Rear Window Latch Problem

[Evilution]

The switch is a weak point, if it is stuck open, you won't be able to close the hatch.
Take the boot panel off to gain access to the switch and give it a spray in switch contact cleaner and give a load of presses to work the fluid in.

Evilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia

[CliffK]

I finally got the car over to Milwaukee yesterday - I wanted to make the drive before the snow flies. Unlatched the window once I got there and it would not latch again. Erik in the Service Department confirmed that it was a faulty latch. Thankfully, he had ordered a replacement latch and had it on hand before I got there, so he was able to replace it while I waited, all covered by warranty.

Glad to have this over and done with. I was getting quite irritated with the problem and was doing everything I could to pass stuff through over the seats and avoid opening the window.

[dsmall24us]

I am having the same problem as CliffK. I am taking it in to the dealer on Friday and will post the fix for mine.

[rawlus®]

i have an intermittent prob - but i attribute it to the airtight cabin. cracking one of the windows a bit allows enough release of pressure to latch the aft window. in my experience, it does require the right combo of force and momentum applied to the right part of the window to latch properly.

[PerryA]

If it's just not catching, try opening a door or window and closing the back window first.

I had a VW beetle back in the 70s and got into the habit of cranking a window open a crack as my passenger was getting in so that the door would close properly when slammed shut. The VW, like the Smart was pretty air tight and I've had to slam my door of the Smart a couple of times or do the back window repeatedly to get it to catch properly.

[dsmall24us]

I took mine into smartcenter Buffalo (excellent service experience) and they were able to observe the malfunctioning of the rear hatch. They replaced the actuator (lock and cable) and it is now working properly. I am sure the problem I was having had nothing to do with how air tight the car is. Every time it would not latch I just had to wait a couple minutes and it would latch easily, so if this is happening to you it seems best to have it repaired under warranty.

[batpox]

We've had this same problem since day 1. We've tried every combination we can think of, but only time seems to fix it. I'll be taking it back to the dealer soon to see if they can fix it.

[unicycle]

I mentioned this to the dealer, and it was fixed lickety-split. Apparently the mechanic had to do what evilution suggests.

Since that time, it's gotten slightly hard to close that latch again -- I'll mention this when I take the car in over the next week or two.

[karen103a]

On ours it's a combination of both. The window is a tiny bit misaligned, we think, and when combined with the airtight cabin it usually takes three or four tries to close it. (Also, because we don't slam it too hard because we don't want to break anything.) My husband is in the habit of having the door open before closing the hatch, and he also gets in the car, turns it on, drops the window an inch, and then shuts the door (to make the door closing easier, for the same tight-cabin reason). It would be nice if the Smart had a vent hole somewhere in the cabin to let out that air pressure.

[fortow]

Originally Posted by karen103a

On ours it's a combination of both. The window is a tiny bit misaligned, we think, and when combined with the airtight cabin it usually takes three or four tries to close it. (Also, because we don't slam it too hard because we don't want to break anything.) My husband is in the habit of having the door open before closing the hatch, and he also gets in the car, turns it on, drops the window an inch, and then shuts the door (to make the door closing easier, for the same tight-cabin reason). It would be nice if the Smart had a vent hole somewhere in the cabin to let out that air pressure.

I can't speak to your particular unique problem but that is not the explanation or situation at all regarding this issue about the rear glass hatch not locking.

The next time it happens to your car do the following - press in the locking hasp with a screwdriver or similar tool. You will note that it does not stay pressed in, whereas, if you do the same when the glass hatch is locking properly it will stay pressed in thus be in a position to hold the glass in the locked position - hope that explanation is clear?
(if you press it in and it does stay then all you need do is to press the unlock button and the hasp will open again)

This is a real issue about the lock not locking and has nothing whatsoever to do with misalignment or an air-tight cabin or slamming too hard or not hard enough.

The strange thing is that usually just waiting a short time fixes the problem. People are mixed up on cause-effect as is very common about most things. When there is a temporal or positional proximity to a problem disappearing the conclusion is almost always that whatever happened just prior to the problem being resolved is an indication of the cause and solution - but that is not necessarily the case. You need to do a little more investigation in this case to see that this is an issue of a malfunctioning switch or other electrical malfunction or simply a quirk related to the electronics of this car. It has a number of other quirks related to electronics as well.