Intense heat and burning smell from wheel arch

Jimbob1977

Hi all,

Looking for some advice here.

When we drive our car at a cruising speed (say 120kmph), it will run perfectly fine.

At the first braking at a roundabout (maybe after ten minutes' running), the judders will begin and remain for the rest of the journey. The front of the car is rattling and the wheel is vibrating.

When I reach home, there is a burning smell from the front wheel arch, similar to lighting a newspaper with a match.... and there is significant heat coming off the arch.

The car had new brake discs and brake pads fitted a month ago.... so it can't be that. The fitter repaired the caliper, but did not replace it.

The front tyres were also replaced and tracked about four months ago.

Temperature gauge is normal.

Could this burning smell and juddering after the first braking indicate that the caliper has given up? I'm not mechanically minded.

When I compare the front left wheel arch (cold) to the right wheel arch, it's like a burning hairdryer.

Any advice is gratefully taken.

Teddy Daniels

You have a stuck piston / calliper
Bring the car to someone who wasn’t the idiot that didn’t fix your brakes.

biko

What immediately springs to mind is a sticking caliper.
Is the alloy really hot?

When a caliper sticks the pads don't disconnect from the brake disc and builds up a lot of heat, and smell..

A caliper can start sticking any time but since it is pretty close to when someone worked on the brakes that's who to tell first.

Jimbob1977

biko wrote: »

What immediately springs to mind is a sticking caliper.
Is the alloy really hot?

When a caliper sticks the pads don't disconnect from the brake disc and builds up a lot of heat, and smell..

I wouldn't actually dare to touch it. You can feel the heat like a Sahara breeze.

Jimbob1977

Would a new caliper cost megabucks, like €300 parts and labour, or is it a relatively simple task?

biko

It could be something simple like cleaning and putting new grease on the slide pins, I've done this myself and the caliper was then fine.
Without seeing the caliper I can't say for sure, of course.

If the piston is pitted you may need a new one, can be anything from 80 to 150 to fix.

Try a brake specialist in your area and see what they say.

CJhaughey

If the car has been driven for long enough to get the discs that hot they may be warped and need replacement. You need to get a better mechanic I would suggest.

Del2005

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Would a new caliper cost megabucks, like €300 parts and labour, or is it a relatively simple task?

It should be zero. If the garage you originally went to is any way decent they should rectify the problem. If they aren't you have legal protection under the sale of goods and supply services act, though that can be hand to enforce.

I wouldn't be driving the car any further than a garage and if its far I'd considered a tow wagon. There's something seriously wrong with your brakes and driving more is going to make them worse.

creedp

CJhaughey wrote: »

If the car has been driven for long enough to get the discs that hot they may be warped and need replacement. You need to get a better mechanic I would suggest.

Had a sticking caliper recently which caused a lot of heat build-up in the disc and wheel. The mechanic replaced the caliper and said disc was OK. However, the car failed the NCT a couple of weeks later due to a contaminated disc, i.e. warped from the sticking caliper. So best to check the disc and replace if necessary. Also be aware that it is recommended that discs be replaced in pairs otherwise you could have a brake imbalance on the axle and fail your NCT anyway - although in your case since the discs were replaced only a month ago you should be fine replacing the warped disc only.

kirving

Just to warn you really, but don't be surprised if you get a bill for other parts in addition to a new brake calliper, disc and pads.

If the car has ABS, it could be an issue with the ABS ECU or valve. (unlikely as you said the mechanic repaired the calliper itself). The wheel speed sensor could also have been damaged by the heat.

The car may also have brake pad wear sensor cables, suspension height sensors or tyre pressure monitoring sensors that have been damaged. These would be designed to stand up against the heat associated with heavy braking but this looks to be more severe.

Not trying to scare you about the cost, in all likelihood it will just be calliper, disc and pad, bit just to be aware of the implications before you get a surprise bill. Make sure the garage call you before going ahead with any extra work too.

Jimbob1977

Hi

I drove to the tyre/brakes shop that I used last month. It has closed down! Out of business. That's my luck.

So I went to a nearby well-known company.

Caliper needs to be replaced. It was in bad shape.

The brand new brake disc and new brake pad were in rag order already and need to be replaced again.

And one last thing called a brake hose?

Expensive month!!

zilog_jones

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

The brand new brake disc and new brake pad were in rag order already and need to be replaced again.

How long were you driving like this? The excessive heat can damage the disc fairly easily. Discolouration of the disc (blue/purple) would be fairly obvious.

And one last thing called a brake hose?

Probably the flexible pipe that carries brake fluid to the caliper - could also be damaged from excessive heat.

Del2005

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Just to warn you really, but don't be surprised if you get a bill for other parts in addition to a new brake calliper, disc and pads.

If the car has ABS, it could be an issue with the ABS ECU or valve. (unlikely as you said the mechanic repaired the calliper itself). The wheel speed sensor could also have been damaged by the heat.

The car may also have brake pad wear sensor cables, suspension height sensors or tyre pressure monitoring sensors that have been damaged. These would be designed to stand up against the heat associated with heavy braking but this looks to be more severe.

Not trying to scare you about the cost, in all likelihood it will just be calliper, disc and pad, bit just to be aware of the implications before you get a surprise bill. Make sure the garage call you before going ahead with any extra work too.

Since the OP gave the garage a functioning car to replace the discs and pads and now has a faulty car the OP will be paying zero for the repair. The garage messed up and has to fix it at their cost.

.......

Del2005 wrote: »

Since the OP gave the garage a functioning car to replace the discs and pads and now has a faulty car the OP will be paying zero for the repair. The garage messed up and has to fix it at their cost.

Except the garage doesnt exist anymore.

dar_cool

This is why tyre places shouldn't do brakes

Jimbob1977

zilog_jones wrote: »

How long were you driving like this?

Unfortunately, it is the car my wife drives. She said it started three days ago. And told me last night.

I was driving it on Sunday for twenty minutes and it was fine.

Emmersonn

Del2005 wrote: »

Since the OP gave the garage a functioning car to replace the discs and pads and now has a faulty car the OP will be paying zero for the repair. The garage messed up and has to fix it at their cost.

dar_cool wrote: »

This is why tyre places shouldn't do brakes

And posters should read all the previous posts

rex-x

Del2005 wrote: »

Since the OP gave the garage a functioning car to replace the discs and pads and now has a faulty car the OP will be paying zero for the repair. The garage messed up and has to fix it at their cost.

To be fair there is nothing the garage could have done to cause a sticky piston. Its possible they pushed back the piston which was already badly corroded inside the bore and now it is sticking. Not their fault and does happen.
If the car was presented for a sticking caliper and they havent fixed it then there may be recourse alright, it depends on the job that was booked and what was said.

Del2005

rex-x wrote: »

To be fair there is nothing the garage could have done to cause a sticky piston. Its possible they pushed back the piston which was already badly corroded inside the bore and now it is sticking. Not their fault and does happen.
If the car was presented for a sticking caliper and they havent fixed it then there may be recourse alright, it depends on the job that was booked and what was said.

Pushing back a corroded piston is their fault. What sort of person would push a corrored item back into a part, never mind into sensitive safety critical areas?

The car went in with functioning hubs to have the brakes worked on and now one of the hubs is getting too hot to touch, they broke it so they need to fix it.

CJhaughey

Del2005 wrote: »

Pushing back a corroded piston is their fault. What sort of person would push a corrored item back into a part, never mind into sensitive safety critical areas?

The car went in with functioning hubs to have the brakes worked on and now one of the hubs is getting too hot to touch, they broke it so they need to fix it.

Op has already said that the garage is no longer there, gone bust.

rex-x

Del2005 wrote: »

Pushing back a corroded piston is their fault. What sort of person would push a corrored item back into a part, never mind into sensitive safety critical areas?

The car went in with functioning hubs to have the brakes worked on and now one of the hubs is getting too hot to touch, they broke it so they need to fix it.

You can't see that it's corroded, it's internal and requires complete caliper disassembly to inspect. If it moves back freely then they couldn't have known

Teddy Daniels

rex-x wrote: »

You can't see that it's corroded, it's internal and requires complete caliper disassembly to inspect. If it moves back freely then they couldn't have known

You drive the car up and down the road and bed the brakes, then you lift it and see if the wheels spin freeley. Even advance do this !

rex-x

Teddy Daniels wrote: »

You drive the car up and down the road and bed the brakes, then you lift it and see if the wheels spin freeley. Even advance do this !

They don't stick for a good few miles usually, until the piston has had time to tear up the square cut seal. I also can't name a garage that re lifts the car after a test drive unless they suspect something is amiss, it's just not done