deputydog

Got the car back today. They said the other dealer had changed theoil and spilled oil all down the bay. They degreased it and it smells like cleaner now, which is better. Ill give it a few days and see if it still smells, and if so I will start looking at other options. They didnt finish my display problem, but instead order a whole radio and display enclosure which will take about 5-6 days to get in. At least I have my car back.

dmc27

More importantly, it sounds like you're working with a pretty good dealership.

deputydog

Yea so far I am happy with them. The sign of a good service advisor is that they call you before you call them. Although he did try and sell me a 37k servce that involves fushing all the fluids. I laughed and said, "hey I want to do some of the work to my car haha."

maxrx8

I just had mine serviced 25000 miles. The smell was unberable so I took it back to them. They said it was the cat. Not. It's still in spec. The service writer said that I had a oil seep and they could not track it down. I then came her and looked at this thread and said that's exactly what's happening to my 8. Went to pick it up and told him what I had found. "No, that's not it. It was clean." he said.
No cost. they cleaned it up nice and shiny. I got in and what do you know, I didn't smell anything. When I was driving home from work, there was a faint smell, but not anything like before.

I think there's magic dealer pixie smell remover. Or, they messed something and didn't want to get nailed for it. Just a guess.

I did notice the smell only after I premixed though wich was after the tranny service. Coinsidence or bad timing? Or could be both. I'll not premix the next tank and see what's up.

Cheers

Bill

maxrx8

The smell is still there.

Just as bad. I guess i was wrong about them fixin something.

I'm going to have to look at the trying to use some degreaser.

I have a killer headache from driving around town.

Max

LionZoo

Could it be boot contamination from oil fumes from the top of the turret? I'm noticing it in a lot of RX-8s around here and I think it might be a design flaw...

MadRonin

I still have the gear oil smell nearly two years since the dealership first changed my transmission oil. I've had the car into the dealership and my regular mechanic several times since and they have never been able to pinpoint the cause. No leaks, no spills, no signs of where the smell could be coming from. The one thing I haven't done is pulled the shift boot and reading through these posts it makes sense that it could be the shift boot that's contaminated. So that being said I'm planning on changing the oil again sometime soon. At the same time I plan on buying an aftermarket leather shift boot. Does anyone know where I can get a new rubber boot? I haven't seen anyone selling the rubber boot as a separate item from the "leather" boot.

LionZoo

I got it from my dealership parts department.

MadRonin

How much did it cost you?

zee2000rx8

Hi, same issue here for about 9 month now. during winter no sulfur odor windows are up. when pulling down windows. smell is there. Smell is very strong when doing big acceleration or doing a lot of highway. it will never smell if all window are up. Even just opening the "suicide" windows on the highway smell is there. Dealer change the CAT... and has you know it's still smelling. It,s about 2 days now the Service Director of the dealer is runnin my 8 to smell...guest what... they don't smell it...
at least they are not turning back on me.
Guys I read the post all along, do we have a solid solution?

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

Get under there with a can of brake cleaner and soak the tranny and diff.

zee2000rx8

I getting back my 8 tomorrow morning. Will have a chat with the Service guy.
thanks for the quick respond that was "rotary" fast.

deputydog

I got the car back a little over a month ago. They replaced the inner and leather shift boots, cleaned the top of the tranny, flushed the tranny and diff and put new fluids in, did an oil change and reflashed the ecu with the latest upgrade.

Car now idles at 900-1000 so no stutter and I cannot smell the smell as much.
However, my wife, who uses the car two days a week for an hour or so still smells it and says that I smell when I get out of the car after driving home from work.

I wonder if this is from driving it hard?

rXter

INteresting stuff. My 04 with 35K just went in for 30K coolant and trans fluid change. Smelled like sulphur. Took it back. They said that the rubber shift boot was cracked and the trans fluid was leaking on the exhaust. He said that they have recently seen a few like this. I also noticed it bad when under heavy accel. Nasty stuff. I'll post tomorrow with the update.

rXter

OK I am confused (not a wrench so its pretty easy for me to get confused with the technical stuff).

Does this mean that when I top off the brake fluid that I am topping off the gear oil? Is it the same stuff. I assumed that those were separate systems with very different operating temps and needs from a lubricant.

LionZoo

No. The clutch fluid and the brake fluid are the same. The transmission oil is different.

FastRX8

I get the gear oil smell occassionally.
Mine comes from the shift boot sliding up, and not making a good seal around the shifter.
I just lift the center console, without removing the shift **** or anything, just lift it enough to get my hand under there, and I push the boot back down.
I have to push it down about once every 2 months.
But when I smell the gear oil, I know exactly what it is.

rXter

So now my dealer is telling me that trans fluid does not smell like sulfer and it may be the cat. Oh boy here we go !!!. Is the cat covered under the 4 year warranty. If so I might just let him put a new one on and then take it back when it still smells.

rXter

Sniffed around after driving home yesterday. Funky near the shift boot. I unscrewed the shift **** and man what a stench. Reminded me of the latrine. Let's see how the dealer responds. So far they have been good about this.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

i fixed mine from this when i did a better sealing of the emergency brake and the spot where it goes through the trans tunnel.
olddragger

LionZoo

Dollars to donuts it's not the cat; it's shift boot contamination.

newguy

Ive always used BG syncroshift in my finicky eclipse transaxles and would like to in the 8 but may go to redline non sulfur after this read.

so which redline is right for street use offering better syncro protection w/ the no sulfer smell?

rXter

Took it in for 4th time. They "found" some seepage along the seals. No, really? Anyway, they replaced the seal, the shift post, and the rubber and leather boots, again. 200 miles and so far so good. The car smells a little funky, but I think that's just me Seriously I need to detail it as I have not done that since it went sulpher on me. Fingers crossed.

rXter

Its baaaack $%^&*

The stink stayed away for a couple hundred miles. It had been a bit cooler here in SoCal so that may have contributed. Anyway, the stink is back. Not as bad as before, but definately there.

I have the car into the dealer for the 4th time now for this problem - they don't have a clue. They have 3 or 4 8's coming in for the same problem and don't know what to do.

Seems to me that the answer is

1) new rubber everywhere - done
2) use non-sulpher based lube - pending
3) clean it up
4) new leather boot
5) clean it again
6) beers and prayer

Anyone found a non-sulpher lube that might not stink when it heats? I can live with an oily smell, but not the rotten eggs stuff.

Thanks

Demon8

I just changed my tranny oil to RL and now there is a smell plus a strange sound while at idle until I push the clutch, then the sound stops. Is that normal at first? I am afraid to drive it , I don't want to ruin anything.