Smoke coming up through gear shift

[wighty]

Hey guys,
Just finished getting car, 88 carby 5 speed lx, ready for smog inspection and was driving it there when i noticed that every time i let off the gas the car was slowing down too fast as if i was applying brakes, towing a large trailer or a bearing is bad. However, I know what a bad bearing sounds like and it wasnt making any of those noises and as far as I know the brakes are fine as i just redid the pads etc. a month ago. which leads me to believe its the transmission cuz by the time i turned around and drove home there was smoke coming up from the gear shift box. Any ideas would be great on what to check first. I hope its nothing more than gearbox grease needed, but i doubt it could be that simple. It really didnt have any problems shifting gears and it wasnt difficult to shift between the gears either. What oh what could be wrong with my little buddy now? 2 steps forward 5 steps back it seems. Thanks in advance for any help you could give.

[ryanprins13]

Hi! The smoke coming up through the gear shifter could be an exhaust leak by the catalytic converter. Is your exhaust a bit loud?
Is the car slowing down real quick when you let off the gas just compared to other cars? Or has it changed recently on your car? Festivas slow down very fast when you let off compared to other vehicles.
To check transmission fluid level you pull the speedometer gear out-its a dipstick as well.
You can also one corner of the car at a time and see how easily each wheel spins.
When the rear brake adjusters sieze up they could cause the shoes to rub.
If your caliper slider pins sieze up they could possibly cause dragging brakes on the front.

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[WmWatt]

The gear shift is at the top of an arch running the length of the car, like for the drive shaft on old rear wheel drive cars. So any smoke will rise to the top of that arch and come up through the shifter. It probably doesn't mean a smoking transmission. More likely leaking exhaust pipe as Ryan suggests. Depressing the gas pedal should produce exhaust sound. Just get down and look for smoke under the car while the engine is running. Also probably means worn shifter for smoke to get through like that.

[wighty]

I replaced the cat with a new cali cat last year.....but they are not the best things for long wear are they? However, i have not heard any changes in the exhaust at all. I am wondering after reading the comments if maybe a caliper slider pin could be the problem as i recently did change out the pads and is the last place i touched under the car. All of my recent work has been on the carb. Come to think of it i did have a bit of a problem after redoing the brake pads with the pedal not tightening back up with fluid. they were a little slow to work at first but then I had to step hard on them to stop once and after that they seemed to work as normal. Up until this last smoking business anyway. Anyway, i will get under there and figure it out now that I have a good place to start. Thanks again.

[WmWatt]

If the brake pads are hot enough to smoke they should be hot to the touch. If you can drive around in such a way you don't need to apply the brakes (think circling around in a parking lot or highway driving) they won't heat up and if the car is still smoking then it would not be the brake pads. Hard to imagine smoke from the brake pads working it's way over the the centre of the vehicle to come up around the shift lever. Good luck.

Re catalytic converter: No experience with a Californai catalytic converter but my stock converter is still good and the car passes Ontario emissions test after 29 years. I did have an issue with a replacement exhaust pipe leading back form the converter. The mechanic at a national chain used the wrong pipe and it leaked at the gasket at the converter end. I ran the car up on ramps and took a look and could see the exhaust puffing out of the seam so took it back and he replaced the pipe with the correct one. No problems since.

[wighty]

its been pouring rain here so i havent been able to get under there yet, but could a failing master cylindar cause the brakes to drag? if not the brakes could a not quite broken yet bearing drag enough to cause smoke at the axel? Just wondering what your thoughts might be. Those damn wheel bearings have less than a 1000 miles on them, but i know that if not put on while standing with your left leg up and holding your right ear while cursing like a sailor they can fail.....

[WmWatt]

If the bearings are hot enough to smoke the hub will be warm to the touch. When I changed my rear bearings one thing I did to make sure they were not too tight was to feel the hub after driving. My money's on the exhaust.