Can a clutch job blow my engine?
 

91 turbo vert.

I took it to a shop to have the clutch done. I couldn't get it started, I assumed it was just the clutch draging as it had been doing that and getting harder and harder to start.

The mech sayed that I needed a new starter, mine started when he tapped on it. I said fine. The price wasn't too bad and since it was already off for the clutch, no labour.

Anyway they said they had a hell of a time removing the "clutch bushing" it was all broken an they had to pull it out peice by peice with a pick, chissile, screwdriver???? Got the clutch in got the starter in. He said when he started it it blue a bunch of smoke for a while but then ran fine. On the way back from the test drive he said "it sounded like the plugs were fouled" I thought it may just have been from being flooded.

Anyway when i go to start it, the sound of the starter sound wrong. I pitched whine. Doesn't want to start. After about 3 min she starts then dies. I try again and get it running. She hold idle but sounds horrible. If i give it gas it shakes the whole car. All 4 coils fire. NOT a vac leak. It sounds like she is just running on one rotor.

So did they kill it? or is it something else?

gota go to work now a worry.

That's the pilot bearing and it's not unusual for them to be in pieces.

Not sure about the rest of your problems.

I don't see how the clutch could mess up the motor. I had a flywheel come loose that seemed like the motor was falling apart, but it ran after I tightend it.

Im pulling this out of my ass since i dont have so much knowledge on the subject but is it possible they cracked the rear housing or something like that guys?

Compression test

Sounds like the post-clutch replacement test drive went a little too well. Any possibility they drove the shit out of your car after fixing it?

I know I used to drive the absolute hell out of some customers' cars, but I never tore them up. Whether or not they did that to you, you'll probably never know. Hope they're honest.

Or, maybe it was just that time? Only a compression test will tell.

You could go back and tell them the car isn't acting right.

its still there, i wasn't about to take it like that. They think that the plugs are just fouled and are going to put new ones in tommorow, but that ain't it.

I will probably have to go get a compression tester and do a quick parking lot test (anyone in seattle got a mazda one I can borrow?)

What would happen if they put in a N/A clutch? Would it fit?

Its my own damn fault for not taking it to a rx7 guy but there is just such little choose up here.

You can use a regular engine compression gauge.

Your car could have extreme cold start flooding problems, and when they moved it around at the shop, this all contributed to one bad flood.

+1 for compression test

Yes, It does have a bad flooding problem.BUT i know what this is. When it floods (bad) I have to do the pull plugs, turn over squirt oil fix. After a few minutes she runs fine. It didn't seem to be acting like that.

Why didn't you take her to Atkins? What shop did you take it to?


Compression test her then go from there. I'm guessing they may have had too much fun on the test ride. Or they didn't put the flywheel on tight enough.

No.

Crap-I think AGreen has the answer. :( I hope it doesn't turn out to be the case. If they blew it, this will be a very expensive clutch job for you. I doubt you can prove they did or hold them accountable for the deed.



If I had a Turbo RX7, especially one modified or retrofitted, I think that I would do something pretty drastic to protect the engine in a repair shop scenario. I think I would tie the wastegate open with some safety wire. This would absolutely keep them from boosting your car on a test drive.

Good Luck man, I hope it turns out OK.

So its dead. The front is not getting the compression.
So nobody ansewered this. Can an N/A clutch fit in a turbo?
I don't have anything on my reciept that says what parts they used. And since i saw the guy working his computer program telling him what to us and what to charge. I was wondering if maybe he just went to the convertible section and used the stock clutch for it.
So I'm kinda curious. Say, if they put in a N/A clutch and it fits but will only run on the car for 3 mins........ cause thats how my car died.

I don't think the n/a clutch would fit. It would not spline on the TII Trans.

I think you got 'taken for a ride'

Oh man that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about that, bro.

The n/a clutch will not fit, if it had... I would be running a t2 transmission.

If you have a TII transmission, a NA clutch could not physically fit on the splines of the trans input shaft. Funny though, how it suddenly lost compression when the clutch was replaced. Two completely unrelated events that can't be linked together in any other way.... except the test drive.

Or aren't linked together at all.
As the saying goes, "Shit happens", maybe it applies here.
Or, perhaps it's something as simple as an unconnected engine ground.

I've seen customers complain about non-functional power windows after an oil change...only connection- in their mind at least- was that the car had been in the shop, so they must have screwed it up.

Not saying this is the case here, but sometimes you're just spinning your wheels trying to connect A to B when no real causality exists.

You've been screwed, I think. But you have one thing going for you. A clutch job is unrelated to your problem. Car went in ok, came out fu*ked, so go after them. Small claims court. Maybe. Others may disagree, but it's worth trying to get _some_ money, rightfully.

You fail at legal strategy.
You can't admit that a clutch job is unrelated to the current issue and then attempt to nail the people who replaced the clutch.
Besides, the OP already said that he couldn't start the car before he took it to the shop- so it wasn't "OK" when it went in- and implies that it was his idea to replace the clutch to solve the problem.
That means it wasn't even their diagnosis, they were simply following orders.

Gonna be a very tough sell in court but look at OJ...there's always hope, I suppose.

did you at least write down the milage when you left it at the shop? or did they on the ORIGINAL work order?

I would say shit happens...

I am by no means an expert here yet, but it sounds like they drove the piss out, perhaps even over heated it somehow. If the plugs are fouled and it doesn't want to start, smoke came out the tail pipes, and has low compression, that sounds like something is in the block that shouldn't be... Good luck.