deano1stunna

it wasn't grinding or smoking. I think I might have just broken a gear or something to do with the clutch ? - crosses fingers -

riceburners2001

if the CEL is flashing tho, do not drive it any more!
listen to people in here. they are very knowledgeable!!
I know it seems like waste of $$ to call a flat bed, but do it!
keep us updated!!
good luck!

Billman250

Didn't you find a rough idle a week ago?

deano1stunna

Yeah, but it wasn't bad. It was just a tiny bit different, that's why I figured I could have craked one of my motor mounts. I read up a bit on the forums about the misshift and saw people that misshifted worse then I did and didn't have any problems so I figured when it went into second the engine jumped and cracked one of them or something.

Wisconsin S2k

I was about to post the same damn thing. i dont know how many times we can repeat this to people. so i'll do it again:


DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR! PULL OVER AND SHUT IT OFF ASAP AND HAVE IT FLATBEDDED TO THE NEAREST DEALER!




unfortunately my friend, your girlfriend may have just given you a money shift instead of a money shot. also unfortunately, continuing to drive the car in such condition may have completely destroyed your engine. you're most likely looking at several grand in repairs at least.

Wisconsin S2k

no you did have problems with the car, you just chose to ignore it. a CEL, especially a flashing CEL, IS A PROBLEM. so how you can say you had no problems until tonight is beyond me....

Wisconsin S2k

sorry dude, a flashing CEL doesn't occur with transmission trouble. that's only going to involve the engine. and an overrev is going to cause the kind of damage that disagrees with your valves and retainers. Unfortunately, the tranny issues would be totally unrelated, and you may be facing not only needing a new engine, but tranny as well.

Wisconsin S2k

cracked motor mounts wont have a damn thing to do with a flashing CEL either. or any CEL for that matter.

and dont use the logic of "people have misshifted worse, and they had no trouble". because some people have misshifted LESS and had to replace an engine after a valve dropped into a cylinder.

Race Miata

This reminds me of the ancient story about someone searching under a street lamp for a key dropped 50 yards down the road.

deano, there are people here with triple your age and have way much more experience on the S than you do. Listen to them!!!

RED MX5

Deano, I guess we need to explain a little more clearly. Your confusion is understandable. Unlike the regulars here, you haven't seen this situation dozens of times, so you don't understand what's going on. I'll do my best to explain it, and in return I want you to take the time to read and understand what I say.

All the regulars here have seen many other cases of over-rev. I have NEVER seen a "gear or anything to do with the clutch," but we've all seen cases where there was a CEL, and we know what usually gets damaged when this happens. Valve retainers get stretched and the pistons and valves come into contact. Even if there isn't a CEL a smart owner will inspect the valve spring retainers after an over-rev, because stretched retainers can cause major problems down the road. Both these issues are the result of valve float. The valves "float" when the cams are turning so fast that the springs cannot close the valves as quickly as the cam lobes demand. They don't close quickly enough, and if it is bad enough (enough of an over-rev) the pistons come up before the valves close enough to be out of the way, and there is an impact. This can bend the valve stem or even break it. Also, as the slack is taken out of the valve train by the closing valve and rising camshaft lobe, the rockers slam into the valves like a hammer, and the opposing forces stretch (and crack) the valve spring retainers. Once a valve head is bouncing around in a combustion chamber it can do all kinds of nasty damage, but a bent valve only causes a misfire.

Now, let's look at your particular situation. Your car was over-reved, after which you saw two symptoms. The car had a rough idle, and a flashing CEL. The CEL was telling you "DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR ANY MORE FOR ANY REASON," because the cars computer had detected a problem that would cause more damage if you continued to drive. You did continue to drive, for 10 days, so we can guess what was going on and be 99.99% sure we're right. The motor shakes because one or more cylinders are misfiring. An over-rev doesn't affect the ignition unless a valve head breaks off and clobbers a sparkplug, but if you'd broken a valve head completely off the car would have been inoperable in a matter of seconds. So why is the car misfiring? You need air, fuel, spark, and compression, and the only thing a over-rev is likely to affect is compression. When you bend a valve the cylinder will either leak and misfire irregularly, or leak more and misfire constantly. Your engine shakes because one or more cylinders are misfiring due to one or more bent valves. Things would be worse (as in a totally dead motor) if a retainer had let go.

So, you've been driving the car around with damaged valves for 10 days, and all that time things have been getting worse. Every time you start the car, you make it worse. Nothing in the driveline will throw a flashing CEL, so you can forget that possibility. The ONLY things related to an over rev that can cause a misfire and a flashing CEL are engine internals, and you've got to stop driving the car IMMEDIATELY!

We would not be telling you this over and over if it were not important.

Keep us posted.