My slave cylinder area caught on fire today. We put in the transmission perfectly without any problems. It slid right in perfectly without and problems just a few jiggles and it went in like cake work. We put in the starter, the driveshaft and filled it up with the proper fluid. The only messed up part is the 5th/Reverse Connector is broken so i need to get a new one. Any help on that part would be very helpful and widely appreciated.



Now the shifter is sitting about 2-4 degress over to the passenger side due to the Custom T&R crossmember bracket, so there wasnt much that we can do. We tried 4 times to rearrange it to make it fit more even but to no avail.



So we filled it up with some good new fluid (the fluid T&R said they replaced and DIDNT!) and checked the driveshaft for play and re-inspected all the work. Then we left the car on jackstands to make sure there was nothing wrong after we started it.



We go to start the car and the car is not turning over smoothly. Feels a bit rough like something is restricting the movement of it turning over. Some Smoke was coming out the housing and after continuing the smoke was less and less present. So we needed more power (because since i gotten teh car back from T&R my battery have been gettting CORROSION) so i got the battery from my girls dads MOUNTAINEER.



So we began cranking and i let it ride for a while becuase it was moving a lil better, and didnt felt so restricted. Next thing i know i have my OWN fourth of july special in my engine bay ( it was localized).



So we put out the fire quickly, then we see that the Stainless Steel Clutchline was foaming and whitish. So im thinking that T&R didnt wire something properly and has a loose wire somewhere that maybe ignited the line to make a FIRE.



Now can it be that or can it be from the car turning over and over feeling restricted?



So any suggestion are widely needed and will be taken very seriously. I need my car as soon as POSSIBLE becuase i want my car ready for ROTORFEST next week.



HEre are a few pics , so ENJOY





Jason NYC

Here are a few more pictures

T&R Transmission Crossmember, that spot on my right eye. Is some grease that fell in my eye and its so hard to get it out!... loll



Jason nYC

i need to find the sensor/ connector that goes into the transmission for the the 5th gear and the reverse...



Now is my car not starting becuase it was AUTOMATIC. I left the wiring the same way T&R had it i didnt change anything. The only thing thats not connected how they had it was the 5th/Reverse Connector to the tranny.



Can this lead to the car not starting becuase the ECU doesnt sense its presence there.?



Jason NYC

[quote name='ROTARYROCKET7' date='Jul 5 2005, 01:07 AM']

Now is my car not starting becuase it was AUTOMATIC. I left the wiring the same way T&R had it i didnt change anything. The only thing thats not connected how they had it was the 5th/Reverse Connector to the tranny.


[/quote]



how did you get the car to start when it caused the fire?

If they had done something wrong you would have had a fire a week ago, not after you changed the tranny and fluid.

They also could have changed the fluid but because it was in such bad shape it made the fluid dirty again, check your reciept to see if they changed the fluid or charged you for more fluid



Also cant figure out how they caused your battery to corrode, maybe it was that week of rain we had and you not driving the car that made that happen

It sounds like your primary ground is loose or bad.



The clutch line braid was trying to carry the high current ground load.

[quote name='Rob x-7' date='Jul 5 2005, 02:55 AM']how did you get the car to start when it caused the fire?

If they had done something wrong you would have had a fire a week ago, not after you changed the tranny and fluid.

They also could have changed the fluid but because it was in such bad shape it made the fluid dirty again, check your reciept to see if they changed the fluid or charged you for more fluid



Also cant figure out how they caused your battery to corrode, maybe it was that week of rain we had and you not driving the car that made that happen


[/quote]



Well check this out. YOu have a new battery in your car, you drive it around and the car has 14.6 volts all the time. When you get the car back from the shop the car barely gets 8volts. Then you charge it and drive it around and its back to 14 volts. Leave it for a day , next day the car wont turn over becuase power is 8 volts again, and this is before i took anything off the car. Then my battery terminals never get white poweder or show any signs of corrosion now since it came back it keeps draining and getting corrosive.



Now wouldnt you contribute that to something that must of happened while ure car was in there posession. And TONY didnt give me a receipt he kept saying he will give it to me but never did. And he said he changed the oil and the oil was derttttty imean derty and i mean derty like it was there for a long time and chunky. Now i dont think a few days of that will make the oil that nasty.

I didnt get a chance to kick over the car becuase its turning very very slowly. I guess something is rubbing inside the transmission / Motor area. I guess the spindles didnt like up properly with the disc hub...



I will fix that fire damage but am mostly concerned about what is happening inside that wont let my car start.



Jason NYC

[quote name='sureshot' date='Jul 5 2005, 08:32 AM']It sounds like your primary ground is loose or bad.



The clutch line braid was trying to carry the high current ground load.


[/quote]



Again..

[quote name='sureshot' date='Jul 5 2005, 06:00 AM']Again..


[/quote]



i will be working on that shortly.



Second question: Is the rear transmission cover (the one that holds the shifter ) is interchangable between all years s4/s5 RX-7?



I used the old one on the new tranny i bought, since the T&R cross member brackets fit that peice and not the one from the new tranny becuase it was bigger

Second question: Is the rear transmission cover (the one that holds the shifter ) is interchangable between all years s4/s5 RX-7?



I used the old one on the new tranny i bought, since the T&R cross member brackets fit that peice and not the one from the new tranny becuase it was bigger


[/quote]

yes they are interchangable, i have done diffenrnt trans swaps, hell i built a s2 12a trans center section, aka the gearbox with a s5 tail housing and bell housing with out any issues. now to me it sounds like the reason for the fire is quite simple, the starter got over heated, check the starter terminal for the 12v bat. line make sure the terminal post is not loose then check the ground that is bolted to the back side of the motor that is bolted with the long starter bolt, since that is directly below the slave the problem may lie there , all these reasons can make the car crank very slowly and sound like the motor is binding but then again i am not there to see what is truly the problem. also make sure the throw out bearing was new and also free spinning when it was installed.

[quote name='fc3sboy1' date='Jul 5 2005, 06:53 PM']

Second question: Is the rear transmission cover (the one that holds the shifter ) is interchangable between all years s4/s5 RX-7?



I used the old one on the new tranny i bought, since the T&R cross member brackets fit that peice and not the one from the new tranny becuase it was bigger


[/quote]

yes they are interchangable, i have done diffenrnt trans swaps, hell i built a s2 12a trans center section, aka the gearbox with a s5 tail housing and bell housing with out any issues. now to me it sounds like the reason for the fire is quite simple, the starter got over heated, check the starter terminal for the 12v bat. line make sure the terminal post is not loose then check the ground that is bolted to the back side of the motor that is bolted with the long starter bolt, since that is directly below the slave the problem may lie there , all these reasons can make the car crank very slowly and sound like the motor is binding but then again i am not there to see what is truly the problem. also make sure the throw out bearing was new and also free spinning when it was installed.


[/quote]



yeah the throw-out bearing is new. I took it out my old one and put it on the clutch fork and it was free moving. I would hate to take it all apart again. If the ground doesnt work and its a binding issue im driving a truck over there, not my car.



jason nyc



Thanks for yer help

is this the starter ground. anD IF so where should i connect it. I know you guys said behind the motor, but i dont ever remember removing this. I guess it was somewhere behind the area where i was working and when i removed something, i guess i was only paying attention to the front and not to anything in the back.



Jason NYC

Yes - under the head of the starter mounting bolt.



Also check the #10 ga clip on ground from the top of the bellhousing to the firewall.

If it was on, it probably got burned.

[quote name='sureshot' date='Jul 6 2005, 07:19 AM']Yes - under the head of the starter mounting bolt.



Also check the #10 ga clip on ground from the top of the bellhousing to the firewall.

If it was on, it probably got burned.


[/quote]





sureshot is right about this and the foaming you're seeing on the clutch line im a lil late responding here cuz i dont frequent the fc sections.



the cause of your slow cranking sounds like something is misalligned in the bell housing. you may have installed the clutch disk backwards. did the tranny go in easily (slide flush into the dowel pins on the motor)? or did you force the gap closed by running in the 14mm bolts? check the orientation of the disk while u have the tranny down and make sure the tranny goes back in easily with no forcing.

i had the ss clucth line cacth fire well not fire but started to smoke and it was a bad ground and the line was acting as a ground and frying

[quote name='SPEED_NYC' date='Jul 6 2005, 06:22 PM']sureshot is right about this and the foaming you're seeing on the clutch line im a lil late responding here cuz i dont frequent the fc sections.



the cause of your slow cranking sounds like something is misalligned in the bell housing. you may have installed the clutch disk backwards. did the tranny go in easily (slide flush into the dowel pins on the motor)? or did you force the gap closed by running in the 14mm bolts? check the orientation of the disk while u have the tranny down and make sure the tranny goes back in easily with no forcing.


[/quote]



the clutch was installed in T&R and the car was running fine before that. So i dont think its that. At first we tried to align it by tightening up some bolts but then we figured that was wrong and on the third try it slipped right in. No fighting it or anything just slid right in. The tranny sat perfectly centered.



Another question is after we put the crossmember it kinda moved a lil towards the passenger side. SO i was wondering if that was okay. I know its better to have it straight but thats how it is right now.



And once i fix the ground i think the car will start up fine.



jason NYC