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  • Help and Advice needed, multiple weird problems with 450

    Hello all and thank you in advance.

    Used 2003 pure 700cc semi auto. 168250 km on the clock

    Problem 1: Electrics. When the left turn signal is on, the rear fog light turn on but only when the headlights are on. This is also tied to stereo ilumination which turns on and of when the left turn signal is on (but not when the headlights are on) . This also affects stereo sound as when headlights are on, sound is staticky and almost goes to zero.

    Problem 2. There is no horn, I have been told there is a ribbon cable missing? can you advise?

    Problem 3. Perhaps the most troubling, Shop which fixed oil leak from engine (kudos to them) mentioned that I need new gearbox, clutch etc. The car drives fine, the clutch doesn't slip, and it doesn't seem to be missing a gear or not being able to stay in any gear. There is as "pebble in a tin can" sound coming from behind, especially at 2nd and 3rd gear, which goes when shifting into 4th, 5th and 6th, but I don't know if that is relevant or not.

    Any advice is greatly appreciated.

  • #2
    Electrics are most likely a ground issue. Clean the ground for the battery. Clean the ground for the engine. Take the engine mat up and look for a ground near the left hand rear indicator. Obviously check any other ground connections you find.
    Horn could be down to the ribbon cable in the back of the steering wheel. Before you go taking the steering wheel off, read up on it as you could end up making things worse by upsetting the steering angle sensor. As with any thing electrical that doesn't work, you will need to do some troubleshooting to find out where the problem is. First thing to do is check the fuses. Horn is in an awkward place; you either have to take off the front cowl or the cars under shield(s). Use a multimeter to check if the connections to the horn are actually getting power when you press the horn button or is the horn dead? Then work your way back up the steering wheel. Do you have power the horn switches? Then onto wards the SAM and check connections for the cables.
    You can always run your own cable from a switch in the cabin to the horn to make it work.

    Garage tells you you need a new gearbox / clutch but doesn't tell you why? Not sure they know what they are talking about at that point. Not so many garage around now that actually still deal with the earlier Smart car as far as I can tell. They wold obviously be the best places to take your car if you want to know if you need a new gearbox / clutch. - Replacing the clutch is not that hard, quite long winded with what you have to take off before you actually can take off the gearbox, but perfectly possible to do at home if you have the tools and the time.

    John

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    • #3
      Originally posted by heinkeljb View Post
      Electrics are most likely a ground issue. Clean the ground for the battery. Clean the ground for the engine. Take the engine mat up and look for a ground near the left hand rear indicator. Obviously check any other ground connections you find.
      Horn could be down to the ribbon cable in the back of the steering wheel. Before you go taking the steering wheel off, read up on it as you could end up making things worse by upsetting the steering angle sensor. As with any thing electrical that doesn't work, you will need to do some troubleshooting to find out where the problem is. First thing to do is check the fuses. Horn is in an awkward place; you either have to take off the front cowl or the cars under shield(s). Use a multimeter to check if the connections to the horn are actually getting power when you press the horn button or is the horn dead? Then work your way back up the steering wheel. Do you have power the horn switches? Then onto wards the SAM and check connections for the cables.
      You can always run your own cable from a switch in the cabin to the horn to make it work.

      Garage tells you you need a new gearbox / clutch but doesn't tell you why? Not sure they know what they are talking about at that point. Not so many garage around now that actually still deal with the earlier Smart car as far as I can tell. They wold obviously be the best places to take your car if you want to know if you need a new gearbox / clutch. - Replacing the clutch is not that hard, quite long winded with what you have to take off before you actually can take off the gearbox, but perfectly possible to do at home if you have the tools and the time.

      John

      Thank you very much for you help. Regarding the gearbox/clutch, the shop said "you can tell it is dying because of the sound it makes, we will know if you need a new clutch etc when we open things up, you may not, but you are more likely to need it".

      As I said, there is a "pebble in a tin can" sound coming from the back in 1st, 2nd and especially 3rd, which mostly goes away in 4th and almost disappears in 5th and 6th but I have never owned a smart before so I don't know if that is normal or a noice Smart cars do.

      Comment


      • #4
        I had a similar problem with my indicators. Every time I put the left indicator on, the dash would light up & the headlights would come on!
        Turned out to be the insulation on the indicator/headlight switch wiring had rotted & fallen off. If you take off the speedo unit you will find lots of plastic chips like a squirrel has had a good chew. The stalk is easy enough to get of to repair or replace. I would up load a picture but the site won't let me!

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