SMT Problems

Chris · June 18, 2003, 11:27

There I was driving through traffic to get to the station this morning, and I stopped at some traffic lights. All normal you say, but then it refused to pull away - it just sat there flashing N at me!! s:x :x s:x

I went back to N and tried again, and even switched off and started the whole starting process again, but the smt refused to look at 1st gear s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

After pushing it to the side of the road and fending off 3 traffic wardens, I tried again, and this time it pretended to shift (showing 1 in the display) but wouldn't dis-engage the clutch and just revved away... (reverse was the same). While waiting for the RAC to turn up, I tried again after leaving it for about 45-50 mins, and this time it all worked as normal! s:? :? s:? s:o

s:o

So, haas any one had similar experiances? Does the clutch on the smt have a particular aversion to crawling/sitting in traffic for about 20 mins or so? I know you should change to N if stationary for longer than 90 secs (according to the manual) but do you SMT'ers always change when you stop? Almost negates the effectiveness of the system if it can't cope!

Having said that, I've done the same journey every workday since March and it's never complained!

Anonymous · June 18, 2003, 13:23

Quote from: "Chris"Having said that, I've done the same journey every workday since March and it's never complained!

This maybr because you have warnt eh relise bearings, My dad had a BMW auto and he never used to put it in N when in traffic but after a few months the gear box had it relise bearings went as they were alwasy under strain. It may be the same with the smt but im not sure s:? :? s:?

Chris · June 18, 2003, 13:32

Hmmm I hope not Buster, as that sounds bad! Thank god for warranty, as there are several threads on spyderchat about people needing (multiple) smt ecu replacements. Apparently there is now an 'updated' one...

It worked ok for the remainig 10 min part of my journey to the station, I changed to N every time I stopped and just hoped it would come back again!! which it did... s:)

s:)

Kinda off putting, and dents your confidence/trust in the car... s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Anonymous · June 18, 2003, 13:37

as a slight off subject... with the SMT, is it like an automatic where you put it in first (or drive in an auto) and it will creep forward?

Chris · June 18, 2003, 13:55

No it should not creep at all, it will roll if not flat though - all the time your foot is not on the accelerator, then the clutch is engaged, afaik.

Some of the guys on SC have described that it does creep and stall just before needing an ecu replacement, but mine isn't doing that... touchwood s8)

s8)

Anonymous · June 18, 2003, 13:57

Thanks Chris - never driven (or even been in) an SMT so wondered how it worked s:)

s:)

zud · June 18, 2003, 14:54

My understanding was that the gearbox and clutch were (pretty much) the same as a manual, but an extra bit of kit engages/disengages the clutch automatically**. So drive-wise, it's much closer to a manual than an auto.

So if you leave it in 1 you get no creep, but it's like sitting with your foot on the clutch in a manual... and wears the clutch in the same way! I'm trying hard to remember this and use N a bit more often!

** a bit simplistic, and I'm sure others could provide a far more technical explanation!!

Slacey · June 18, 2003, 22:48

I seem to remember an old thread on the (now lost) Spyderchat, about the SMT's having problems with something or other overheating then shutting down for a while till it cools - sounds remarkably like the problem you desribed.

Chris · June 18, 2003, 23:12

It does indeed sound exactly like it - guess the test will be if it survives tomorrow's trip to the station..

Steve and I were talking about last year's southampton trip when we remembered this...

QuoteDaniella overheated the clutch, and got a Gearbox error light (orange one I believe) and it selected neutral because she was 'riding the clutch' by keep blipping the throttle rather than using the handbrake to stop herself rolling down the hill.

Your problem this morning sounded more like the pre-cursor to the total failure in my first SMT when one of the valves in the hydraulic selectors started leaking, which meant that whenever I changed from 2nd -> 3rd all of the reserve pressure in the pump was lost, resulting in the ECU being unable to dis-engage the clutch - not good when the anti-stall on the engine ECU tries to keep pushing you forward even with your foot hard on the brake!!!!!

If you have not had a gearbox warning light, then the dealers won't have a clue what is going on, so are probably not going to be much help.

filcee · June 19, 2003, 16:04

Quote from: "zud"My understanding was that the gearbox and clutch were (pretty much) the same as a manual, but an extra bit of kit engages/disengages the clutch automatically**. So drive-wise, it's much closer to a manual than an auto.

So if you leave it in 1 you get no creep, but it's like sitting with your foot on the clutch in a manual... and wears the clutch in the same way! I'm trying hard to remember this and use N a bit more often!

** a bit simplistic, and I'm sure others could provide a far more technical explanation!!

I think Zud is correct in his understanding of the clutch mechanics. As far as I have worked out it's basically a manual gearbox & clutch assembly with a hydraulic actuator for the clutch which replaces your left leg/third pedal combination in a standard manual. If you tickle the throttle pedal it is possible to engage the clutch and hold the car on a hill, much as you would for a hill start in a manual. There's probably another actuator or two that work the gear selector forks as you operate the lever/buttons to change up or down.

As a matter of interest I have always flicked mine into neutral and used the handbrake if I've stopped for more than a few seconds. I don't know why I started doing this, but I just did. Probably I was/am subconsciously worried about destroying the clutch if it stays engaged in any way while standing still in traffic.

Also, I think the clutch is automagically dis-engaged if you have your foot on the brake. You have to operate the brake and be in neutral to start the car (possibly to stop it leaping forward if there are any faults), and it will beep at you if you leave it in gear, engine running and foot off brake for 90 seconds whilst stationary, so there must be some correlation between clutch and brake activity.

Chris · June 19, 2003, 22:27

Well guys, just to update you all, I spoke to the dealer today. Just as SteveJ suspected, because no warning light was displayed this means that no error was logged that they could plug into and work on. They advised just to keep driving.... s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

They also said that as it's not a very common option, no-one knows much about it - he couldn't tell me if there is a heat shut off point for the clutch, or if it's disengaged when the brake is applied s:? :? s:? I very much suspect that there is and it does...

Does anyone know if there is a pool of knowledge further up the dealer chain - how about ringing customer services and asking for a service guy/dept?

Someone somewhere must know info about how the smt actually works!
(reminds me of a situation at work - tried to plug a plasma tv into a laptop but couldn't get decent res., so phone their tech. supp and they said sorry can't help as we don't get many people attaching them to pc's!!!)

I mean, come on - how can you sell a product and not know anything about it!! s:? :? s:?

filcee · June 20, 2003, 08:41

My experience of Toyota customer services is that they will take your complaint, then feed it back to the dealer who then get something like 3 days to respond to you. This is tracked by the CS people.

Trouble is, I think if you do this, you will still get the same answer [whinge] we don't see many, it's not very common [/whinge].

Given my experience of dealing with Japanese products, albeit outside of the motor industry, the key to this will be getting Toyota in the UK to contact Toyota in Japan and talk to them about the problem. The Japs will be able to solve it, because they probably already know what will have caused it. If they don't know, they will go away and try to re-create the circumstances and see if they get the same problem. This means you now have a new problem - persuading Toyota UK to pass this over to Japan for investigation.

Hmmmmm ..... good luck s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
filcee

Anonymous · June 20, 2003, 08:46

Just in case you want the head office customer care number its:

01737 367600

I dont think its on their web site and i got asked what my problem was before their main call centre gave me the number.

Ive not called it though, so dont shout at me if it puts you through to Domino's Pizza or something! s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Chris · June 20, 2003, 17:08

Cheers guys. I guess I'm just gonna wait to see if it was just a one off or if it deteriorates into needing a whole new ecu/gearbox etc type horrible messy scenario s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Anonymous · April 10, 2006, 05:13

Hey, I know I'm revisiting an old topic... but I'm having the exact same problem here.

This happens mainly in the moring... after 10 minutes diving the gearbox light comes on, then the gear either james, or the car stalls.

Turn everything off, then on again, and all is fine... what the hell?

Been to the service centre many time, new ecu, transmission "re-trained"... they can't recreate the problem. They give it back to me and straight away... bingo! There it is again.

Chris · April 10, 2006, 18:56

Hi Jetter,

See my more recent SMT problems thread - I eventually got a pressure control valve (or something) replaced and it has been fine since... touchwood...

I'll see if I can find the exact name/details of what I had replaced...