oh no, smoke from shifter

[NebraskaSpider]

I was going to go for a drive today and about 2 miles away from my house, a little smoke started to come up from below the shifter. I assume this is my clutch going out but dont know for sure. Would it be safe to say that my 168,000 mile car needs a new clutch or is this something worse?

[manoa matt]

If your clutch went out, you would not be driving.

It could be one of three things, here are my guesses. Wiring to the transmission switches burning (do you know what burning wiring smells like?) OR you have oil leaking onto the exhaust pipe (do you know what burning oil smells like?) OR you have an exhaust leak, and your engine is burning oil.

[kmead]

Hard to say.

What else was it doing?
What does it smell like?
Would the car rev and not go any faster?
Are there any electrical items no longer working?
Is there a puddle of oil underneath from a bad seal somewhere whose oil was burning off on the exhaust pipe?

[majicwrench]

While remotely possible that the smoke was from clutch, very unlikely, esp if it still drives fine. Look elsewhere.
Keith

[NebraskaSpider]

Well, I wasnt having any trouble shifting but I tried listing to it carefully and while it was engaged and it had a higher pitched wine noise. I stopped the car and put it in neutral and engaged and disengaged the clutch and heard the same wining sound. I know the smell of burning wires, which it wasnt and havent had any problem with the electrics so far. I couldnt place the smell though. Ill look to the exhaust as I put a new exhaust on it last month and have only driven it a few times since. There is no oil leaking anywhere either. Thanks for the help.