[smartcarspeed]

Hello I’m a 15 year old who just bought a smart car and I am having some minor issues and need some help with these questions. Where can I find the transmission fuel to fill it? Also what does the ABS light mean and what should I check or fix about it ?

 

[wahi]

Hi, welcome to SCOA. What year smart do you have? how many miles on it?

 

[smartcarspeed]

Hi, welcome to SCOA. What year smart do you have? how many miles on it?

It is a 2009 passion and it has around 65,000 miles if I remember

 

[wahi]

OK, you have the 451. I have a 2008 Passion that has the ABS lit the past two years. I just won't have AntiLock working for me, but that's all I think I am missing, apart from the annoying ABS light being on. If you want to look into erasing it, you have to figure out if one of your four ABS sensors or reluctor rings is broken or gone bad. Others here have more knowledge on other possible reasons for the ABS light.
As for the tranny fluid, there is really no tranny fluid top-up required for the smart. No tranny dipstick, either. Our cars are actually manual cars, not automatics.

 

[gtdump]

To figure out the issue with the ABS you'll need to hook up a scanner capable of reading CANbus messages. Record what you see and look it up or post it here, there are some common causes, but it's just guessing without some info.

As @wahi stated, the trans is a sealed unit, you can drain and refill with any gear oil compatible with MB spec 235.72, but at 65k miles I personally wouldn't bother with that yet.

Welcome!

 

[smartcarspeed]

OK, you have the 451. I have a 2008 Passion that has the ABS lit the past two years. I just won't have AntiLock working for me, but that's all I think I am missing, apart from the annoying ABS light being on. If you want to look into erasing it, you have to figure out if one of your four ABS sensors or reluctor rings is broken or gone bad. Others here have more knowledge on other possible reasons for the ABS light.
As for the tranny fluid, there is really no tranny fluid top-up required for the smart. No tranny dipstick, either. Our cars are actually manual cars, not automatics.

To figure out the issue with the ABS you'll need to hook up a scanner capable of reading CANbus messages. Record what you see and look it up or post it here, there are some common causes, but it's just guessing without some info.

As @wahi stated, the trans is a sealed unit, you can drain and refill with any gear oil compatible with MB spec 235.72, but at 65k miles I personally wouldn't bother with that yet.

Welcome!

thank you
I hope that is the problem and will check it soon. that is probably why the stick won’t let you shift it or move it from ‘park’

 

[the big e]

That’s the interlock or shifter needing lube.
The abs light being on won’t effect that just your brakes(they will work in normal mode without abs just be cautious when hiring them as you can lock the wheels up if your not)

 

[smartcarspeed]

That’s the interlock or shifter needing lube.
The abs light being on won’t effect that just your brakes(they will work in normal mode without abs just be cautious when hiring them as you can lock the wheels up if your not)

so it not shifting doesn’t have to do with the ABS light? I was just trying to take the car for a spin a couple days ago and the ABS light was new and it won’t move from ‘park’

 

[the big e]

No as they are two different systems worked by two different modules.
You can still drive the car with a abs light on(do that with my dad’s hummer due to bad ebcm on it which we had to disconnect so it doesn’t drain the battery)
Is the brake lights working when the brake is hit?
The shifter interlock is electric and works off the brake light switch.

 

[smartcarspeed]

actually the brake lights are not coming on when I hit the brakes so I guess that explains why it won’t shift maybe?

 

[jwight]

Bad brake light switch probably: Brake Light Switch Failure Locks Shifter.

 

[the big e]

Check the fuse first before you get the switch.
Also the bulbs could be blown.
If the fuse is blown it won’t work even if you replace the switch.

 

[smartcarspeed]

I am going to check the switch within the next day or two. The fuses looked good so I think that would be where I need to look next. Is the switch under the brake pedal or in that area?

 

[the big e]

Ok
It should be mounted on or around the brake pedal.

 

[smartcarspeed]

I have more questions that I didn’t ask earlier. My rear window does not latch and it rattles quite a bit if you are on a bumpy road or ect. would I need to replace the little box that the latch is supposed to be attached to or like the whole tailgate?

 

[gtdump]

I have more questions that I didn’t ask earlier. My rear window does not latch and it rattles quite a bit if you are on a bumpy road or ect. would I need to replace the little box that the latch is supposed to be attached to or like the whole tailgate?

Depends on what's broken. Some pics will probably help sort you out.

 

[the big e]

^ what he said.
It could be a broken latch which is replaceable by itself(provided the part is available by itself) but pics would help.

 

[digisky]

Check the top middle brake light bulb.
I had a problem once, when I had abs and esp lights on, and the shifter wouldn’t move out of P every other time, and when it did, the hill assist didn’t work. Apparently my top brake light burned out and shorted the system, which caused all the glitches.

 

[digisky]

I’ll just add that in my case, there were abs esp lights, bunch of weird codes on scanner, and because of all the symptoms I suspected the brake switch for a week or so before I even noticed the top brake light is off. When I took the bulb out, it wasn’t just burned out, it was melted down.
Replaced it and it fixed everything.

 

[smartcarspeed]