ok...2001 prelude sh only 4900 miles on it.

wife learning to drive standard shift (fully warrantied car )

she was at a hill and panicked as she was rolling back. Had it in 3rd instead of 1st and gunned the throttle....
finally got going but then a foul burning odor - like the smell of a transformer burning and the acceleration seemed to be a little off. full motor power but just didn't feel like it was transferring to the wheels smoothly.

? clutch spring broken? whats that smell? i can't pinpoint it and dont recall ever smelling anything under the hood like that before.

of course i'm going to bring it to Honda to deal with under warranty but just thought you guys can help me so i have a possible idea of what it will turn out to be. i'm too busy tearing down another motor for this thing to get eventually to deal with diagnosing this now


thanks!

 

i think i answered my own question. i took the time to explore and i am quite certain it is the smell of burning clutch. leave it to my wife.... i have never done that before so i never smelled that smell before. Certainly smells similar to a blown transformer (the insulating material).

now to see if it is failing or not-jeeze its brand new.

 

you're tearing down another motor , but you;ve never smelled burnt clutch before? comon man where have you been!!

 

ha! i've never raced a single car i've built. i drive like an old lady most of the time. the car i'm building up now i will eventually bring to a track. just believe it, i've never burnt up a clutch before. my wife's first time behind the wheel of a manual tranny and BAM! she burns the **** up. well, i hope it just burned the surface and didn't fry it. i'm gonna let the smell air out and just take it out tomorrow for a spin to see.

 

I've only burned one clutch and it wasn't ruined... when I had the 'ol D16y7 workhorse , I tried to spin the tires, Key word is tried haha and the clutch slipped like mad, and only one tire spun..

Then of course I smelled that aweful odor and my clutch was really soft and didn't seem to engage until the top of it's travel path. the whole rest of the night it felt so mushy and kept slipping, I thought is was toast , but I think just overheated in my case. after parking it for the night, I drove it the next day and it seemed fine.

But , ya gotta love that smell!!

 

ha on your d16y7 only one tire would spin anway regardless of slipping clutch or not. it is called an open diff. power to the wheels with the least traction. when i first started driving, my friend told me the proper way to burn out was to redline drop. i did this a couple times, of course my friend didnt' know ****, so i did it. my clutch was glazed up and didn't grab like it use to. but shortly after, i switched to act hd pp and ss disc. 2 years and still going.