ronarndt

In a previous post I asked for advise on others who had bad clutch smoke smell from the RB Ferodo HD sport/strip clutch disc. No replies, probably cause no one else had the problem. I had the job done at Roberts Mazda in Hickory, NC, mainly because I have gotten too old and lazy to lay on my back holding heavy, dirty car parts on my chest. When the car came back, everything seemed in order, except there was a lot of clutch smell, even if the clutch was slipped just a little. Found that the mechanic had put the original rubber boot for the shift lever back on the car, even though it was ripped to shreds and leaked badly. I replaced the boot and the smell was better, but still not gone completely. Also- when I started the car the first time when I got it back, the starter was much louder. Today I crawled around under the car, looking for any hole or inspection plate which may have been left open. Could find nothing under the car. Started looking at the firewall on the top of the engine compartment. WTF! The inspection plate on the top rear of the block is missing. I can look right in and see the flywheel and clutch plate. The lazy sob mechanic forgot to put it on when he was done. Now I have to make another trip to that rathole and hope that they have not thrown the plate away, or I will probably have to wait weeks to get one ordered. Man, I hate having someone else work on my cars! Alternative is to waste my time when I could be doing something I really enjoy- like installing mods. For some reason, that type of work is enjoyable.

Does anyone have a block out of the car to take a pic of the rear where the inspection plate is located? I checked every diagram in the factory workshop manual and could find no diagram which shows the inspection plate. I may have to help the boneheads at Roberts locate the part, if they have thrown the original one out.