Burning plastic smell coming from the rear passenger tire

[Scuba9898]

When I'm driving down the road the rear tire begins to smell really bad. Almost like burning plastic. I pulled the tire and saw nothing. Brakes look fine to me. Could it be the caliber locking it up or what? Any adivce would be great since I'm a novice to sho's.

Alex

 

[rbruso]

That would be the first thing I checked out, as it's always the right rear that's had frozen sliders on my cars. Is the right rear wheel noticeably warmer than the left rear after driving long enough to get the smell?

While you have the car up check the parking brake cables, too. Make sure they are working well. With that wheel off you can also see if the tire is rubbing anywhere.

If the slider is good, the cables are good and there is no rubbing, consider the possibility of a pinched/rusted brake hose where it goes through the strut mount tab.

 

[ShadetreeSHOguy]

Sounds like it could be a sticky caliper to me. Next time you start smelling it, pull over and feel the wheel. If the wheel is hot that should lead more into a sticky caliper or slider pins.


Well taht's how i figured mine out.

 

[frosho]

I'd put money on a collapsed hose. They've gone bad on both of my SHOs.

You can test them by bleeding the rear brakes. If they bleed easily/normally, the hoses are fine. If it's very difficult or impossible to get fluid to flow, there's your problem. Just make sure you bleed them correctly (RR suspension must be loaded).

 

[shotime1994]

When you jack up the rear tire can you spin the wheel with ease? If not I would remove the caliper and check the sliders.

 

[Scuba9898]

Thanks for the tip on being a stuck caliper. It ended up being stuck. Now I just need to replace the pad on em from them being dragged. What pads would be good on this car? On my 2004 taurus I always used motorcraft and they work great.

Alex

 

[lowc]

goin with everyone else on this one, odds are either junk hose or caliper. but like said above do a walk around after a ride and varify smell and extra heat.

 

[Scuba9898]

Thanks for the advice. I'm just heading to my local shop finish up the brakes. Right now all I have is basic hand tools and can't remove the caliber.


Alex

 

[sperold]

While you are at the parts store, get that little cube with varous short pins sticking out of it. You need it to spin the puck back in the caliper (the clamp method wont work). See if your bleeder still works on that caliper, and consider heating it up a bit to make sure you don't break it off. Using that will help you decide if your hose is collapsed as the trapped fluid will come out rapidly.