98 i30 burning smell near front left wheel

[infii30owner]

my i30 has been giving nothing but problems off late

latest one being the one in topic headline. the vehicle itself is kinda dragging. i don't think its the engine.

i have those drilled or slotted rotors in front that i got off of ebay like 3 or 3.5 years ago. i recently changed the pads but didn't turn the rotors. could something be holding onto the brakes and not releasing it...could that be why it kinda feels like something is holding it. bad calipers? do i have to lubricate them or something? car used to have very smooth drive with no noise. now its so noisy below.

few days ago after my 10mile traffic filled evening commute, i could smell the burnt smell while driving. was afraid something under hood is burning. but it was definitely coming from wheel.

thanks for help guys.

[AZhitman]

Ugh.

Well, sounds to me like a brake is dragging, but the real question is, "why?"

Get the front end up on jackstands. Try to turn the LF tire. If it's locked up, or super-hard to turn, then that's your issue. NOTE: It should not spin freely, but you should be able to turn the wheel with light pressure from your hand.

A few possibilities: One, the caliper pins are gummed up or seized (likely). You're going to need a brake job anyway, so let's take it apart and get PROPER parts on it.

This means throw the ebay rotors in the garbage. Get some good pads (no, don't reuse the ones you've already put on there... you ran those on failed rotors, which means they're no longer flat).

Once you have the parts, we can walk you through refurbishing the calipers so that they function properly. It's not hard.

The I30 is a great car, but most of them have NOT been maintained properly - You're now seeing the results of no maintenance. We're here to help.

[infii30owner]

thanks AZhitman.

i got parts from ebay before (alternator, radiator) which weren't bad. i think my current rotors are at end of life. don't think i ever turned them. don't i need new calipers?

my neighbor who is going to auto mechanic school did these brakes for me a month ago...to put the new pads he pressed that piston(??) with some tool..i later learned that for infinitis that part needs to be turned (so it goes in and gives room for the pads to be put on) and never pressed! i have some basic tools but no where close to a mechanic. so maybe i'll get some help from someone.

i'm looking at this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/96-97-98-99-Inf ... 2281864%26


rotors in kragen are around $30-45 per tire. didn't check acdelco.

[AZhitman]

Alternators and radiators are very different from rotors. Most ebay rotors are made with substandard steel, and the "drilled / slotted" ones are particularly bad - You can't just carve a pattern in a rotor and expect it to work properly.

You don't typically "turn" (resurface) slotted / drilled rotors. Most machine shops won't touch them.

You may not need calipers. They DO need to be disassembled (most likely) and all moving parts (very few) cleaned and re-lubricated.

The kid from UTI / Wyotech is probably not the person you want to entrust with saving your life... brakes are important. If you;re not mechanically inclined, take it to a reputable local shop. They will likely NOT install your supplied parts, so let them know up-front what you want done and what you think is a fair price.

I'd expect, for what you need, approx $500 in parts / labor (front brakes only). Have them flush the brake fluid while they're at it (they'll have to bleed the brakes anyway).

[infii30owner]

Thanks AZhitman. i'll stay away from those slotted ones. am into a totally different profession.

let me get regular rotors and new pads.

when i and my wyotech neighbor installed rear pads he broke a caliper pin. i got new ones from local auto shop and lubricated them good. i should have done that to front ones as well.

[AZhitman]

Let us know when you;re ready to get started, we'll give you the entire Factory Service Manual (for free) and you'll know just as much (if not more) than anyone at a repair shop.

[infii30owner]

got new rotors and pads from acdelco.

that dragging noise from front is really getting on my nerves and literally giving me headaches

hope i can clear that. pl let me know how. if u want me to post some video of how it sounds like while driving i could.

another silly idea: would driving at say 40 or 50mph and slamming the brakes would help? maybe ABS would kick in shakeup things a bit to clear that noise.

if only the dealer guys aren't a ripoff, i'd get it fixed at dealer. oh well..

thanks guys.

[AZhitman]

No need for video. Are you still driving around on it?

See my post above from 1/9/13. Did you do those things yet?

NO, do not go "slamming on the brakes" - Something is mechanically wrong, it's not like an old TV you can slap and make it "work correctly". ABS will not "shakeup things a bit".

You have to REPAIR the broken / non-functioning parts.

[NutriaforBreakfast]

need to check problem
Could be a bad wheel bearing-very dangerous

[infii30owner]

damn! could it really be the bearings? they appear to be ok in the morning drive when i drop off my kids to school. even in morning, when i make a 90degree turn i can feel that grinding starting to happen. in the evening commute which is nothing but stop-n-go on highway, it gets much worse.

if it is bearing, is it going to be $$$s repair?

thank you.

p.s: am thinking about meineke or some other brake related guys to check on this.

[infii30owner]

while looking at some videos about this broken bearing noise on youtube, someone talked about axles and i remember that the front axle on this car was replaced like 6 years ago.

[infii30owner]

took it to local firestone guys. $14.99 for whole chassis inspection or whatever.

they didn't find anything other than alignment, front tire noise....they said nothing wrong with brake system ie., calipers or bearings etc.

went for test drive with the tech...the grinding, he says, is coming from transmission. i don't have that grinding noise at high speeds. he says thats quite normal but advised me to take it to transmission shop. i did have full trasmission service at 60K back in 2009.

i'm going to start off with alignment.

another not so bothering yet is that the doors are getting automatically locked soon after i start the engine and drive for a min. i'm going to ignore this as it doesn't bother me in driving.

[Fezzik]

Maybe try to take a video of this noise and post it up on here.

[infii30owner]

Got alignment done already. think it was pretty bad. i see quite a bit difference in the angles in before/after computer report.

Sure. I could do that.

I noticed that this grinding/growling happens only between 10-30mph.

[infii30owner]

took video but it wasnt getting the noice out clearly.

took it to a transmission shop today. we went for a spin and that guy said there is nothing wrong with transmission and it may be brakes issue! he was like there if there is any issue with your transmission your CEL would show it.

so i'm going to drive around like that and see.

[infii30owner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_J48MU8 ... e=youtu.be

above is the video of how the RPM jumps when i start from idle. it jumps straight to 2000 and drops and when i go up to 40 or 50mph it starts stabilizing. does such RPM jumps indicate something wrong with transmission?

sorry, its noisy and doesn't capture the grinding noise.

[infii30owner]

to close the loop...the issue was bad tires. i got a pair of dunlops and its smooth now.

wasted good amount of time taking the car to transmission guys etc etc.

thanks for help guys.