Something is seriously wrong with my 2004 RX-8 (manual transmission).
Suddenly I noticed a very bad vibration. You can hear it and feel it and it gets worse when you step on the gas - even when the car is in neutral.
It's very difficult to get the car moving. When you put it in 1st gear it starts to shudder and attempts to stall and when you give it gas, the vibration gets louder. The car behaves as if you were trying to get it moving while in 4th gear instead of first.

Meanwhile, a horrible smell is coming from under the hood. It smells like burning rubber or insulation.
As soon as this vibration began, the check engine light started blinking. For a short while (less than a day), the vibration would appear and disappear. And each time it appeared the check engine light would blink. When the vibration went away, the light went off.

When I got home tonight, I opened the hood. Smoke is coming from somewhere beneath the car. It was dark but when I shined a flashlight under the car there was something glowing red!!! I'm guessing it was about dead center under the vehicle. It looked like the glowing thing had a wire coming out of it.
I also noticed, inside the car on the way home, the center console on the passenger side was getting very very warm.

Obviously I'm going to get it back to the dealer ASAP however I wondered if anyone had seen anything like this before? Up until now, the car has been running great. Thankfully it's still under warranty!

 

Cat.....

 

the glowing red is your catalytic converter......it is most likely clogged up....take it to mazda....might want to get it towed so you dont mess anything up....

 

Cat...?
Cat's do not smell like burning rubber or insulation.

 

but,

great writing!!!!

beers

 

Ya?..yours obviously hasn't failed before

 

its the cat dude....trust me....

 

ok ok....I'm with you now.
But.....would the "cat" cause the vibration (it sounds and feels a bit like a tractor) and the problems with getting the car to accelerate? It really doesn't want to move. The smell appeared at exactly the same time that the vibration started so I'm certain they are linked.

 

really,

i guess you could not see with the red glow..

beers

 

i dont know. can you blow in a straw that is almost closed???

beers

 

Obviously swoope, you give me far too much credit.
I couldn't tell you what a "cat" does if you paid me (other than shed and barf on the floor). So I have no idea what it would do (or not do) if it were clogged. I didn't even know it could get clogged. If I'd known all that I probably wouldn't have been asking dumb questions (and giving dumb answers) or a forum, would I?

So I'm going to beg your forgiveness and assume that your answer means that a clogged cat can cause exactly the symptoms that I described, yes?

And then the only other question is, do I pay for a tow? Or do I just let it limp its way over the the dealer (about a 15 minute drive thru city streets) and try not to drop dead from the stench?

 

You know how you feel when your constipated....engine feels the same

Noting going out - nothing coming in = no power

 

well as you gave a text book description of a cat dieing, maybe you got a bag on the exhaust at the same time?

you are under warranty, have them tow it..

btw, you posted everything so well, but did not take the time to include your location..

you have been given the most probable answer i think 3 times.. and you are under warranty.

what else can we do????

beers

 

wow,

i was demure in my straw comment!!!!!

beers

 

^+1 take it to the dealer.

 

Thank you to everyone who gave me answers (even the ones about straws and......)
My location is Florida.
Is that relevant? Generally it just means that stuff gets hotter faster and that everything ends up covered in rust or mildew.

I'm going to try to get the dealer to tow it. I'm not sure whether the warranty covers that or not. But it's worth a try. They've been pretty good to me in the past.

I appreciate the answers. At least I can pretend like I know what I'm talking about when I take it in for service.

 

wow,

funny i should notice.. did you get the ac issue cleared up???

as to the cat.. it is covered by emissions 80k miles..

and where you are located does help with troubleshooting.. and credibility..

where in fla??? i know people in fla.

beers

 

Federal Emmisions Warranty on your MAZDA RX-8 is 80,000 miles or 96 months.
That is a fact.

 

and btw,, drkwings

as you dont come by here often.. make sure the 4602f recall is done while you are there.. it is important..

beers

 

thanks for the update about the warranty. But I guess I wasn't clear when I wrote that last one. I was wondering whether the warranty covered having it towed. Guess I'll find that out when I call them. I'm actually still covered by the basic warranty since I've owned the car less that 4 years and it's still got under 50k miles on it.

swoope: the a/c is just barely adequate. The dealer didn't come up with anything useful to do. I gave up. I just keep it on recirc and when I get in, roll the windows down until the worst of the hot air is out. I still think it's a pretty lousy a/c.
Oh...and being from FL, makes me very credible, right? :D

Again..thanks to all. At least I can go to bed now and not worry that the car is going to go up in flames in my driveway while I'm sleeping. And don't laugh - my son's Honda accord did exactly that so I've developed a paranoia about cars that smell like they are burning.

 

re: 4602f - I'll check on that. thanks

 

while the car is in... as a check list..

get ac amp replaced.. as in the old thread. i think your vin needs it..

and brain fart 4206f is the recall..

and you warranty is now 5 yrs 60 k miles..

have them look at the coils, they should do it as part of the recall, but you know how it is..

beers

 

Status update: Took the car to the dealer. They tell me the entire engine needs to be replaced. Something about carbon buildup which then caused the cat to fail. But they believe that the engine screwed up first which caused the cat failure. Thank goodness it's under warranty BUT.............why the heck would a car with 37,000 miles on it need a new engine????? Please don't tell me this is normal!

When I asked what could cause this, the guy said it could be caused by running the car on regular gasoline instead of premium. Does that answer make any sense?

 

you dont rev it enough.

 

Yup. Thats a classic case of a cat stuck in the exhaust. Good thing the dealer was willing to fish it out for you. You must have hit it at night and sucked it into your engine.