When your car is running normally everything is fine, however if it begins to have frequent complications you might start to wonder, especially if your car won’t start. In this post we will show you where the starter of a smart forfour is, it will help you to fix your ignition complications. To achieve this, we will first illustrate the function of a starter, then, where is the starter on a smart forfour , and, at last, how to change the starter of a car.

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Function of the starter on your smart forfour

We start this content by explaining the function of the starter motor on your smart forfour. The starter is an electric motor which is powered by your battery, its function will be to make your engine run at a high enough speed to start it (usually around 300/400 rpm). It is built from three most important parts:

  • The Solenoid: This part is an electrical relay that will act as a switch, it will be activated by the key of your smart forfour and let the current from your battery to the engine of your alternator.
  • The engine: Most important element of your alternator, it is the one that will drive the flywheel of your smart forfour and create enough speed for your engine to start.

  • The engagement pinion: This is the last component of your starter, it is the toothed wheel that will be in direct contact with the flywheel, it enables to transfer the force from the starter to the engine.

Where is the starter on a smart forfour?

Now that we have fairly quickly detailed what a starter is and how it works, we will answer the question that most of you have to ask yourselves where is the starter based on a smart forfour? It is quite easy to locate a starter, in truth, it is a large component that will almost constantly be placed in a similar place. We let you see the two possible locations for your car starter below.

Location of the starter on classic smart forfour

First and most basic circumstance, where to locate the starter of a smart forfour with a conventional motor (implied without start and stop). The starter has a specific action, to start the engine of your car, for that, it must constantly be near the engine flywheel of this one because it is the component that it actuates when it is used. The flywheel is based at the junction between your gearbox and your engine.

Location of the starter to smart forfour with start and stop

And now second possible starter location of your smart forfour . This case is much less frequent. It only is about engines fitted with start and stop, and a good component of them will be equipped with a starter placed close to the flywheel. Nevertheless, on some specific series or engines, the starter of your smart forfour might be integrated in your alternator, it is then called a starter-alternator, to locate it nothing easier, identify your accessory belt and you should see the big starter block.

How to change the starter on a smart forfour?

Finally, we’ll show you to you actually quite fairly quickly how to change the starter of a smart forfour. This procedure is not necessarily complex, it can be considered by people who have a minimum of simple mechanical expertise and adapted tools. Follow below the most important steps to perform this intervention:

  • Disconnect the battery on your smart forfour, if you don’t know how to do it, don’t hesitate to seek advice from our content which explains how to do it without taking any risk.
  • After finding your starter, loosen the fasteners that hold it in your engine block, there will usually be 2 or 3
  • .

  • It will be time to disconnect the power cables from the starter motor of your smart forfour, however before doing so we advise you to take a picture of the set up to avoid making a mistake when reassembling.
  • It’s possible that to remove it you might need to remove auto parts like the gimbal.
  • Remount the new starter, being careful when connecting the connectors.
  • Reconnect your battery and test your starter.

Whenever you have any further questions about the smart forfour, do not hesitate to consult our smart forfour category.