Ok so to make a long story short.........in this past noreaster storm that dumped 2' of snow to the northeast, i left my car parked until wednesday, where i decided to dig it out and have a thrill ride. I dug my car about halfway or a little mor to where i though my car would be able to pull itself out. so i pt her to first, rev @ about 2500-3k rpm and drop the clutch slowly to let it get the traction, and it just as slowly as expected.............................then:

a pretty pronounced blue tinted cloud filled my cabin, the air around my car, everywhere. as i was peeing in my pants, i let go of the gas, let the car relax, and i gave her gas again to finish getting out, I got out no prob. but now, as i drive, from a stop, it seems as though my clutch slips to get 1st gear and like stutters the same way the car would stutter if you was to stop your car and leave her in first with the clutch engaged. this only happens in first. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and reverse this does not happen. I do the test your clutch procedure and even test it on a up hill and my clutch does not SLIP for ANYTHING!!! do 30mph and put on 5th and floor it=no slipping at all, just a whole lot of bogging, creeping up a hill on 30mph drop her to 4th and floor and still no slipping, just more bogging.

WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THIS MEAN?? I NEVER BURNED A CLUTCH BEFORE SO I WOULD NOT KNOW HOW IT SMELLS, AS THERE STILL IS THAT LINGERING METAL WARN SMELL THAT CAME FROM THAT CLOUD OF SMOKE.

DID I MESS UP MY FIRST GEAR??? :crying:
IS MY CLUTCH ACTUALLY TOAST??? :crying: :crying:

car has 168k miles, i'm assuming the tranny oil has never been touched, which i guess ima tackle this weekend, but please........any input would be great

 

with what you describe it doesn't sound to be a clutch issue.... the blue smoke is throwing me as i have burned a few clutches and the ones i did there was no blue smoke

why it only happens in 1st is also throwing me..... let me try and wrap my head around this and come back maybe by then someone else might have chimed in

 

yeah, that is what is throwing me off as well. im going to give her a good look under tomorrow probably in the morning, and clock back, but please anybody else with any thoughts chime in!!!

Just as an addition of maybe any value, the smell that emits from my car get a little more obvious after long use, like 2 or 3 hours, and the stuttering that occurs at first deminishes a little......what the hell?

 

The only thing that I know of on a car that make blue smoke when burned is motor oil. But why it would burn when you did what you did and only one time I haven't the foggiest...

 

leet me clarify the blue smoke a bit.......it was blue, but just slightly blue, i was hard to tell cause it was dark outside, but i know it had a bluish tint to it as i was inside the car with the interior lights on. I know what blue smoke is from burning oil is, its definitely not that blue. the smoke was pretty dense, i would say there was some gray mixed in there, but the point is that it was dense, blu-grayish, and it has a heavy metal to metal grinding type smell to it. And as i said in my second post, if I use the car for a while, the smell becomes more pronounced like when it happened, but you dont see any smoke.

 

What happens if you try to start out in second? Same shudder? What if you do a rolling start in first, does it still shudder?

From the description, I would have guessed you glazed your clutch, but then it would slip in every gear. I've driven other cars with problems similar to yours, but they all stemmed from just poor performance, and cleared up once the engine warmed up.

I don't know the internals of your trans, but if first gear's on its own shaft, you could have either bent the shaft or somehow zorched a bearing so the shaft is now binding. That would put a greater load on the engine, which would cause the shuddering, and might also explain the smell. Does the smell go away if you drive on the highway? Just wondering if you stay out of first but drive for awhile, that bearing (or whatever) might cool down and the smell might go away.

 

Ok, so i went under the car today and just shot a couple of pics that would just like some clarification on them:


this is under the car, facing axactly where the back of engine would meet and the trans, are these 2 holes suppose to be there?


same spot different angle. through these holes you can see what i, assuming is the flywheel and the clutch. as the motor is on, it spins freely and smoothly


exactly where the flash shines, there is fresh oil residue there, where can this oil come from? Any ideas?


here you see the passenger side inner CV boot, and not sure if you can tell, but there is a line of grease there on the exhaust protection plate, and i can move the boot on the tranny side somewhat freely, while the axle side is as stiff as rest of the axle......not sure if this is relevant but i guess it would be of some use.

To answer Dr Mem question, when i start from 2nd no, it does not happen, and one thing i notice is that if the car is still moving, say like 2 or 3 mph, like when i make a "complete" stop at a stop sign, and i put her in first to go, the stuttering pretty much non existent, the same applies if im rolling down a hill and start off in first, it does not happen. Its weird i know. Something tells me though that your theory of messing my 1st gear might be right, im just waiting for my tamper proof triple square socket to get here so i can change the tranny oil and see what happens after that.................

 

I think he just slipped the hell out of his clutch. Probably took a nice chunk of life off it, but not enough to be blown (slipping under normal driving conditions, or at heavy load in top gear)

Its not.

 

Kevace: The inspection holes are definitely supposed to be there lol. As for the CV boot, its not leaking bad at all, take off that clamp and bring it to napa to match up for a new one.

Now the shuddering your experiencing, assuming its related to the clutch incident could be a pitted/grooved flywheel, but probably not due to it only occuring in 1st, correct? However, does the car try to move at all if you are stopped in first with the clutch to the floor?

 

I bet that leak is your Axle Seal, have you seen a lightweight dark oil recently? I had that seal blow, and lost a lot of fluid (similar smell), and ended up almost running my transaxle empty