ok, I was driving, pretty hard the other night. I was sitting still and reved to about 4k and dumped into 2nd. THOUGHT I was spinning my tires, then realized, the burning smell was NOT rubber, and there were no tire marks. It drove fine after that for the rest of the day. I was driving home from work when I went into 5th and kinda "lifted up" on the shift link. I noticed I "pulled out" the shifting link, then i put it back. Got home, parked, pulled up and could not "reseat" the shifter link. I took all tht stuff apart, and a bolt from SOMEWHERE in the transmission area fell on the ground. Jacked up the 8, couldnt find a place for a bolt to go. I looked at all the shifter link parts, and all I noticed was the little gasket/seal was a little torn. I "re-seated" the shifter link, and thought all was well, till i drove it! I had to force it into 1st a few times, then i got moving, cant go into 5th (major wirrhing/grinding sound) and just DON'T like the feel of it. I have noticed that bad burning smell in the car, whenever I rev, and I am really worried guys. ANY help is GREATLY appreciated!!!
Jay

 

Does it shift fine when the car is off? Your clutch might be blown thats a possibillity.

 

If it smells like rotten egg and *** its your clutch. Also possible your syncros

 

Yea, smells like that! lol

Um, if the car is off, it shifts OK, not fine. and I still cant get into 5th

My friend is going to look at it, he thinks its a synchro.

 

Buy a clutch kit with new bearings and clutch pedal reinforcement brackets

 

Reason you cant go into 5th cause your clutch isnt engaging and disengaging properly. Once you have a new clutch it should be fine. If you push your clutch pedal and it sinks in like no pressure. Your clutch is totally blown plus check for cracks around the pedal assembly.

 

while apart, a good time for a light flywheel

Also, just get an OEM style clutch, my Stage 1 is the only mod I wish I had back.

 

are yall SURE about the clutch?? I was out in the driveway last night, and wiggled my shifter linkage and a bolt fell out...NO idea where it came from!! O.o

The clutch pedal seems to be fine, I havn't looked at it, but it feels fine! :/

 

Lets some things clear, our tranny's dont have any shifter linkages, when you "reseated" the shifter, you did bolt in in with the 3 bolts ?The smell is the clutch friction plate slipping.Don't load up the clutch by revving it hard when driving in a too higher gear until you replace it. Make sure you have the flywheel machine when you install the new clutch kit.

 

Ok, the "stick" that goes into the tranny. I lifted it up, and the "stick" came out of the tranny!! Where are these "three bolts" located? I only took off the shift ****, then the plastic trim, then the "stick" from the tranny.

 

I'll cut you some slack, remove the shift boot and plastic ring attached to the shift boot, look down the hole,see the 3 bolts or bolt holes .

 

sounds like your plastic ball pivot decided to give up, it was a big problem on the early RX7 but the RX8 piece looks like it's moulded to the actual shifter itself and may not be replaceable. call mazda and see if the plastic cup can be ordered separately.



you should not be able to pull the shifter out without removing the metal cap, unless some dumbass pulled it out and left it out(stock shifter to the right, mount plate to the far right). see how the guide pin keeps the shifter from pulling out of the cup?

 

CRO8TIA: Yea, I opened all that stuff up, there are three bolts in said holes!! Unless.....you are talking about the "mount plate" posted in the pic above, THAT is not "bolted" down at all!

Karack: Is the mount plate supposed to be screwed in? Mine is NOT. what is the "metal cap"? I'll post some pix soon and show yall!

Mine looks just like that! :/