SMG Error 59: Help needed!!!

[oceansize]

At this point I can't help but feel something in the clutch installation has gone awry. You are far from the only one to hit this issue (repeated 59 error code). Once a new slave has been installed and the problem remains it seems to usually be clutch related. This assumes your pump is holding pressure and all else appears normal.

This was someone else who had the issue and resolved it by manual swap. You might consider a swap if upon disassembly you still can't see a problem or find resolution, there is an appropriate time for that action.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/188910-strange-smg-issue?p=199567#post199567

[sapote]

Error 59... slave plugged in and the car doesn't go into any gear. Unplug slave and i get every gear BUT 5th.

Engine was off? I don't see how the gear was shifted without grinding noise wiht engine running and slave position sensor unplugged.

[x Spades x]

Interesting about the air... I had a similar scenario when i had too much air in the system, what i realized was the the pump didnt have enough oil within its reservoir (essentially the black cover where the red snap ring goes) - You have to make sure this reservoir is full (up to the snap ring) before connecting the expansion tank.

If not, i would lean into saying something is mechanically wrong with the clutch installed.

Also, just because it goes in gear it does not mean that the clutch is working properly/installed properly. The actuator is essentially the shift rod, which in any manual transmission, given that the engine is off, you can select any gear you want without engaging the clutch. Same with SMG.

Hope this helps...

So I installed the brand new slave from FCP Euro (confirmed its new with one time clip, etc), and still the same exact issue.

Error 59... slave plugged in and the car doesn't go into any gear. Unplug slave and i get every gear BUT 5th. Failing the first smg bleed test (Actuator).

I dont know what else to check at this point.

New Slave, 4 GPS, 2 different smg pump units. :-(

[Irhase46m3]

Gotcha.
OK, I will tryin it out tonight.
If that doesn't fix the issue, are we saying it has to do with the installation (Clutch,fork, etc)?
I figure those would be ok since the car goes into 1-4, 6, R (missing 5), which would mean the clutch is functioning correctly... but again I'm lost.

Also, is it normal to keep hearing air sounds coming out of the Actuator, during the bleed test... after 70 bleeds? I figured that sounds would be done a long time ago, no?

Interesting about the air... I had a similar scenario when i had too much air in the system, what i realized was the the pump didnt have enough oil within its reservoir (essentially the black cover where the red snap ring goes) - You have to make sure this reservoir is full (up to the snap ring) before connecting the expansion tank.

If not, i would lean into saying something is mechanically wrong with the clutch installed.

Also, just because it goes in gear it does not mean that the clutch is working properly/installed properly. The actuator is essentially the shift rod, which in any manual transmission, given that the engine is off, you can select any gear you want without engaging the clutch. Same with SMG.

Hope this helps...

[x Spades x]

Don't press in the rod too hard (just slight pressure to make sure it doesn't move/wobble, but really it is easy to tell because new the rod is self-centered), the one time clip breaks the first time it is used. Because the rod is held in place when new it is easier to align during installation.

Gotcha.
OK, I will tryin it out tonight.
If that doesn't fix the issue, are we saying it has to do with the installation (Clutch,fork, etc)?
I figure those would be ok since the car goes into 1-4, 6, R (missing 5), which would mean the clutch is functioning correctly... but again I'm lost.

Also, is it normal to keep hearing air sounds coming out of the Actuator, during the bleed test... after 70 bleeds? I figured that sounds would be done a long time ago, no?

[oceansize]

Understood.
Well I bought another slave from FCP and will pick it up this afternoon (they are 5 min from my house). I didn't check that the last time, as I didn't know about this one-time clip. If I press in this new one, won't it mess up the clip and now had slop to the rod?

So it's either this new slave fixes the issue, or start pulling the tranny again?

Don't press in the rod too hard (just slight pressure to make sure it doesn't move/wobble, but really it is easy to tell because new the rod is self-centered), the one time clip breaks the first time it is used. Because the rod is held in place when new it is easier to align during installation.

[x Spades x]

With regards to the new slave from FCP, when you received it could you press the rod into the cylinder? You shouldn't have been able to as there is some kind of one time use clip that keeps the rod from moving which helps during installation. Just curious if what you received was possibly somebody else's returned part and this is one way to tell.

As far as something being wrong during re-assembly that is certainly possible, but unfortunately I don't how we would diagnose that short of you taking stuff apart.

Compression spring problems typically come into play under medium to high RPM, so while possible I suppose, I highly doubt it.

Understood.
Well I bought another slave from FCP and will pick it up this afternoon (they are 5 min from my house). I didn't check that the last time, as I didn't know about this one-time clip. If I press in this new one, won't it mess up the clip and now had slop to the rod?

So it's either this new slave fixes the issue, or start pulling the tranny again?

[oceansize]

So update... still Error 59 after an pump swap AND GPS swap.

I'm on like to 100th bleed and still failing the first test. I've noticed that during the test, the actuator is still letting out air... is that normal? Why hasn't all of the air been let out by now??

Also disconnected the Slave and ran the first bleed test. It failed but not I don't have error 59 any more, but Error 40 (59 is gone). While the slave is disconnected, I went into INPA and check all the gears. It shifted into ever gear perfectly EXCEPT for 5th (turned red every time). When the slave is plugged in, it doesn't shift into anything.

Summary:
Slave plugged in = Fail First test. INPA can shift into all gears except for 5th. Error 59
Slave UNPLUGGED = Fail First test. INPA can't shift into ANY gears. Only Error 40 (PCLD Sensor)

I'm assuming when I pulled apart the engine and tranny, I put everything back together properly (Clutch/pressure plate, fork, fork spring, etc.)?
Should I get a new Slave Cylinder? What about these compression spring I read about?

With regards to the new slave from FCP, when you received it could you press the rod into the cylinder? You shouldn't have been able to as there is some kind of one time use clip that keeps the rod from moving which helps during installation. Just curious if what you received was possibly somebody else's returned part and this is one way to tell.

As far as something being wrong during re-assembly that is certainly possible, but unfortunately I don't how we would diagnose that short of you taking stuff apart.

Compression spring problems typically come into play under medium to high RPM, so while possible I suppose, I highly doubt it.

[x Spades x]

So update... still Error 59 after an pump swap AND GPS swap.

I'm on like to 100th bleed and still failing the first test. I've noticed that during the test, the actuator is still letting out air... is that normal? Why hasn't all of the air been let out by now??

Also disconnected the Slave and ran the first bleed test. It failed but not I don't have error 59 any more, but Error 40 (59 is gone). While the slave is disconnected, I went into INPA and check all the gears. It shifted into ever gear perfectly EXCEPT for 5th (turned red every time). When the slave is plugged in, it doesn't shift into anything.

Summary:
Slave plugged in = Fail First test. INPA can shift into all gears except for 5th. Error 59
Slave UNPLUGGED = Fail First test. INPA can't shift into ANY gears. Only Error 40 (PCLD Sensor)

I'm assuming when I pulled apart the engine and tranny, I put everything back together properly (Clutch/pressure plate, fork, fork spring, etc.)?
Should I get a new Slave Cylinder? What about these compression spring I read about?

[x Spades x]

Its a red plastic lock ring, try to push the plastic tube all the way into the reservoir, that should lift the ring up a bit, then compress it by pushing down evenly and pull the plastic hose out. They can break so be careful as i dont know the part number for this (maybe someone else does) - if it still does not want to come out try to disconnect the hose from the intake side which will give you better access to try and remove it.

hope this helps..

Helped IMMENSELY, I got it out.... thank you!!

[Irhase46m3]

Side note...

I'm trying to quickly swap out the smg for a known running one. I have the csl airbox with the smg expansion tank. For some reason, it seems like I cant get the expansion tank hydraulic line OUT of the smg unit. Does anyone know how to take this out? I see it fits into a red housing... but when I try to pull up, it seems to be "locked" into the red ring housing.

Its a red plastic lock ring, try to push the plastic tube all the way into the reservoir, that should lift the ring up a bit, then compress it by pushing down evenly and pull the plastic hose out. They can break so be careful as i dont know the part number for this (maybe someone else does) - if it still does not want to come out try to disconnect the hose from the intake side which will give you better access to try and remove it.

hope this helps..

[x Spades x]

Side note...

I'm trying to quickly swap out the smg for a known running one. I have the csl airbox with the smg expansion tank. For some reason, it seems like I cant get the expansion tank hydraulic line OUT of the smg unit. Does anyone know how to take this out? I see it fits into a red housing... but when I try to pull up, it seems to be "locked" into the red ring housing.

[x Spades x]

I would at least jack rear wheels off ground and no hand brake so they can spin freely – the TCM might need to have wheels turn during clutch bite calibration.

Error code 59 means the clutch was not able to completely disengage – anything from slave pushing rod, clutch fork, pivot pin, clutch disk, pressure plate, and tranny input speed sensor. The TCM computer actuates the slave then reads the engine rpm and compares to input speed sensor to tell when clutch engaged or disengaged as expected, and if not expected then it pops the error code 59.

I cant even get to clutch bite cal, its failing the fist test (actuator).

[sapote]

Hey Fellas,

So I swapped in my refreshed engine (new clutch) and I'm having a nagging SMG issue. I've tried bleeding the system like 50 times and it keeps failing the first test (Actuator) with Error 59 (Actuator) being the only code. I've switched the slave out 4 times (with one of them being brand new), with no change in status (and same error). The car wasn't starting and the gear indicator always flashed without going into any gear. I tested the gears in INPA, and it failed all of them. I unplugged the slave and tried starting it up... success! I then tried to put into gear in INPA and it passed every gear EXCEPT for 5th. I reset the adaptations and tried bleeding again...still error 59 along with Error 40 (basically because the PLCD is unplugged). I plugged in the slave and tried to check the gears again, and they failed every one (and car didn't start).

Currently it's not passing any bleeding tests and I'm not sure what to do. I hear the pump priming (as well as it manually fills to 85 bars in INPA)... thoughts?

Kareem

I would at least jack rear wheels off ground and no hand brake so they can spin freely – the TCM might need to have wheels turn during clutch bite calibration.

Error code 59 means the clutch was not able to completely disengage – anything from slave pushing rod, clutch fork, pivot pin, clutch disk, pressure plate, and tranny input speed sensor. The TCM computer actuates the slave then reads the engine rpm and compares to input speed sensor to tell when clutch engaged or disengaged as expected, and if not expected then it pops the error code 59.

[x Spades x]

The actuator is what mimics the shifter in a manual transmission, it does the rotation and forward and backward movement of the shift selector rod of the transmission, the GPS is what tells the system in which of these rotational/horizontal movements the actuator is currently in. Hopefully this makes sense.

What is the current gear the transmission is in? (i suggest leaving it in neutral) - Also, how is the voltage on the system? One last question, if you remove the slave, you should be able to move with your finger the fork, it should have a small amount of play, essentially the distance before it engages with the pressure plate. Do you have this play?

Hope this helps.

Gear is in neutral now.
Voltage is a steady 14.4, as the battery is hooked up to a power supply.
I'll check the play tonight