chrismothaFwalt

Hey i just purchased an 88 fc gxl as i was driving it home i noticed an enormous amount of heat coming from the tranny housing. even the short throw shifter and **** were hot. Any ideas??

diabolical1

welcome to the board.

1. have you owned an Rx-7 before?
2. do you have an aftermarket metal shifter ****?
3. is the tranny noisy?

i ask those questions because some heat is normal, the tranny generates it's own heat, but the exhaust runs right next to it as well, so that's that. however, with the **** being "hot" to the touch, if it is the OEM ****, in my experiences that's not normal. if it is an aftermarket metal part, then i suppose it can radiate up from the shifter itself, which on some Rx-7s, i've found can get pretty hot.

chrismothaFwalt

no
yes
yes

haha i actually fixed the heat issue. the Tranny fluid was VERY bad. On the downside, I think it was too late. I believe the tranny is about to go. It makes a lot of noise and when shifting gears it makes a clunking noise. So that leads me to my next question..... Know of any good places to get a tranny? Im also going to just go ahead and replace the clutch and driveshaft while im at it im looking at an aluminum shaft from mazdatrix. Any thoughts???

diabolical1

yeah ... that was my suspicion. i figured you were low on oil or perhaps someone before you had put the wrong oil in it. like i said, they do run noticeably hotter than other cars (it radiates a lot on the passenger side, but the exhaust is also right there). however, that seems to be normal. being hot to touch is not.

sucks about the tranny needing replacement though. where are you located? generally speaking, you should be able to find a tranny in the Classified sections. since your car is N/A it shouldn't be all that expensive. depending on your location, you should be able to find one from anywhere between say $75 and $150 local to you.

your other option would be to rebuild what you have, but i don't how much of your existing unit is still viable and i don't know how much it would cost. Miata gearset swap in yet another option if you find yourself in a bind.

unless you just want an aluminum driveshaft, any local driveshaft shop should be able to refurbish yours and i tend to think it would be much cheaper. i'm not trying to talk you out of the aluminum, but just wanted to put it out there just in case.

good luck with it and you should post up whenever you get yourself back on the road.