I found out how exhaust fumes are making there way into the cabin of my car.

The last owner cut the boot that surrounds the shifter. I do not know if he did this to fit the short shifter, or he was bored. In any event, when I stare down the shifter barrel, I can see the floor of my garage.

So, I am hoping/guessing that the only part I need to repair this malady is the boot?

Can someone tell me if this boot needs to be cut when putting on a short shifter?

If this is the case, is there another short shifter I can use that will not require cutting to make it fit?

Thanks as always.

 

Forgot to add the pic.

 

Post *****..

 

There shouldn't be any cutting of the boot necessary. I have the Mazdaspeed shortshifter kit; the boot, and fuzzy insulation fit just fine.

Nice Blue boot by the way

 

Gay *** blue boot, has long since been replaced... Thank you very much.

So there is also a piece of insulation that goes in there?

 

Yes.

It looks like **** carpeting.
Let me see if my digital camera is around here somewhere...

 

Svelte_7,

If you could take a couple of pics for me I would be eternally grateful.

I Need to figure out what all I have to buy to fix this thing.

I do not know who the last owner had put this shift kit in, but I am guessing that person was bordeline retarded.

 

Damn. I left the camera at work. I'll post some later this afternoon.

And yes - the installer was the brightest person because that rubber boot is held in place by friction and 4 SCREWS!!!

 

Some pics here: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=tranny

Ray at Malloy can get you that **** thing people are talking about, but it won't make a difference. Didn't for me anyway. I suggest you order some heat shield material and glue it over that opening. It decreases the amount of heat that comes into the cabin.

your fumes are probably the result of an exhaust leak somewhere and unrelated to that thing being open. i didn't smell exhaust when i drove around w/o that boot thing.

 

wow thats a good way to dump contraband and no you do not need to remove/cut boot for a short shifter.

 

Exhaust smell probably due to leaky LIM gasket.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I also think I have an exhaust leak somewhere. The opportune word here is somewhere!!

Am I going to have to go thru every gasket on the exhaust side to find the leak?

Any usual suspects? where should I start checking?

 

It seems to me that you would want to start at the exhaust manifold and work toward the back from there. I would expect any gasketed joint to go first, but who knows-- maybe you've got a hole in a pipe, or a cracked flange, etc. Check it all to be sure. While you're under there, redo the exhaust ground and clean up the remains of that cat you ran over

 

Here are the photos I promised:

 

And another (I don't know how to post more than 1 picture per post....)

 

When I installed my short shifter (Mazdaspeed), I found that the bottom rubber boot (the one that bolts down in Svelte 7's pics) was torn. I think it was a combination of heat, age and use. The shifter came with it's own boot though, so I didn't try to find a replacement for the stocker.

 

Yep, thanks Svelte_7. You know the only reason I can figure why the guy cut the boot, was because he did not want to remove the 4 bolts. What a fucken barney!!

I am buying a boot from Fritz, this will at least slow down the exhaust from coming in, until I have a chance to go over all the gaskets.

My guess is that the leak is at the exhaust manifold, or at the turbo. I replaced the midpipe, and catback when I got the car, but I am going to replace those gaskets again as well.