hello friends, i am new to this forum and this is my post. actually i was searching for some answers but could not find what i was looking for, so here is the issue -
i was trying heel and toe on a very steep slope yesterday evening, somehow i could not do it succesfully but ended up in pressing the brake and accelerator hard for some period. the car was revving high but because the brake pedal was also pressed hard didnt move a bit. finally i made the slope using hand brake but my cabin was filled with huge engine smell as if something is burnt. i parked the car at the designated place and started it again this morning, the smell was back but it went away immediatly then i drove it almost 300 miles without any issues . but the burning smell did came a couple of times. is this something serious or i can just let it go. BTW i got 04 RX8. thanks.

 

You were just burning up your clutch. Not a good thing to do, but no serious damage done. On a step incline I use the hand brake and as I slip the clutch I slowly release the e-brake.

 

yoooooooo thanks for giving me that sigh of relief BTW i do not have to do any check ups i mean its just fine as per what u said. cool. thanks a lot again.

 

You drove 300 miles with a overheated smell you could not identify.. for future reference DON'T DO THAT!!

 

You CAN'T be serious!....

I would suggest your clutch is gone..well almost.

Easy Test...almost foolproof.
1.Park car on flat road (make sure engine is at normal temp)...no other cars close by.
2.Put stick into 4th Gear with foot down on Clutch Pedal..(obviously).
3.REV and hold Engine at say 4500 RPM (roughly) Hold at that RPM.
4.Then let out Clutch Pedal quickly (have foot close to Brake Pedal, just in case car moves a little).

If car Engine does not stall almost immediately then Clutch is very suspect (worn out), if car does stall Clutch is OK.

 

Everyone is assuming that you actually have a car with a manual transmission.
Just out of curiosity, do you?

BC.

 

why the hell would he heel toe an automatic..... unless he only has one leg

 

 

I did not say the clutch is perectly fine. I said "no serious damage done" which refers to one single incident.

Could the clutch almost be done, yes. Did this one incident take a perfectly good clutch from good to bad, NO. So I stand by my statement that this single incident did not cause any serious damage which is not to say that clutch may not be worn out.

 

The OP did not say he drove the car for 300 miles smelling the burnt smell the whole time. He simply said the smell went away and came back a few times but the car drove fine. Now this could mean the clutch is going out and slipping which is causing the smell, but IMHO it is most likely it is just left over clutch smoke/smell that is lingering in the car.

 

I realize that and know the conditions of a bad clutch... but the OP did not which is why he should have asked first and drove later. Maybe its just me but if there is an unidentified burning smell coming from my car it is parked until I find out exactly what it is.
No reason to get defensive. I thought I was giving good advice.

 

I hope you guys realize this is an troll thread and you're being suckered in.

 

i would say the clutch is done. Why? Cuz is stupid enough to drag it for so long thats first, second is that i would have to assume this is his first mt car cuz every freaking one that drove a mt long enough would know what that smell is. Lasr, obviously he doesnt know how to drive a mt properly and he was trying to look cool by doing a heel n toe, rofl, FAILED.

 

you kidding me? that is a horrible test of a clutch and will either kill what is left of it or the transmission, possibly both at the same time...

better test, take the car on the freeway and get it up to about 3500RPMs in 4th and stomp on it. if the RPMs flare up then you need a new clutch, if not wait until it is actually dead before tossing $ at the overpriced OE clutch unit.

 

Whatever you want to think mate....it has been none here successfully many times and if you think it will "kill" the transmission then you are just being negative for the sake of it....so you think the many owners who do burnouts at far higher RPM in 1st gear is not putting any load on the tranny or drive train?

IF any clutch is that far gone it needs replacement not continued use, it is more foolish to continue driving any car if clutch is slipping, let alone load and or strain on transmission shifter, synchros, gears with any worn out Clutch..

 

you're simply taking a sledge hammer to the transmission, i could never justify telling anyone to possibly break their transmission in order to test to see if their clutch can hold up, which can also simply be done by driving the car under the highest load you can put on it.

sorry for the arrogance but that really is a bad test, coming from a factory tech with 23 years of experience even when we could get things covered by warranty i wouldn't do anything that abusive to a car. at least not a car daily driven, cars devoted to drag racing will see similar type of abuse.

burning the clutch one time doesn't automatically justify it as dead, the flywheels are chromoly in these cars and can take quite a bit of abuse before they glaze.

4th gear is the most stout gear being 1:1 straight through the mainshaft but that still doesn't concede it as indestructable. these trannies are paper light, not like transmissions of old that were beefy, heavy and durable.

 

 

Abuse of tranny..paper light...not durable??...OK..whatever...

I guess some guys who race RX-8's like Eric Meyer (forum member here) who says in particular the S2 Transmissions are almost bullet proof apart from Synchro's does not know what he is talking about either....I guess they take plenty of abuse.

If you think doing one average RPM Clutch Dump is abuse then we will differ...
I have done it and seen it done to countless makes of cars, particularly at my Dealership for trade in evaluations (without customer in car) and never have I seen a tranny break...clutch burn smell...yes.

Even my Service Manager (35 years experience) would use this method if a used Car Salesman suspected a failing clutch in a trade in...

And yes it is not the only method..

.....bye!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWvXN...eature=related