Driver side tire heating up and burning smell

JOSUé RAMIREZ

MEMBER
2006 HYUNDAI ELANTRA
2WD
AUTOMATIC
125,000 MILES

I took the car to a mechanic and he determined that the brake pads and the rotor needed replaced. While we made this repair, we discovered that the brake caliper was stuck. So, we finally got it unstuck by disconnecting the brake fluid tube to allow air to escape. This temporarily fixed the problem, however the bad smell came again from the same tire and it was very overheated. So, we went to the junkyard and took a brake caliper off the same vehicle. This did not fix the problem either. This caliper also got stuck. So, I decided to stop being stingy and I bought a brand new caliper. It's been installed for about two weeks now and I have been driving regularly, and the smell and overheating has come back again. I don't know what the problem could be and it is becoming very frustrating. It's obvious that the smell and overheating is coming from only the driver side tire. The other tires don't smell or overheat like the driver side one does. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

1 Reply

CJ MEDEVAC

MECHANIC
11,005 POSTS

Sometimes the rubber brake hose to the individual wheel is the issue.

It deteriorates internally and sort of becomes a "check valve", hence, it will let brake fluid into it but it will not let it back out when you release the pedal.

Sometimes when the caliper is still locked because of this problem (jack up that wheel and it won't spin), you can confirm this is the actual problem by opening (then closing) the bleeder screw.

When you open the screw, very little fluid might escape, it will be enough that the "hydraulic push/ pressure" of the fluid that is trapped will be relieved and the wheel can be turned!

It's always great if that test can be performed, it leaves no doubt that you have found your problem!

Again, it may be that you can't make it stay locked (on it's own, without pushing the brake pedal). With what you have described, the hose sounds like it's the issue.

Modern brakes, such as with ABS, can also do funky things too!

Replace the hose! It would be the least expensive to do.

You may also want to look at our brake section in our repair guides (top right of our pages). Here's the link:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles

Please us know how this turns out for you.

The Medic