Unfortunately my wife and I share my Rx8 and this morning when she was driving she said she messed up a gear change from first to second and ground the gears a bit. (I do autocross racing and did this a few times when I first started with no real problems). Not exactly sure what happened but the car rested for 8 hours whilst she was at work then she drove home and noticed a burning smell.
I checked the car and it smells like a burning clutch smell in the engine bay, should it continue to make the smell hours after something happens?? Then I turned the car on it started to smell stronger, in older cars if you burn the clutch it smells then the smell goes away and does not come back.
I read a similar post that said possible a plastic bag on the cat I will check but I think it smells like clutch.
I also get the engine warning light coming on frequently I looked this up and herd it was a common fault but it now seems to be coming on more frequently. I will check my wife isn't riding the clutch with her left foot.

Does anyone have any idea for a quick fix or things to check before I take it to the garage.

 

did you check for a plastic bag around the headers? smell would be similar

 

I will jack the car up in the morning when it is light and have a good look around to see if I can see something stuck to the car that should not be there. I have checked the engine levels Oil, coolant brake etc and everything seems to be correct.
Just a bit nervous as my wife need the car first thing in the morning and she will be doing about 150 miles tomorrow :-(

 

check for plastic on the headers or pipe, and check the air fliter behind the glove box.

 

Back hand

 

And your first mistake was

 

Piitb ....

 

I don't know how you blow a 1st to 2nd gear change and even that shouldn't have done anything to the clutch. Also, a clutch would have nothing to do with a CEL. Do let us know what you find in the morning.

 

I'd bet she is riding the clutch, or not pushing the pedal down all the way. This would cause the grinding noise that she hears.

Two options.

1) Burn the wife like she burns the clutch.
2) Ride the wife like she rides the clutch.

I'd need a pic of the wife to recommend an option.

 

Driving with the e brake on?

 

I jacked up the car this morning and had a good look under the car and could not see anything attached to the car the only thing that was out of the ordinary is a little bit of the foil off the heat shield around the cat had started to come off but I had a feel and there was nothing touching the cat and no meting so I don't think that was the problem.

Also the smell was pretty much gone so I think the problem was between the seat and the steering wheel, as such I will choose @amdhunter's 2nd choice and ride her like she rides the clutch.

Thanks for your help guys and remember not to leave your wives unattended for too long or they may too think they have the right to drive your favorite toy.

 

do both

then teach her how to operate a manual transmission....

 

And teach her that there is a dead peddle to the left for resting her foot.

 

feet get to take a rest in the 8?

 

She is normally good with the clutch, she was also sat in slow moving traffic for nearly 2 hours, which I had not realized so I wonder if she just spent too much time holding it near bit point and getting it too hot. I think maybe my car was rebelling against her seeing as she got a $156 speeding ticket for going 24mph.

 

Don't blame the cops. Blame your legislature for the amount of the fine. The cops are only enforcing the law that was written up and voted on by the people you put in office.

 

So not only did she get a ticket for speeding through a school zone, she burnt your clutch also

PIITB is on order for this one.

 

You are right, the Cops do a great job and it is after all their job, I have removed that part of my comment

 

*** whoopins

 

I think school zone speeders, and people on cell phones in school zones should have their license suspended. These are kids we are talking about. You should never endanger a childs life over something like a text or phone call. It can wait the 3 blocks. I would personally shoot the idiots responsible for hitting a child with a vehicle in a school zone if they let me.