It started with what seemed like an intermittent loss of electrical power whilst driving. The radio would cut out, the dash lights go out. Only for a second or so. It would still drive OK.
Next I started to get intermittent three lines on the dash instead of the gear selection. Again this was intermittent, and the car drove ok. Gear change seemed normal.
This morning I have a single line. The temperature gauge is flashing. All the lights on the right hand side (engine management, oil etc) are illuminated. The car will start, but not sure if I should drive it!
Take a look at your SAM unit and check for corrosion on all the connections. Take a look at your ground connections that go from the transmission to the frame. Check the connection of the connector to the dash make you there is no corrosion and any connections.
And sometimes the bad news is a SAM is going bad.
I had that same problem once, it was the little plastic cover plate on the positive post wore through and the electrical box was grounding out against the positive post, all kinds of electrical grimlins.
thanks, Roy
Thanks for your replies, I'll check things suggested at the weekend. One other thing I have noticed which makes me think it could be a problem with the SAM (Think its a ZEE unit on my old smart!) The odometer now reads in kms instead of miles.
Not getting very far with this! Have checked all the fuses and connectors. After reading on evilution I was pretty sure it was going to be the dash connector as one of the symptoms is the odometer changing from miles to kms, but it looked ok to me.
I used torque to check for any faults and it did not show any. I did a full scan and the following were reported
One more thing I have noticed is the clock is loosing time, a few minutes a day. This morning I go to start the car and the battery is almost flat. Not enough in it to start it. Its been stood for about a week. Possibly a short somewhere?
i would highly doubt the alternator would cause all your problems.
i have a cdi with some wiring gremlins of its own.
and ive come to the conclusion that it has to be a bad sam unit.
on day it starts, no fuel pump .
another day fuel pump worth but doesnt turn over.
another day work like a dream.
only thing ive noticed that was odd was my back light for the dash screen woud never turn off.
even with car off and locked . hours later still on.
i fiddle with the ebox and same unit and get different syptoms everytime .
Always take a look at the SAM unit and its connections. If you see any corrosion (green) it needs to be cleaned. Sometimes cleaning is not going to work because it is too far gone. Salt plays havoc on the connection it makes all kinds of gremlins creep up on the smart car. Remember on a no start condition on diesel cars it is generally caused by the fuel pump not running. It will be the wire connection on the SAM unit.
Some cars like a Ferrari F355 the problem is so bad that they make a kit to replace all the engine connections with gold connection just to make all the gremlins go away.
Still not got to the bottom of this. The car drives fine. Been using torque instead of the dash! Had the usual monthly problem of the battery going flat today but noticed something else this time. The negative battery post was hot after trying to start the car with the flat battery. Does that give you any more ideas? My latest guess is a leaky rectifier on the alternator, would that explain the symptoms? AC being fed into the electrics.
You could have a defective battery or the connection to the post has a high resistance causing it to heat when current flows through it. Has it been checked? The Evilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia mentions that the negative lead to ground is under rated and the car benefits from a heavier ground lead. I would replace that just for good measure and be sure the battery post is bright and shiny from brushing it with a metal brush before installing the new post clamp. It is inexpensive and certainly won't hurt anything. Then if you crank it and the terminal still gets hot, question the battery or have it checked under load at a battery/parts supply store. Good luck!
Well I'm new on to the Smart FourTwo 450, which i think I might have made a mistake by byuing one second hand. I'm from South Africa and most people would tell you with a problem,,go to the dealership. My Smart first used a lot of oil, and according to Mercedes South Africa, replace the whole sub assembly.
I did not replace the sub assembly, but managed to find new parts that is very hard in South Africa and i have re-done the motor completely.
I'm still sitting with one problem, while driveing the car will just cut out completely, but it will start immediately again. Some days it will do it 2 to 3 times, and other days it wont do it at all.
Any suggestions on what i can look at to find the problem?
What i do like about the Smart is that it is small and funky.
A friend sent this to me. One day I went out for a ride, the low tire symbol came on so we checked air in tires and seemed ok but we aired up a few pounds and light went out, then ABS light went on a while later and then after stopping and then starting up in a few hours, a few miles down the road, the Check Engine light went on. I stopped and checked oil and made sure gas cap was on tight and all was fine so continued on home without any problem. Next day went to the mechanic, he check the car on the computer and it had lots of electrical things show up, we started it up once he cleared the lists of problems and, it the brakes locked up. He put it up so weight was off the brakes and it is fine but we do not dare drive it for fear of the brake lock up again. THE ABS light stays on so he felt it was the ABS module but out one in and it did not improve the faults in computer. Maybe a bad module but also now the triangle with ! in middle is now on along with ABS light on. That symbol is for the stability control so not safe to take it, maybe brake is still hanging up but cannot feel it. IF anyone has ideas let me know. The mechanic is stumped and wants to send it to Mercedes Benz but I do not have the money for that.
The tire pressure light is irrelevant as it's a separate system. How old is the car? There are a couple things that can cause both the ABS and ESP to fail, however if the car is very young those things are unlikely.
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