Burning Brake Smell

[philthyphil]

Have an interesting smell coming from the truck. I runs and drives fine but when we arrive at our destination and get out of the truck there is a smell similar to that of burning brakes. Curious if anyone has had a similar issue. I've rolled around under the truck quite a bit in search of it but can't find anything obvious. I am going to have it looked at Saturday but I thought I'd mention it here to see if anyone has ideas. I will report back what I find to share with the group. Thanks!



...It's a '99 with 120k on the clock...

 

[LTrain0800]

Is it possible that the parking brake is adjusted too tightly?

 

[College Cruiser]

I've actually got the same thing going on with mine right and would be similarly interested in any ideas.

 

[scottm]

Any noticeable difference in how warm things are getting comparing left to right?

 

[gtfour43]

Can also try jacking up all four wheels and see if there's any noticeable wheel drag. If its real bad at idle (in drive)one wheel might not spin at all.

 

[philthyphil]

Thanks Trunk...

No difference side to side. I don't know that it's brakes. It just smells like it. Nothings been adjusted prior to this so shoulnt be the e brake. Buddy told me maybe flywheel in tranny???

 

[APKhaos]

Hot brakes and hot trans fluid both have distinctive smells so lets trust your judgement that its brakes. If you are still running the original calipers its possible that one could be sticking, where sticking means that the pistons are not retracting after you apply the brakes. The pad will get very hot. It may be just one side of one caliper.

Best bet is to check the thickness of all pads on the front and rear. Assuming you've replaced pads by axle, the fronts should all be about the same thickness and the rears should too [each axle may be different, but all the pads on a given axle should be similar]. If you find one or more really skinny pad/s you've found a sticky caliper.

 

[paflytyer]

^x2. Not uncommon for our older brakes. If it is a sticking caliper, you can feel the heat coming from the wheel. The wheel itself will be noticeably hotter than the others. Be careful doing the "touch test", it can get hot enough to burn you.

 

[scottm]

I used to catch a whiff of hot brakes regularly on my 80s, my brother has commented the same on his 80s. I've noticed it just a few times on my 100. I can never figure out where it comes from. Maybe the cruiser just trying to get some attention, you can't help but poke around looking for the source.

 

[Bighead]

Everytime I have that smell it's from my PS rear wheel well.

 

[APKhaos]

Everytime I have that smell it's from my PS rear wheel well.

Hundies have a common problem with P Brakes. The crank that transfers cable pull motion via a pivot into the parking brake shoes inside the rotor seize up with corrosion. Check that first. The P brake shoes on that wheel may have been dragging for quite a while. The smell will stop when the p brake shoes wear down enough. Check the other side too - it wont be far behind.

 

[Longleaf]

Hundies have a common problem with P Brakes. The crank that transfers cable pull motion via a pivot into the parking brake shoes inside the rotor seize up with corrosion. Check that first. The P brake shoes on that wheel may have been dragging for quite a while. The smell will stop when the p brake shoes wear down enough. Check the other side too - it wont be far behind.

I had a burning smell on my 100 and thought it was brakes but it was the valve gasket covers, dripping a drop of oil every once and a while on the engine block causing the smell. It was about $350 to fix but the smell went away. (I'm not a mechanic

 

[Toyoland66]

Buddy told me maybe flywheel in tranny???

Don't listen to your buddy, automatics don't have flywheels

 

[timer00]

I had a burning smell on my 100 and thought it was brakes but it was the valve gasket covers, dripping a drop of oil every once and a while on the engine block causing the smell. It was about $350 to fix but the smell went away. (I'm not a mechanic

Somewhat related, just yesterday I had a strong smell on my wifes 4Runner and that's what it was. I could tell it was oil. I have had sticky calipers and sticky ebrake pads before and it was coming obviously from under hood area. The smoke rising from the exhaust manifold was a dead giveaway too

 

[ElHefe]

I had a burning smell on my 100 and thought it was brakes but it was the valve gasket covers, dripping a drop of oil every once and a while on the engine block causing the smell. It was about $350 to fix but the smell went away. (I'm not a mechanic

This is my vote. You'd know if it was a brake issue. Unless the leak is atrocious, the valve cover gaskets release just enough oil to occasionally cause smoke to rise from the hood vents but almost always come with a noticeable smell of burnt oil when you pull up to your destination.

 

[auchief]

Hundies have a common problem with P Brakes. The crank that transfers cable pull motion via a pivot into the parking brake shoes inside the rotor seize up with corrosion. Check that first. The P brake shoes on that wheel may have been dragging for quite a while. The smell will stop when the p brake shoes wear down enough. Check the other side too - it wont be far behind.

Sorry to dig up this ancient thread, butI had this happen to me today. Anyone know what the fix is? It's definitely the PS rear. But ing brake smell, hot wheel. I will also note that i thought I heard a weird noise back there while coming to a stop at a red light. By the time I had the radio turned down it was gone and didn't return. I got home and immediately caught a wife if burning brakes.