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While in Neutral, Car Tries to Move Forward.

2K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  simon dearsley 
#1 ·
My 2009 SMART Passion ForTwo will not drive and is experiencing a really strange behavior.

What happens is that I start the car, and while it's in park and idling, it will disengage the clutch just until it slightly lugs forward like an inch... then stop pretty much as soon as it's detecting the movement... at least that's what it seems like. It will continue to do this approximately every 6 seconds.

While it's in reverse or drive, it simply refuses to move at all. It tries... but it's as if something is locked in place preventing it from moving.

I had the software updated on it, changed out the clutch since I read somewhere that it could be the problem if it wasn't lined up properly when the motor was replaced.

Right now I have no idea what it could be and don't necessarily want to replace the transmission, since the car ran just fine and only experienced an engine failure prior to this.

Let me know if you need any further descriptions of symptoms or want a video of exactly what it's doing. Thanks in advance!!!

Back Story: Awhile back I was getting a knocking noise from the motor and drove it to the dealership. It had gotten progressively worse from when it started happening to the 30 minutes later when I got to the dealership.

They said it was due to a bearing in the motor that was worn out and I would have to replace the motor. I ended up towing it home.

I should have driven it at least onto the trailer, because I would have learned sooner than later that the dealership (Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills) had swapped out my working clutch actuator and replaced it with a faulty one from another vehicle.

I didn't realize this until I had swapped out the engine and it wouldn't move. So it was quickly determined that the clutch actuator was broken (because it wasn't mine to begin with). I went ahead and just bought a new one, but then the car still wouldn't work. It experienced this very strange behavior that both Mercedes and a specialty repair shop for SMART have no clue what's going on.
 
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#3 ·
I have not... never even heard of them. If someone from their shop is active on this forum, would be great to get their feedback. I'm hoping not to get back to where I've been... which is towing it to another shop just for them to tell me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
#5 ·
Here's a bit more further clarification on this situation...

When I first installed the clutch actuator back after replacing the clutch, it was not engaged by the clutch actuator (maybe that's obvious as it would be extremely hard to push it in and bolt up). Once everything was put back together and the battery was plugged back in, the car would do its thing with the relearning and cycle through all the gears.

When the car is in park, I of course don't expect it to move... and it stays in place. This is most likely because of the mechanical park prawl, which I do see appears to be functioning correctly. When the car is in parked it's in one position and when it's out of park it's in another.

If the car is in put into neutral, it sits there for about 6 seconds before disengaging the clutch and as it starts to move forward it then reengages it. So it seems the car isn't mechanically in neutral, even though it thinks it is.

I was thinking the transmissions could be seized since it sat for about 2 years before finally doing the motor swap, but it's able to inch forward every 6 seconds while in neutral. Maybe the transmission motors aren't working into getting it in/out of the gear that it's in? I don't get any alerts up on the dash.

I'm no transmission expert, but I'll draw a parallel between what my car is doing and what would be happening if it were to happen on a motorcycle... since they both are "manual" transmissions.

Say I'm on my motorcycle and I pull in the clutch and start it up. Then I switch it into neutral and the green light goes in signifying it's in neutral. I then start letting out the clutch. However, I notice it's starting to move forward so I quickly pull the clutch back in. Confused by this, I try again to let out the clutch again in 6 seconds thinking that somehow there's going to be a different outcome, but nope... starts to move forward again.

Really hoping it's a simple fix :/
 
#7 ·
I'm in the Los Angeles area... so will be checking with the Culver City shop. My fear is it's just going to end up being the same run around. Wanting me to tow the car there, then tell me what I already know, then have to tow it back since the repairs are going to be astronomical.
 
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