[D.tallgrl]

"someone" took the driver's side rail off my (2008 passion 451) little Marty smarta$$. In a hurry I didn't notice untill after trying to close it a couple times. After some bad words and a cold trip I returned home to locate said rail and put Marty to bed.
Unfortunately the top kept getting hung up on the driver's side.
After a cleaning and lube the passengers side slide smoothly along leaving the driver's side in the dust.
Now the top is jammed sideways the driver's side still sitting back where the rail separates from the frame and the passengers side about 4inches past it.
How can I manually move the passengers side back into position and keep the cats from making a home in my tiny car.
"Someone" suggested tapping it with a rubber mallet "lightly" untill it is un jammed.
I have seen pics of how to use the provided tool in the spots over the rear window to crank the motors by hand. My smarty doesn't look like that back there. Now what🤷

 

[PennyR]

😬 I hope everything works out for you! This is the best place to ask and receive questions and answers! I just got my 2011 smart in July and am very glad I stumbled across this site! Good luck and I hope someone can help you out. 😊

 

[the big e]

Check to see if the cable is still intact.
If it’s broke it won’t close or open your top on that side.
Mine is like this only the drivers side cable is either broken or missing.
You might be able to push it closed by hand(depending on if the cable is broke or not)
The motors may have gotten out of sync and it’s getting the the top in a jam.
Check the cables first then go from there.

 

[the big e]

Do the manual moving of the side that’s not working by hand till it’s closed(slight tapping may be needed if it doesn’t move easily)

 

[D.tallgrl]

Update: "someone" has completely removed the top now so I don't know what might or might not have been broken. The back window is closed but he says at least I can still drive it with just the top part open. In mid -october.
Good thing I have a large hoodie collection.
Now I guess I'll watch that video on YouTube and compare parts as I learn how to put it back together.

 

[D.tallgrl]

Do the manual moving of the side that’s not working by hand till it’s closed(slight tapping may be needed if it doesn’t move easily)

The manual moving part. Is that done just by force or is there a method to move the sides like on the 450 model

 

[D.tallgrl]

OH MY it just gets worse!! Went to look at the top today to see what needs doing.
One cassette ?locking mechanism is attached to the removed soft top. But the slidepart was snapped off and is still in the passengers side rail. Still stuck up past the halfway point. Driver's side cassette is still in the rail still stuck at the stage 2 area. It still won't go into the rail to close nor can I open it all the way because of the passengers side not being able to come back to the stage 2 position. .
I don't know how he was able remove the top without being able to lower the back window. Perhaps that is why some of the parts art attached to the sort top like they are supposed to be and others are still in the car.

So my original question still stands.
Is there a way to manually move them. The motors are so out of sync that they only slide a couple inches each way and I cannot remove either rail .

 

[the big e]

The manual moving part will have to be done by force there is no other way like the 450 smarts have.
That pretty much means new cables and gears as that’s what happens when they get out of sync(one of my cables are completely gone from the track so I’m trying to figure out how that happened)
The tops on these cars do come off in two halves(top and rear)
Smart/Mercedes has a video on YouTube that shows this process(sadly for me it’s useless as mine doesn’t go back that far to remove the rails)
You may have to gain access to the motors themselves to get to the cables(if both are still intact and in the car) to get them back in sync(where the motors are I can’t answer that right off)

 

[D.tallgrl]

The manual moving part will have to be done by force there is no other way like the 450 smarts have.
That pretty much means new cables and gears as that’s what happens when they get out of sync(one of my cables are completely gone from the track so I’m trying to figure out how that happened)
The tops on these cars do come off in two halves(top and rear)
Smart/Mercedes has a video on YouTube that shows this process(sadly for me it’s useless as mine doesn’t go back that far to remove the rails)
You may have to gain access to the motors themselves to get to the cables(if both are still intact and in the car) to get them back in sync(where the motors are I can’t answer that right off)

I cannot remove my rails either , and manually moving them by force seems near impossible. I am afraid to push too hard and damage something else.

How can I unplug one motor and have just one side move. That way I can at least get everything in the same place. By moving just the passengers side .

 

[1983JZR3W]

You need to have "someone" leave your car alone unless they plan to pay for it's repair. It's obvious they are not a skilled smart repair person. If there is not a Mercedes-Smart dealer near you, I would take it to a qualified convertible top repair shop. Good luck!

 

[the big e]

Ok it seems your cables aren’t broke just the motors are out of sync.
I would take 1983JZR3W’s advice and take to a local dealer or convertible shop that can take a look at it.
The motors has gears which has likely got stripped causing them to get out of sync(which means cable and gear replacement most likely.
Take it in to be safe that it’s fixed right.