Burning brake smell

...but it's not burning brakes.

Driving down the highway yesterday, I noticed that smell that tell you that you're behind someone who's got their parking brake on at 55mph. Really bad. Got off the highway, right into 15mph traffic - too slow to really clear the vents before I had to park. Two hours later, the smell was still there. Drove home with one window open (great fun when it's 15 degrees), and the smell seemed to be gone. But, I *think* I noticed it this morning, much fainter.

My parking brake is rarely used - maybe once a week just to keep it from seizing up. But, I've got a belt that's pretty noisy, and I'm wondering if belts could make that same smell if they were slipping, even a little. Had it at the mechanics this morning for oil, filter and tire rotation. Of course, neither of us could track down the scent at that point. My brakes looked fine, by the way.

So....either that smell lingers for quite a long time, or........WHAT???

Reply to
Doug Kanter
Loading thread data ...

How's your clutch? We used to check them in the good old days by pulling up to a tree and putting it in 2nd or 3rd gear and reving it up to about

1500 to 2000 rpms and letting the clutch pedal out. It should stall the engine. If you have an auto tranny ignore this post--LOL!

Jarhead

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

-John Adams

Reply to
Jarhead

Yep. Automatic. Sorry I forgot to mention that. And, for whatever it's worth, 34,000 miles on the truck.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

The burning brake smell lingers worse then any other my nose has come across. I screwed up the install of the front brakes on my truck and after a mile of driving, smoke was pooring out of the front wheels. I had the vent on and it sucked in the smoke and smell into the cabin. 2 days later, it still stunk. I have an air purifier thing called Surround Air. I mostly think these things are snake oil, but I tossed it into the truck, set it to high, and rolled up all the windows. The next day, the smell was gone. Not even a hint and I have a good sniffer too.

So the smell does stick around for some time. Use whatever you can to get rid of it.

Oh, and belts smell like burning rubber. A lot like tires. They don't smell like brakes at all. Least not to my nose. But you should fix that belt anyway.

Reply to
Eddie

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.