HorseHauler

Hey all,
I've just noticed that after driving my truck I can smell somehing burning. I have not been able to pinpoint the exact location but I do know its coming from the rear end. I also can't pinpoint the type of smell. It doesn't smell like brakes to me, plus i just put brand new pads and rotors on all 4 wheels less than 1,000 miles ago. Does anyone have any idea of what this could be before i go tearing into the rear end? A couple buddies are guessing axle seals??? I am not very mechanically inclined on this matter...
If anyone has experienced anything similar, please let me know what you think....

Thanks in advance!
Eric

megacabdad

Make sure you don't have a locked up caliper caught up on the rotor since this happened right after your brake job.

1985cucv

yeah drive it for a little while and then spray a little water on each brake disk if she steams you have a stuck caliper pretty normal on these trucks

HorseHauler

ok good deal. i will check that out. Whats the fix for it? new caliper? $$$$$

1985cucv

yeah new caliper they arent a lot of money!

booman70

I just had axle seal leaking could smell the gear oil burning after driving. look at inside of rear tires see if they look wet anywhere like oil is running down them

cbrahs

DON'T spray water on a hot rotor . if a caliper is stuck, rotor is hotter than you know what. you just replaced them. why spray water on it and warp it and have to have it turned or replaced and increase cost. if one is stuck, then you will be able to see the bluing of the rotor.

The Tank

Probly the axle seals mine did the same thing. should do them when you pull the hubs off to do the rotors

HorseHauler

Welp finally got a chance to check it out, they were HOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!! i couldn't even hold my hand on the rim for more than a couple seconds... I bled the lines to check for air and didn't notice any bubbles. So im guessing bad caliper...

BigIron70

I would also check for contamination in your master cylinder. Did you recently change fuel filter and maybe spilled a little diesel fuel on the master cylinder? This could cause seals in master cylinder to swell up and keep pressure applied to rear brakes. Only takes one drop of diesel fuel to get into brake fluid and cause problem. Look at rubber seal on master cylinder cap, if it is swollen up best to replace master and flush out brake system.

05HDRAM

Burning brake smells close to a burnt clutch, nasty smell. Burnt oil is totally different. Did you check the level of the rear oil ? I have had leaking seals on other vehicles, and never smelled anything. I guess it's possible it is coming in contact with hot parts and burning.

I would nver spray water on hot brakes - like stated above you can cause damage. Normal driving these brakes get pretty hot.

Coolride

Might be part of the parking brake mech. locking the caliper.

Spooler

Sounds about normal for a Dodge anything with a good many miles on it. The caliper is hung. Change them both out and be done with it. It is due to the metal they use on the pistons.

Lost Lake

Does this mean we have to avoid water puddles too?

1985cucv

thanks lost lake my point exactly if you can warp the brakes by spraying water on them then you might as well just get new rotors and since he's in ohio he probably should be avoiding all the snow that they get as well

or better yet maybe spray some water on some really hot pistons and that will warp them and then youll have to get a rebuild right is that how spraying water on hot metal works