Rear wheel hot/burning smell

golftango · Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:35 pm

Today when I got out of my Kizashi I smelled something burning. I traced it to my left rear wheel and my alloy was very hot to the touch. Looking at the brake pads. They are thin, but still some material left. Does anyone know where the parking brake adjustment is? I'm wondering if the pb is dragging.

LPSISRL · Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:49 pm

Did you jack it up and give it a spin? It's probably either the parking brake or you've got a caliper that's hung up. The parking brake adjustment is done at the lever inside the vehicle.

Sluggo · Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:55 pm

I doubt it is the parking brake. Most likely the caliper sticking, caused by all the brake pad material and rust on the pad backing plate.
Clean the caliper,lube the pins and put on some new pads.

golftango · Fri Jun 17, 2016 3:05 pm

Sluggo wrote:I doubt it is the parking brake. Most likely the caliper sticking, caused by all the brake pad material and rust on the pad backing plate.
Clean the caliper,lube the pins and put on some new pads.

Yeah my thoughts as well. Oh good, a fathers day project.

Sun Jun 19, 2016 6:40 am

I would think you would hear it, but bad wheel bearings will make a wheel hot to the touch as well.

Since you could smell it... Probably just breaks sticking.

Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:24 am

Sticking rear calipers seem to be a common issue on Kizashis. This is why many of us experienced excessive rear brake pad wear.

Make sure the slide pins are cleaned and lubed with silicone and that the pad retaining clips are clean.

golftango · Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:37 pm

Ordered new rear pads / rotors from Advanced. $113 total for the Gold ceramic pads and carquest rotors. I normally get them from NAPA, but the rotors were not in stock. I decided to just change the rotors, probably didn't need to, but if a caliper was sticking I'd rather have all new hardware back there.

I did the front pads not too long ago and the front rotors looked good.

LPSISRL · Fri Jun 24, 2016 3:37 pm

Brakes are funny things. I just turned over 75K and I'm on the original pads. Plenty left on them and I brake pretty hard as evidenced by the dent in the floor pan on the wife's side of the car. She starts applying the brakes way before I do! It's pretty flat here in SE Virginia so maybe not having hill I have to brake on helps.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:16 pm

I think the rear brake issue has a lot to do with corrosion from winter conditions. I think folks in the South and Southwest are likely to be free from these issues. Folks in regions with frequent winter snow are more likely to experience this issue. That's my hypothesis.

n8dogg · Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:31 pm

KuroNekko wrote:I think the rear brake issue has a lot to do with corrosion from winter conditions. I think folks in the South and Southwest are likely to be free from these issues. Folks in regions with frequent winter snow are more likely to experience this issue. That's my hypothesis.

While I haven't had any burning smell or sticking caliper issues like the OP of this thread, I did have my rear pads replaces early on (45K), with still plenty left on my original fronts, and we do not have the winter conditions here in the NW like I think you're referring too. Only occasional light snow and salting is almost unheard of here. Wouldn't doubt that it could still be a factor, but I suspect the rear pads wearing down prematurely is more of a issue in the pad material selected for the rear brakes. Time will tell as I get some more mileage out of the new pads.