Car problems.
 

Against my better judgement, I am posting this, because several people have told me I should after I told them what was going on with my car lately.

Well, I took it in for the recall October 5. Everything was working great with my car at that time. They had it for several days. Well, when I picked it up, it was running a little erratic but not too bad, and I didn't think it was a big deal since I have read other people saying that after a flash it sometimes runs rough. Well, I drove it home and, since I hadn't started at my new job yet, I didn't drive my car for a few weeks. I started working on the 23rd and when I drove it that time (basically first time since the recall) I noticed that it's nearly impossible to shift into second gear. It's like I am trying to put it somewhere it won't go. Before I took it in everything was really smooth and I have never ground my gears. When my car is cold (especially if temperature outside is cold) the car will not even go into second gear. On my way home from work it twice wouldn't go into second gear, and when I was finally able to get it into second gear later on in my trip it was really notchy/crunchy feeling to get it in and very had at that to do so. All the other gears are still perfectly smooth as can be. So, this is my first problem, one that is highly irritating.

My second problem started after I took it in for an oil change on the 28th. When I picked it up (for some reason oil change only took 20 minutes this time when it usually takes them about an hour) and drove home I noticed that it smelled like burning oil, so I figured they probably spilled some and that it would go away. Well, when I started it up to go out later that evening it smelled like cleaning solvents or something similar. I called on Monday to mention that and was told that they probably spilled some oil when they did the change and that the smell was from some residual cleaner they used to clean it up and that it would go away in a few days. It hasn't.

Also, after the oil change my gas mileage dropped horribly. I was averaging 23. I just got 15.71 with no change in driving or anything. I had to get gas last night. I started out with a full tank. I have driven 43 miles and my car is at the half tank mark now. So, for some reason my car is going through gas like it's nothing, again starting after I took it in for an oil change.

My car still smells like something is burning and twice I have had black smoke coming from my exhaust, although this isn't all the time. My car is also running rough compared to normal. Yesterday I was checking under the hood when I got to work because my car smelled especially bad, and I saw oil splatters all over that shouldn't be there. My dipstick was fully pushed in and the oil cap was on tight, so it shouldn't be squirting anything out. I also noticed a day or so ago that there was an oily puddle running from underneath my car up front. I tried smelling it to see if I could tell what it was, but with it being allergy season for me, I couldn't smell anything at all.

I'm dropping it off this afternoon instead of waiting until Monday since things are getting worse with it. I don't know what is wrong with my car. All I know is it was totally fine, and then they had it, and now it's not fine and has a ton of problems it didn't have before. When I got my oil changed the shop people there were one's I have never seen before, so who knows if they actually know what they were doing.

Anyway, I am hoping nothing is seriously wrong with my car and hope that they will fix my second gear problem without it costing me, especially since I only have a little over 8000 miles on my car.

sorry to hear

ouch. Sounds like somebody screwed up. GL.

Sorry to hear that. Was it a dealer who change the oil?

Filter not on tight?

Gear problem has no relation to the recall. They don't even go near the shifter and gears.

Gas consumption? Got me on that one. I won't comment on the second gear as it could be a few things. It's under warrenty, just have them fix it.

Be very poilte to the Service advisor, maybe even a little flirt, but tell them the whole story and mention that you are very upset.

You'll be surprised on how kindess will make your 8 purr again.

edit: make it a very clear point you are upset. Can you cry? :tear: :crying:

I wonder if you have a lose spark plug on your car...
Black smoke means your running rich, maybe your leaking the injected oil and fuel out of 1 of the spark plugs? That could cause you to burn alot of gas, smell and cause the car to drive bad.

Sorry about your bad situation BunnyGirl. I've learned that when cars are tinkered with, they usually never come back the same. Back in '96 I bought a brand new Camaro and soon after had the dealer install fog lights and Power windows. A week after the installations my car began to idle very rough, and misfire. Moreover the CEL light kept coming on. Took it to the dealership 3 times in a span of 3 months and the problems just kept getting worse.

Eventually we just had to Lemon Law the car and get are money back. Moral of the story, although you had to take the car in for the recall, it's a chance you and we take b/c there could be negative reprecussions.

To this day, I try not to add anything to my car other than exterior mods if any or let mechanics tinker with anything unless absolutely necessary.

Yes, but they did drive my car. I don't how "gentle" they were when shifting it. I just noticed the problem starting bad like this after that. Otherwise, the only "issue" I would have with 2nd gear would be when the car was cold it would make kind of a click/clunk when going into gear (kinda like the sound when you put it into reverse) but it went into gear nice and smooth and no problems. Now I'd say less than 10% of the time it will go into gear like normal.

there is either a weak synchro problem/bad slave cylinder/or bending shift fork issue with all rx8s and its more pronounced on some. I had my entire transmission warranty rebuilt because of what they say was a bad synchro in 2nd gear, but i think it was the slave cylinder since its getting clunky again.

yeah black smoke sounds like its running too rich, the A/F ratio is bad. cause be due to the ECU or a mechanical proble. running too rich also explains why youre getting such crappy mileage. sounds like you might not break 100miles on this tank :(

my second gear has always had a 'click-boom' notch to it. Its still pretty smooth though. Someone actually posted about this on the "little things" thread cause they thought the sound it made when shifting into second was bad-ass.

They dont *have to* drive your car for the recall, only people who complained about the *lost of poweR* or *rough idle* will have the test. Plus the Vaccum test. but unless the dude really never ever drove a Manual before theres almost no way for him to *fuxk* the transmission up during the test drive. It could happen tho, but I highly doubt it.

The car is a bit rough after the recall, I notice that too, but premixing fix most(still rough sometimes but not as much)

Black smoke like others said, u're car is running MAD RICH and theres probably a leak somewhere.

Thats probably one of the reasons why I never let any dealership to touch my oil related crap. very likely that they gonna do more harm than good. Not like the OEM stuff(or dealership stuff) are any good anyway. I give my 8 the best stuff around, RP 5w30 every 2.5 k miles, RP 75w90 tranny and rear diff. new washer, etc.

Have them *look at it* and see what happens.

Oh yes forgot to mention, u can get one of the *fast drying* spray from Hobbies store they use to clean greasey stuff. Its called Electric Motor cleaner. I play R/C nitro cars and those thing works wonder. cheap, easy to clean and fast drying. I recommened them to some people on this forum and they all love it. might be able to solve your *smelly problem* I used it to clean my messy oil change and the recent tranny and rear diff oil change, couple of spary, no more mess.

Good point some else had loose spark plugs after recall bet that's it.

Gear? I know they drove the car but it's pretty hard to brake gears.

Looks like they owe you some free oil changes maybe a dicount for that Mazda part you wanted to buy for the car.

PS: make sure they write down the milage of the car. It's not time from repair but the milage!

were you on synthetic engine oil? maybe they mixed it with other type of engine oil

I know they at least drove it to fill my tank up, so who knows. I already get free oil changes for life. Might be nice if I could get an iPod adaptor (on my wish list) with a bigger discount than my usual. :) Regular oil from the dealership.

My second always had that little clunk sound, which I didn't mind because it was super smooth and easy to get into gear. It just now fights with me to go in, sometimes to the point where it is so hard I'm afraid I'd break it if I were to keep trying.

I mopped up as much oil as I could when I got to work (without burning myself), in the hopes that if something is leaking I might be able to see where it is coming from. So, after I got home I tried to look and see but it was too dark to get a good look, plus it was pouring out again (still).

Gas and oil dumping out the spark plug hole?

Not sure but mostly the "splatters" were on that side of the car and the oily puddle I saw running out from under the car was coming from that area also.

Sounds like a loose oil filter possibly. Tires might be picking the oil up and slinging it onto the side of your car. Better check your oil level. :)

You can always go to the DIY section for replacing spark plugs.

Look at cooked wheel. See the spark plugs? May need a flash light.
I no oil coming from holes the? must be something else.

You can still have loose plug(s) and not have an oil leak that will be causing your rough running.

There are only four places that they touch when doing an oil change so it has to be one of them :
fill cap
Dip stick
Oil filter
Drain plug
Sorry to hear you are having all these problems all at once BG . I would suggest that you to do some research and find yourself a good mechanic/garage. You want someone you trust working on your prized posession.

Yeah, but what she's smelling and the issues almost sounds like tranny fluid leaking.

Well, just checked my plugs, and one was kinda loose. I just got back from the post office to bitch at them because apparently our mail person hasn't felt the need to actually deliver our mail this week. :rolleyes: Anyway, I tightned it as best I could before I left (not very I'm sure) and I noticed the smell was a lot less when driving. I also mopped up some extra oily stuff that was in and around that area. Hopefully that was it. I'm still taking it in this afternoon (in a few hours) to have them check it out and also for the second gear thing and to get my shock sensors adjusted down. I don't know about the oil filter or drain plug, though. The cap and dipstick are all tight. I'm not sure about transmission fluid leaking either, but it's not obvious if it is. :dunno: