When you find out about unusual noises on your smart forfour you usually tend to be concerned. Especially when you experience a noise coming from the release bearing of your smart forfour. It is immediately assimilated to an engine problem and can therefore be serious. As we know that you do not take these problems lightly, we have chosen to create this document to help you find the triggers and free yourself from this issues as quickly as possible. To do this, we will first concentrate on the purpose and operation of the release bearing of your clutch, and in a second step we will look in detail at the different release bearing noises on smart forfour and their sources.
What is the function and operation of the release bearing on smart forfour?
Function of the release bearing on smart forfour
The release bearing of your smart forfour has a crucial purpose in the operation of your entire gearbox system. In fact, its task is to liberate the gearbox from the rotation of the engine block via its action. This will allow you to shift gears. It is controlled by the clutch pedal and then by the release fork, which, when it is activated, will press on the clutch and release the gearbox from engine rotation for you allow you to shift gears on your smart forfour.
Objective of release bearing smart forfour
Let’s now look at the technical side, the release bearing is composed of two parts, a first fixed part that slides only when the stop is pulled, or pushed (determined by its type) and finally a rotating part that is composed of a bearing that will allow it to stay in contact with the mechanism and follow its rotation.
There are two distinct sort of release bearing smart forfour :
- Pulled release bearing
- Hydraulic release bearing
It is the most unconventional of the two sort of release bearing . This one, unlike the hydraulic form, is operated by a mechanical pulling system that will release the clutch disc. In this case, the release bearing must be mechanically fixed to the mechanism.
The hydraulic release bearing, although more technical, is the version most used in contemporary cars. It is however more complex than the pulled release bearing. In fact, it will be composed of a hydraulic tube that will receive the pressure directly from the clutch pedal.
More conventional clutch stop
Release bearing noises smart forfour and their sources
I experience a release bearing noise on smart forfour once I drive and it stops when I release my clutch pedal
If you experience a noise from your gearbox, release bearing or clutch itself when your engine is running, but it ends when you press your clutch pedal, this noise often sounds like a bell noise, it is highly possible that your release bearing is the reason. Make sure that this noise stops when you disengage, in which circumstance it is time to change the release bearing of your smart forfour.
I experience a release bearing noise when my pedal is up and I experience jolts in my foot
If you experience too much or too little resistance when you press your clutch pedal, and it is connected with jolts that you can experience in your clutch pedal, then the stop/fork release/blades grouping is damaged. In fact, this noise often comes from the broken fork that no longer allows the system to work normally.
I experience a grinding noise coming from the release bearing of my smart forfour when I try to shift gears and they do not shift
This issues appears most often on models equipped with hydraulic release bearing. It is often connected to a clutch pedal that has little or no resistance. If you are in this circumstance and you feel a grinding or cracking noise coming from the release bearing of your smart forfour, then you probably have a leak coming from your release bearing. It must therefore be replaced promptly or risk damaging your gearbox in addition to the clutch. If you have a noise coming from the gearbox of your smart forfour and it’s not from your release bearing, check this article to have more informations.
