jammed gear shifter - stuck in N or D - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

unicycle · 08-15-2008, 11:18 AM

What's the consensus on jammed gear shifters? The car can shift bw N and D (and manual D) but not into R or P.

I've read some old threads on this. Looks like WD 40 or another lube could help, but I'm not sure how. Do I just use the little hose attachment and squid down into the shaft?

And it looks like I might also need the car flatbed towed 80 miles to manhattan. Luckily I dont need the car right away.

**JPaul** · 08-15-2008, 11:28 AM

Maybe it'll worth trying the following:
DIY gear shift removal and lube (short video)
It's in the Maintenance first sticky thread.
Hope it works. Good luck!

unicycle · 08-15-2008, 07:56 PM

Yeah, this was another of those issues that seems to go away (sometimes) if you leave it alone long enough. I got back to the car this afternoon to find that everything was copacetic. Why? I suspect it is another of these problems related to heat. Perhaps the heat swelled some parts. Well, that's just a guess, but it seems like that was the case with my door (it wouldn't alwasys latch on really hot days). I put some WD-40 down the gear shift just in case, and I'll really monitor this issue carefully in case it happens to my car again. Thanks for that great link.

curlyp · 08-15-2008, 11:38 PM

I had my first service at the dealer today and he said they also adjusted and lubed some part of the shifter to take care of the sticking problem. We have never had the problem but I guess they are trying to stay ahead of the problem

Paul

Piccola · 08-16-2008, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curlyp

I had my first service at the dealer today and he said they also adjusted and lubed some part of the shifter to take care of the sticking problem. We have never had the problem but I guess they are trying to stay ahead of the problem

Paul

Wow! What a great dealer you have!! Congratulations.

smart fortimo · 08-16-2008, 05:44 PM

Had a stuck-in-the-parking lot moment myself recently. Had the dealer talk me through the process (rag, adj. pliers, and silicone spray required) but when done, still no luck. The button would now depress, but I couldn't change positions.

Reluctantly, I turned the fun mobile over to the tow-truck driver for the 220 mile trip to the dealer. Minutes later, he called back saying that he got it to shift. He had tried to pull it out of the parking stall but had forgot to release the e-brake. When he did release the break, he thought he would try the shifter one more time and EUREKA. Problem solved, money saved, total cost out of pocket: $4 silcone spray and a hot afternoon that I would have spent on the river staying cool.

I wish the dealers would do this shifter lube trick to all new cars, preserving the new-car fun.

Still loving my cabrio at about 4300 miles.

Cheers,
Timo

Teresa · 12-10-2008, 11:31 AM

I have a cabrio with about 10K miles on it and now I have the stuck shifter issue. Been happening off and on for a couple of weeks until today, it's completely stuck. Was in "Drive" so I could get it home and wouldn't go into "Park". Anyone know of something simple to solve this problem? I've read the posts and the gear shifter does not come off as easy as I have read. How do I get the lube into the shifter box???