Dash Cog + 5th Won't Engage

[Whisperhead]

2000 MR-S
SMT 5


So, today I screwed up.
Had to get home in that horrendous storm, and got trapped on a country road between huge puddles. I had no choice but to go through, letting other (taller) cars go ahead so I could gauge the depth.

Well I got a wet foot, and evidently something under the engine got a bit wet. I didn't plough through like a moron, it was extremely low speed, like 3mph.

After going through, I sat with the engine idling for a bit out of gear (engine didn't die, it wasn't a tidal wave over the car, just super slow rolling slowly through).

I know this another how long is a piece of string question, but afterwards when I baby'd the car onwards, it wouldn't engage first gear. But it would engage second and onwards.

Then, 5th wouldn't engage (icon would go from 4 to 5 and really quickly switch back to 4). 1st gear does now engage, albeit with a little hesitation.

It idles fine, and there was no massive plume of steam out the exhaust so it isn't hydrolocked or anything like that. I was as careful as possible.

But - cog icon appeared on the dash, and now no 5th. Clutch felt like it was slipping in 3rd and 4th on occasion. I will add I haven't driven it since so until tomorrow when I start her up again in the morning, I won't know if that cog icon is still there or not. Rain is sideways out there.

I know I'm a knob, but I felt I had no choice.

I'm leaving the car to dry out overnight. It's parked with the ass pointing downhill so should help anything drip off.

Scanned with Torque Pro two separate times a few minutes apart, no fault codes present.

Any advice fellows?

[Carolyn]

Let it dry out and then see.

[Joesson]

Having had at least two "huge puddle" experience, albeit in cars other than the MR2, I agree with @Carolyn.

As for your comment  Well I got a wet foot. A source of water leakage I found on my 2 was the seal around the steering column, I noticed a small ingress of water when caught out in the wet and found the bulkhead seal had split.
I got a replacement from TCB and with some physical dexterity managed to remove the old and fit the new seal.

[Whisperhead]

Thabsk for the input, I appreciate it a lot. I'm probably panicking about nothing, this car has been through a lot already and is still going.
It's has been a stressful few weeks and I guess it got the better of me.

I'll update.

[Call the midlife!]

My money is on the usual suspect, poor earth on the crank position sensor, bearing in mind you probably gave it a good soaking.

[Whisperhead]

Sorry it took me  while to get back here to update - it's been a mad few weeks...

Car is fine, as suspected a good overnight drying (coupled with those crazy winds we've been having) seems to have resolved itself. I'll be keeping an eye out, and I'm tempted to get the clutch replaced in spring anyway as it's original to the car at 77,000 miles.

Thank you for your input everyone, as always very helpful.

[Gaz mr-s]

You should join the SMT group on facebook,  I needed help working on one & got great advice. He may be on here too, not sure, but there's an English guy who gets SMT parts from the the far east who's a good lad.

[fawtytoo]

As an SMT owner I'll tell you what happened to you. There are 3 sensors on the GSA (Gear Shift Actuator bolted to the gearbox); 2 for gear selection, 1 for clutch. The electrical connections simply got wet and the ECU got incorrect readings.

As @Carolyn said, just let it dry out.

Have you got an undertray at the rear? If it's missing, you'll get more water splash up than normal.

[fawtytoo]

and I'm tempted to get the clutch replaced in spring anyway as it's original to the car at 77,000 miles.

Mines on the original at 73,000. Despite having no clutch pedal to "feel" the bite, if the car moves off from standstill will little effort on the throttle, I wouldn't worry about it. At lower driving speeds and higher gears, there will be tiny amounts of clutch slip as the ECU makes adjustments (a bit like riding the clutch in a manual) so don't be alarmed by that.

Being in one gear lower in an SMT is better for the clutch. For example, 3rd gear at 30mph rather than 4th and change at 35mph to 4th. You end up with slightly higher revs for the gear after changing which helps the ECU keep the clutch fully engaged. And you should still get minimum 40mpg as I do.

Another way to put it is more enthusiastic driving on faster roads is better for the clutch than gentle driving around town in an SMT.

[fawtytoo]

there's an English guy who gets SMT parts from the the far east who's a good lad.

I wasn't aware you can get parts for our SMT's as there aren't any new parts available.

Do you have a link for him or the FB group, etc?

[Gaz mr-s]

I wasn't aware you can get parts for our SMT's as there aren't any new parts available.

Do you have a link for him or the FB group, etc?

I didn't mean new parts.  I'm told the folk in the east convert to full auto, so he gets parts via a contact.   There are one or two folk though that have had parts made.   https://www.facebook.com/groups/656921144477464

[fawtytoo]

I didn't mean new parts.  I'm told the folk in the east convert to full auto, so he gets parts via a contact.   There are one or two folk though that have had parts made.   https://www.facebook.com/groups/656921144477464

Cool, thanks. Got to keep the remaining SMT's in the UK alive!

[Whisperhead]

This is all excellent info folks, thank you! I think I am just paranoid these days, as I've had some true disasters with previous cars I've owned (Smart Roadster gearbox wire chafe, Corvette C4 water pump + distributor failure x3, Capri battery leaving the car entirely on a roundabout, Pontiac Firebird mystery misfire for 2 years now, Ford Ka fuel pump failure as I drove onto the dealership forecourt to trade it in) so I really appreciate the encouraging atmosphere here. Love this car so much and I want it to survive.