Transmission problem
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Ditto jwight's reply. More likely shift motor or clutch actuator, assuming you have shift problems. At 33k km (20.5k miles) new transmission seems highly unlikely. Is it under warranty?
On the dash it shows three flashing bars and two flashing wrenches. Reaving(spelling) high. Garage said it was stuck in second. They put some device to get readings and their opinion was it need some kind of parts in tranny. As you can tell I’m not me mechanically inclined.Welcome to SCoA!Not common at all. Who says the transmission needs to be replaced, and why?
While it's entirely possible there could be a transmission issue at the root of the issue, I agree it seems very unlikely. My guess would also be clutch actuator, possibly shift motors, or that it just needs a retrain. If the computer at one point expected one result and the transmission was in another state, it can throw the 3 bars.
Assuming you were given an estimate, did they describe the issue there?
Edit:
I can't recall seeing any threads indicating an actual issue with the transmission itself as they are usually pretty reliable, but that doesn't mean it can't be the transmission, just seems very unlikely.
If you can get the diagnostic codes, or have someone rescan the CAN bus to get the codes, your chances of getting better help increase significantly.
To try and help you understand how the tranmission in these work let me give a brief description.....
The transmission is a manual transmission, with a clutch. In general it is the same as you would find in a car with a clutch pedal and a stick shift, except in these cars those are operated by electric motors.
Under the car, attached to the tranmission is an electric motor which operates a piston. That piston pushes the clutch in to disengage the clutch; it is the clutch actuator.
Under the airbox is another set of motors, also attached to the tranmission but on top of the tranmission, these are the shift motors. The car's computer tells them which way to turn to select which gear to shift the transmission into.
If either the clutch actuator or the shift motors aren't working right, you'll get the 3 bars. There are methods to cause the car to relearn what state the transmission is in and reset itself usually referred to as "re-teach", "re-learn", etc when there's a problem. If there's an underlying issue, the re-teach will fail until that underlying issue is resolved.
Last but not least, depending on where you are there might be a Smart specialist in your area who may be more familiar than a general mechanic and, in some instances, a better choice than even the dealership.
Assuming you were given an estimate, did they describe the issue there?
Edit:
I can't recall seeing any threads indicating an actual issue with the transmission itself as they are usually pretty reliable, but that doesn't mean it can't be the transmission, just seems very unlikely.
If you can get the diagnostic codes, or have someone rescan the CAN bus to get the codes, your chances of getting better help increase significantly.
To try and help you understand how the tranmission in these work let me give a brief description.....
The transmission is a manual transmission, with a clutch. In general it is the same as you would find in a car with a clutch pedal and a stick shift, except in these cars those are operated by electric motors.
Under the car, attached to the tranmission is an electric motor which operates a piston. That piston pushes the clutch in to disengage the clutch; it is the clutch actuator.
Under the airbox is another set of motors, also attached to the tranmission but on top of the tranmission, these are the shift motors. The car's computer tells them which way to turn to select which gear to shift the transmission into.
If either the clutch actuator or the shift motors aren't working right, you'll get the 3 bars. There are methods to cause the car to relearn what state the transmission is in and reset itself usually referred to as "re-teach", "re-learn", etc when there's a problem. If there's an underlying issue, the re-teach will fail until that underlying issue is resolved.
Last but not least, depending on where you are there might be a Smart specialist in your area who may be more familiar than a general mechanic and, in some instances, a better choice than even the dealership.
no estimate yet as they are looking for parts for something, I need to go back to view the actual report, thanks for your replies.
It doesn't sound they are either. "It needs some kind of parts in the tranny" sounds like they are going to start throwing parts at it until it works better and who do you think will get the bill? In my opinion, I would look for a shop familiar with smarts and can give a much better diagnosis.
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