car wont start

[zelyx]

Hi there,

i have an 2005 fortwo passion and i have a strange problem with it.

some times (not to often) when i try to turn the key in the ignition the car will just completely die on me.

the stereo will keep playing, but the fan (AC) will stop, the dash will clear of any lamp that is usually up during startup.

to get it starting again i usually have to wait for a couple mins, take the key out, change it from Reverse to Neutral and so on, and then it will start again.

no problem with the start motor or anything, it starts right away. Which makes me think its an electrical issue or maybe something with the coding of the key ?

this usually happens if i say go for a drive , and then park the car for a couple minutes and then try to start it again.

i have tried changing the battery just to be sure (have a optima red top now)
i also changed the placement of the ground cable just to make sure.

any ideas on where to start looking for this, i recently bought the car so i have got an approval to have this problem fixed for free, but any help or good suggestions would be useful really dont want to have the car in a workshop for a month while they try to figure it out

sorry if there is any poor english here, im from norway.

Best regards
Niko

[gmac]

Re: car wont start

Hi Niko, Your English is good as you make yourself understood.
If you have 2 keys to your Smart does this happen with both keys? ( I have a problem with my spare key fob only working with it's old battery)
Have you tried changing the battery in the key fob?
The receiver for the key fob is under the carpet just by the gear stick so moving the gearstick may be moving the wiring to the receiver. I think you are right to check all the ground connections as quite often loose grounds give strange faults.
This is not much help but keep trying!
Graham

[lalli_d1]

Re: car wont start

sounds like its got damp in the fuse box not key issues! i had a similar problem with my 450 when it was raining. my mum tried to start it one time and had to call me home to see what was wrong with it. i left the ignition on with the fans running and by chance it started. i put it down to damp issues with it. see if the underside of the carpets are damp, which could mean you have a leak

[zelyx]

Re: car wont start

thanks for the swift replies

the car is not damp and i only got one key when i bought the car so they fixed me up with a spare key a couple weeks after.
Meaning the keys were reencoded late august this year.

its rather sporadic this issue i got here, i can go weeks without a problem and then have it every time i stop the car for a little while.

in the beginning i was parking the car in N with the handbrake on, then i switched to turning it off in R to leave it in gear.
i felt that changing to N everytime i had to start up helped for a while, but then i had problems starting again.

ill try swapping with the first key i got even tho they both were fixed to the car at the same time

[10:45PM]

Re: car wont start

It's nothing to do with your key(s)

The car is coded to the key(s), not the key(s) to the car, if it unlocks the car, it's done it's job succesfully and can't be blamed for any further problems with the car. (unlike the 451 key which is a transponder key and a fault on that could stop the car starting)

So put aside any ideas that your key is at fault and concentrate on the car, check basics like starter, battery, main earth and alternator connections , also ignition barrel switch

[problemchild1976]

Re: car wont start

Earth lead??

JJ

[mccsmart2002]

Re: car wont start

or maybe the brake light switch?

[zelyx]

Re: car wont start

lots of good suggestions here, will start with checking later on , brr hate doing this in the winter -22c out

[Jason]

Re: car wont start

I have a 52 plate smart car cab someone slashed the roof and snow poured in then melted my car wont start what items of the immobilzer will i need to change a friend has one he damaged and can give me the alarm parts to swap over which bitz will i need to change to make it run again any help would be appreciated Jason@douglasvalley.co.uk

[marc9985]

Re: car wont start

I have a fault with a smart pure
which is non start when you turn the key fuse 1 blows this fuse feeds the starter motor and ignition coil carried out some tests as follows
disconect starter motor and turn ignition new fuse blows re connect starter and disconet ignition coils 1 by 1 fuse blows
remove wiring from ecu turn on ignition fuse good
so the fault must be in the wiring from ecu now ive check contenty on starter wires all ok but need a diagram on ignition coil or advice can you he;p

[xploreituk]

Re: car wont start

Hi, Did you resolve the problem? Mine's misbehaving & have been quoted £300+ for a new starter motor, but think that if it is the starter motor, then it just wouldn't start at all!?

[chris525]

Re: car wont start

I have the same problem every so often when I try to start my 2001 Passion The air-con lights come on and so do the rear screen heater lights up also when key is turned to 1 the indicater light is on and but not the indicaters. The key will not work at all then after about 20mins it will clear down and everything will work as normal. does anybody know what this is.

[snowy.owl]

Re: car wont start

I have same issues with my 2006 smart fortwo coupe not starting. Sometimes it starts 1st time and others it won't. I can;t figure out any rhyme or reason for it. The car has just been serviced and has had K&N air filter cleaned. It seems to happen more often when I am driving round London. I seem to have to do a combination of putting the car into gear then to neutral, removing the key, locking and unlocking the car using the key, and having my foot hard on the brake. Other times when i am out of london it has been fine.

Any help/ideas/magic remedies much appreciated.

[RacingSnake]

Re: car wont start

Not sure which one of the 4 'my car does the same' posts you're refering to on this thread but starting point would be those mentioned on page 1

[putzie]

Re: car wont start

sounds like a few of you need to speak to fudge smart to sort your problems out!