Burned out Transmission - HELP
 

Well I took the jump and purchased a 2004 Mazda Rx8.

All was great the past 2-3 weeks until tonight.
I was driving and the engine light came on, thought nothing of it and continued driving. I was coming home when all of sudden a noise was heard hitting the bottom of the car. I pulled over to see if I could see anything but it was pitch black out. As I made my way home there was a grinding noise and it felt like a moment of hitting rubble strips, and then silence. The clutch would not engage and I was left coasting. Smoke started to come out of the hood every time I tried to shift gears and give it gas.

Anyways I pushed it home with some help and now it sits and the bottom of the driveway.

Soooooooooooooooooo..... How bad is it going to be? What are the costs involved with transmission repairs/replacing?

Maybe its another problem?

It sucks as I am in between jobs and my birthday is tomorrow... yippee happy birthday to me. lol

It looks like clutch is the problem. I cant say what all get damaged. Perhaps you will need only new clutch and your flywheel will be fine. Otherwise you will need buy new flywheel as well. Cant say from here, but its not a transmission problem.

PS: I hope you have manual transmission, right ?

It could be just the clutch pedal bracket. It's a known weak point. The smoke sounds like a really bad thing, though.


Keep us posted.

Sounds more like clutch than anything. Release bearing failed, came apart, or both in that order. Or clutch disk went. That will make smoke.

Where are you?

Yes it is a manual.

Update, I tried to fire it up today and the car just turns over and does not start.
I am in Calgary, Alberta.

Also the car smells really bad, sort of like a burned metal smell.

You will need get the transmision and clutch out to see the damage. Clutch smell very bad when its worm out.

Tow-Truck picks it up tomorrow and it goes into the shop on Thursday. I am thinking and hoping it is something minor like the clutch, because in order to start the clutch needs to be disengaged. If it were the transmission the car still would be able to start.

Comparing rates online the clutch can run anywhere from $300-600 whereas the transmission is $1800-3500. Fingers crossed that it is the least costly route.

So your clutch is toast, whatever. What was the CEL? I didn't think that the PCM had any ability to monitor the actual engagement/disengagement of it.

Alright so I took it into the mechanic shop and have got back their diagnosis for it... However I am not too sure they know rotary engines.

The mechanic said the starter is blown = car not being able to start. Makes sense

He then said that the clutch blew up and acted like a grenade and wrecked the engine... What?
They said they pulled the engine forward and saw that the crank shaft spun in the rear but not in the front of the car. Also a belt is missing in the front lower of the engine.

Sooooo.... I called Atkins rotary in the washington and the guy I spoke to said that it is impossible for the crank shaft to not spin and spin, and that I should get a new mechanic

Where do you live? Post that here and maybe someone can recommend a knowledgeable repair facility close to you.


By crankshaft I'm assuming he's referring to the eccentric shaft and wondering how it could possibly be turning in the rear and not in the front.

Calgary, Alberta

And possibly.. I am not entirely sure. They said that I need a new engine. This will be the third engine in this car then