and thier dedication to keep the price where they said it would be when we all plopped down $99 to reserve one.
BTW, lemon laws apply if the specific problem is ongoing and the dealer is unable to fix it. Lemon Law applies to "any defect or nonconformity, or combination of defects, which is/are not repaired within a reasonable number of attempts or a reasonable amount of time, may entitle you to lemon law relief". Just because there is a problem does not indicate a lemon. If they try and try and try to fix it (on the same vehicle) but can't then it could be a lemon.
"Shifter lock up is caused by rough handling". This problem, "while rare", has shown up mostly in the cars Bloomfield uses for driver demos.
It was explained that pushing the lever forward too hard causes the dog to override the notch (my words). Apparently there is no overrun stop.
It is strictly mechanical no electronics involved. I won't say more until I can see a diagram of this shifter box. Smart Bloomfield has no fix for this problem.
Would it work to put some sort of blob as a mechanical stop on the shifter housing (red arrow), or a thick collar around the shifter (green band) to keep the shifter from going too far forward?
Possibly...or something else entirely. I'll wait and see what he reports back.
I know there are also issues with a couple of pieces of the internal shifter mechanism breaking off. Literally 30 cent pieces of plastic. Unfortunately, the fix is to replace the entire shifter mechanism.
There is also a possible electronic issue, which I had at 40 miles, and required the entire mechanism to be replaced.
It's also possible, just possible, that spraying WD-40 in there may damage the electronics.
His comment that a temp fix was done on the road indicates it could have been an electronic issue. The manual addresses the re-learning process that sometimes might need to be done, and can be done by the owner.
Anyway one looks at it, it's unfortunate.
This post originator says the problem was mechanical...shifter stuck in Park. That is not electronic although perhaps some of the shifter/key problems were electrical/electronic in nature....
Even though that is a novel idea, we shouldn't have to do that with a brand new 2008 car. Smart needs to address the issue and fix it!
This is so frustrating for someone to read who should be taking delivery within the next month.
I had a '96 Taurus and after 6 months, the door ajar light stayed illuminated no matter which door I opened and closed (or the trunk, either) I sprayed WD-40 into the ends of each door onto the door ajar microswitch that controlled the door ajar light. After opening all the doors and the trunk several times and closing them with force, the light went out, indicating the plunger on the switch was corroded/stuck open and the WD loosened it up. One treatment like that lasted for the remaining 11 years of it's life as I never had the trouble again.
So it would seem that the use of WD-40 may be longer lasting than most think, despite it's thin consistency.
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Red Pearl
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The White Knight
This problem, "while rare", has shown up mostly in the cars Bloomfield uses for driver demos. 
Today
Linear Mode
