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HELP! has anyone had to have the clutch motor replaced on the smart? (I have an '09)

20K views 50 replies 24 participants last post by  AlatA2 
#1 · (Edited)
Let me start by explaining the problem I have been having. Bear with me....ANY help or advice or similar stories would be GREATLY appreciated.
Starting several months ago, I was driving my smart (in automatic mode) on a busy road (flat, no hill), and came to a stop light. when I came to a complete stop, the car shifted itself into Neutral, and the wrench icon began to blink. It would not shift into Drive or Reverse, only into park. I shifted it into manual mode - no change. So, I put the car in park, turned on my blinkers, turned off my engine, and started calling AAA. about 3 minutes into the phone call, I turned the key halfway, just to roll down my window, and noticed that the wrench icon was no longer blinking. So, I turned the engine over, and low and behold, the car shifted into drive just fine, as if nothing had happened.

Thought maybe this was a fluke. FYI, I started to drive the car in manual mode. however, 2 weeks later, same thing happened again (same circumstances - came to a complete stop, shifted itself into neutral, after about 3 minutes of turning the engine off, car started up again and drove as if nothing had happened - no other warning lights). Then, it happened again a week later. THEN.....(and this was truly a one-off situation - this following thing only happened the one time, thank god) I came to a stop at a traffic light, and when I went to go, the car WOULD NOT shift out of first gear in manual OR auto mode. This time, the check engine light also appeared, along with the wrenches. I quickly turned right off of the main road way. When I braked to stop, the brake pedal felt shaky and sluggish but did eventually stop fully, and THE SECOND i was at a complete stop, the car TURNED ITSELF OFF. Again, as with the other issue, I let the car sit, engine off, for about 5 minutes. When I turned the car back on, everything was fine, but check engine light remained. I drove home cautiously, and the next time I turned on the car, the check engine light was off.

Probably 2-3 days after this weird incident, the "usual" incident happened AGAIN, for the fourth time. I finally curbed my car, and didn't drive it for about 2 months, because I didn't feel like having to have it towed 16 miles to tysons (since my wonderful local dealership has closed down :( boo). Of course, in this time period, the battery completely died (they had to replace it with a new one, but that's really neither here nor there.

When I finally had it towed out to Smart of Tysons, they replaced my battery, did a software upgrade on the transmission apparently?, and then ran diagnostics for 2 days in addition to driving it around, trying to recreate my problem. NOTHING. the manager claimed that all of the tests on the clutch and transmission systems were coming back totally clean. So, we all shrugged our shoulders, assumed that the upgrade and/or new battery had fixed the problem, and went on our merry way. The car was fine for 2 weeks (in fact, seemed to really be running even better than before my problems had started), and then BAM. saaaaame problem. I should also mention that when coming to a stop, I noticed that the brake did give a slight, almost imperceptible shudder with this problem as well, but not as violent or noticeable as that random, one-off, engine turning itself off problem.

Had it towed out to Tysons AGAIN yesterday, and just got the call telling me that they dug deeper into the clutch, and found a faulty clutch motor :p quoted $1200 for the new part and the labor. I have about 24K miles on the car, it's a 2009 Passion Coupe fortwo (sorry I didn't mention earlier). Has anyone else had to get a clutch motor replaced so soon on their smart? and does that price seem correct?? Could this be related to the clutch issue in '08 and early '09 models I have read about in the forums (apparently there is a TIPS case for it...)??? AND, most importantly, does that really sound like what the real problem is, given the issues I have been having. I can't find anything anywhere on forums describing a similar problem with other smarts. am I just alone in this and having a completely freak problem with the car?? HELP! so frustrated, and scared that this $1200 "fix" isn;'t really going to fix anything (but I guess that's the worry with any weird car trouble, right? :p) THANK YOU!!
 
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#2 ·
yes i replace the shifter motor

cost me 1k at dealer ,you can try to take it a part and cleaned with brake cleaner and other type of cleaner,the bushings on this units give up and oil from the transmision gets in this oil is an insolator and contaminates the carbons on both sides of the motor, my guess this will be a temporary solution since the bussings are loose and after a while oil will came again inside.
 
#5 ·
sorry, i'm confused....is a clutch "actuator" and a clutch "motor" the same thing?? because the service manager at tysons (bc he's the one who has been working on the car) said that the clutch motor is shot (exact words...did not mention "actuator"). thanks!!
 
#8 · (Edited)
ONLY 16 miles from the dealer.....I'd kill for that :)
I'm right at 100 miles :(

I'm exactly in the same position as you :mad:

Was on vacation and have to work this week, but I'm sourcing the actuator now ..... first trying to see about a slightly "used" one and then will go NEW :)

My smart is also an 09 with 34k on the odo ! Been down for nearly a month now.....

As WNB08 said, it's an easy job......BUT... you have to have the part !!! :D


chief..... going :nuts: without my smart :wink:
 
#13 ·
MB DNA, maybe you would not mind paying $975.00 for it, but, if it was me, I would tell them to order antother one at the $595.00 price instead.
Good luck with "telling" them to order another as it doesn't solve their business delima. Neither I nor the dealer would be interested in taking a $400 hit if the price change is now in place?

There seems to be a disconnect between the sUSAi and SCoA Forum chatter and what Tyson shows for MSRP which may make it difficult for lfairall to get the part at the reduced price?

Not sure everyone is on the same page here? Perhaps someone should PM jwight for clarification?
 
#14 · (Edited)
Mine was replaced by my servicing dealer cost was $322 Labor and $935 Parts for $1257. Mileage on the clock was 33,220. The only saving grace was that when I bought the car new, I bought the 5 year 60,000 mile extended warranty. I have more than made money on the warranty as I also had to have the shifter replaced at 38,295 which cost $831.00. Out of pocket on each replacement was $100.00. Also, the Purge valve and mounting had to be replaced at 32,220 miles for a cost of $424.00

If this continues, we may be looking at other options in a year or so.
 
#15 ·
As I understand it the clutch actuator (aka the clutch motor) and the shifter motor (as rubyg describes) are two very different motors - on is on top of the transmission, accessible from the topside of the engine compartment, the other, the actuator, is accessible from underneath the car.
 
#20 ·
Has anyone who's replaced one of these actually determined what it was that "failed" on it yet?

Looking at the disassembled part, there honestly isn't much to it.

I'd be interested in learning if the same issue is affecting the majority of the actuators or if the point of failure varies.

It seems to me that it could really only be a mechanical failure (such as a broken gear or rod), or a problem with the electric motor.
 
#21 ·
Has anyone who's replaced one of these actually determined what it was that "failed" on it yet?

Looking at the disassembled part, there honestly isn't much to it.

I'd be interested in learning if the same issue is affecting the majority of the actuators or if the point of failure varies.

It seems to me that it could really only be a mechanical failure (such as a broken gear or rod), or a problem with the electric motor.

If everyone sends their old clutch actuator to me, I'll disect them and start working on root cause analysis.:)

Seroiusly though, I would love to get a couple of them to tear apart and see what makes them tick.....
 
#22 · (Edited)
Sounds like what happened to me awhile back. (sorry, just got home from work) my car started skipping gears, only using odd number gears, etc. I ended up disconnecting the battery and removing every electrical connector I could find on the motor and dried them out, and filled them with Dielectric grease. Some of the connectors did have water in them. Once I did that, the problem went away. Before I greased everything, I could go 5 miles and the check engine light would go on and generate a turbine shaft speed error. If I disconnected the battery for 1/2 hour, the error would clear.

I decided on the course of action after it quit acting up and I drove thru the car wash and it came back. 200+ miles to the nearest dealer so it was pretty much up to me to fix it.

I should also mention that at 16000 miles, I had trouble with shifting into gear at a stop sign. I got it home and then up to the dealer which was then only 50 miles away. They did the ground thing, and took it out for a test drive. It came back on a tow truck. They replaced the actuator, clutch position sensor and finally the transmission, clutch and pressure plate. No problems until the connector fix at 50K miles. At 71K miles, it has been running fine until the latest issue. but that is another story..
 
#23 ·
Thank you to everyone for the input!

I just picked up the car from the dealership, fingers crossed this has fixed it.

I emailed on Sam Rachidi (service manager who was working on my car) the link to that thread noting the new price changes effective April 1st on Tuesday, after reading the initial responses. He was PRETTY confused. He called me as soon as he got my email, we discussed, and he put me on hold for about 10 minutes while he discussed with the parts manager. Parts Manager had not recieved any memo from Smart USA about the price drop. BUT, they honored the new price for me, no questions asked :)

When Sam gave me the prognosis and original estimate, he DID state that it would take a couple of days to do the repair, because, "they had to order the part from Smart because we don't have any on hand at the moment" - so no, it was not a case of them having purchased the part previously at the higher price and not wanting to take a hit on the cost...which makes all of this more suspect, but hey, I ended up getting the new price, so I'm not going to complain too loudly ;) This just goes to show how important it is to do your research first. Thanks again, everyone!! you guys saved me $400! :D
 
#24 ·
Thank you to everyone for the input!

Parts Manager had not recieved any memo from Smart USA about the price drop. BUT, they honored the new price for me, no questions asked :)

This just goes to show how important it is to do your research first. Thanks again, everyone!! you guys saved me $400! :D
Not really surprised by this at all, either this was well-based Forum chatter that was never consumated OR, communication simply is not DVI's strong suit?

Glad that it appears to be working in your favor! Please do keep us posted on the outcome.
 
#30 ·
so, one other thing I wanted to add....

Since picking it up yesterday, the car seems to be shifting MUCH smoother in general - in fact, I don't ever remember it shifting so smoothly in auto mode, even when I first picked up the car brand new from the dealer :p I also had a knocking sound whenever the car was idling (so, anytime I was at a stop light, you could hear it, particularly from outside the car). I had noticed this sound after having the car for only a little over a year, but had been assured by my old dealership that the sound was totally normal (I had brought it up to the service manager at Lindsey Smart in Alexandria before my warranty was up, because I wanted them to address it before the warranty expired). LO AND BEHOLD, since picking up the car yesterday morning, NO MORE KNOCKING SOUND :p So, in fact, I'm now pretty annoyed with my OLD (unfortunately now non-existent) dealership :p

SO, FYI, if you have that knocking sound, you MIGHT be on the way to a clutch actuator replacement :p LOL. sigh.
 
#46 ·
I suspect the knocking sound is what most of us call the TAT TAT TAT sound. It is widely known and a very simple and easy fix, which I suspect your dealer took care of while your car was in for the other, and now you no longer hear the knocking sound as you call it. The smooth shifting is the result of the upgraded software in the transmission control unit which is smoothing everything out. Enjoy.
BB Benz
 
#31 ·
Typing this from SmartCenter of Cherry Hill, where my zebra was towed to this morning. I guess I should be thrilled at my circumstances:

1. Car made it 4 years (yes, I was one of the first to get one) and 45,000 miles without any issues at all except wheel/tire problems related to crappy Philly roads and not the Smart;


2. Dealership is less than 10 miles from home;


3. Clutch motor is in stock;


4. Total cost is $900 ($517 for the part, plus labor, diagnostics and software upgrade)


5. Total time lost from my life - 6 hrs (including waiting for the tow truck, waiting for them to diagnose the problem, and repair)


Still, I'd rather have the $900 back in my bank account.
 
#32 ·
****er motor
Get the old part back.
You can overhaul this motors if you can find new metal bushings( so no oil can contaminate the carbons)and new set of carbons.
You can extend the life of the motors for a while just by cleaning the interior with brake cleaner,eventualy transmission oil will contaminate the carbons again.
Rubyg

Mine lasted 25K miles now I have a used spare.
 
#33 ·
****er motor
Get the old part back.
You can overhaul this motors if you can find new metal bushings( so no oil can contaminate the carbons)and new set of carbons.
You can extend the life of the motors for a while just by cleaning the interior with brake cleaner,eventualy transmission oil will contaminate the carbons again.
Rubyg

Mine lasted 25K miles now I have a used spare.
NO, not the clutch actuator :sorrysign: Replacement only :(
 
#34 ·
M17 Gear Motor

Just had to have this replaced at 59,000 miles. If we had purchased the 60k extended warranty instead of the 40k, we'd be covered. Total cost to repair is just under $1,300. The only indication was when it failed. Similar to other stories, the engine remained running but the car would just rev and not move. Our new smart shop in San Luis Obispo, CA was able to make it move into the maintenance bay, so it was failing but not totally failed. Very happy to have a local shop finally as the closest Mercedes shop is 90 miles away in Santa Barbara. I would like to know why such a key component failed at such low mileage. We are extremely satisfied with our smart in spite of what Consumer's has to say about it. This is the only issue we have had.
 
#35 ·
Belated welcome to SCOA, and we are happy for your first post on this forum after all this time you being a strong silent member.

If the total cost of repair was under $1300 in 2012 dollars, that's still coming out ahead compared to the extra price of a 60k warranty over a 40k in 2008 dollars
(i also chose the 40k warranty in 08)

Not bad. It's still not a loss, but a draw.
 
#36 ·
I'm not sure that this is the right spot but I changed my oil today and noticed a big black spot on the bottom side of the car, its on what looks like the opposite side of the oil plug on the pan but seems to be grease, haven't found any spots on the driveway but I'm still a little cautious, I'm going to post a few pics on here to show the spot, does anyone know if this is normal or is it another expensive repair rearing its ugly head?
 
#38 ·
Looks like road grime is soaking up that "Little" weeping nicely... Looks like that bolt should have had sealer on it when installed... Check that the bolt is tight, and just keep an eye on it... The rest of us will be checking ours out the next time were under the car...
 
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