Mazda - Mazda3 :: 2008 - Burning Smell Intermittently From Left Rear Wheel?
Mar 4, 2012
A few months ago I bought a used 2008 Mazda3s sedan, and ever since I get an intermittent burning rubber smell from my rear left wheel. I recently got new tires, brake pads, and had the rotors turned, with no change.
The smell does not always happen, it will be there maybe one out of 3 or 4 times, and it is more likely to happen after long drives (e.g., one hour highway driving).
The wheel well also feels very hot. The obvious answer would be that the brake caliper is sticking, causing friction, heat, and the burning smell. However, if I touch the rotor it feels the same lukewarm temperature as the other three.
One additional thought is that this is caused by the exhaust, which is right next to this wheel well. I have noticed that the area of the floor of the trunk right above the exhaust gets very hot, which I had not seen in any other car I owned.
Could it be that the exhaust is causing the rubber of the tire (or something else) to overheat and smell bad? Visually, it does not look like the tire has a different wear or different appearance, compared to any other one.
This may or may not be related: my handbrake seems to be useless If I leave it on I can easily drive with little to no noticeable slowdown... I guess the previous owner did not read the part of the manual where it says you have to release the handbrake before you drive.
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I have a 2004 Mazda 3 with 90K miles. Brakes, rotors, and rear calipers were replaced about two months ago. About a month after, I started noticing a clattering sound coming from the left rear wheel whenever I drove over rough road. (It sounds like an aluminum pot lid dropping onto the pot.) The shop that did the original brake work took 4 visits to get everything done. Instead of going back, I went to another mechanic who said the left caliper was loose. He showed me how he could shake it. He said the bolts were tight so it wasn't a safety issue.
I went back to the original shop for repair but they could not reproduce the noise and said the brakes/calipers were fine.
The noise remained. I went to a third shop which checked the caliper and said it was fine, but said that I needed new shocks. The mechanic had the car on the lift and was able to reproduce a similar noise on both rear wheels when he hit them with a rubber mallet.
The first mechanic insists the caliper is bad. The second insists it's the shocks.
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I have a 2006 Mazda 3 Hatchback. We recently had new tires put on and an alignment both were needed pretty bad. Before the work the car had a pretty bad vibration to begin with. After the car ran smooth for about a week and then my described it having a vibration and thought something fell off. We took it back to the shop and they checked it over and rebalanced the tires and suspected that maybe a weight or two fell off.
The car ran fine again and then this past weekend I was driving and noticed that around 60-70 the car vibrated but not consistently, as it slowed from 70 to 60 it seemed to vibrate more. I also noticed around 25 that it had the vibration occasionally and could feel a slight jerking or tug to the left.
My guess is I have a broken or cracked motor mount since its not consistent at any speed. My reasoning is that at the lower as I accelerate the engine rpms are causing the jerking and as I slow down the decrease in rpms is causing the vibration.
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I had a trans flush done a few weeks ago and when I picked up the car there was a strong smell in the car( I assumed it was from the flush and that they spilled fluid). The smell was coming through the vents. I needed a cabin filter change and that improved the smell, although occasionally I still get a mild whiff of that same smell through the vents. What this could be? I guess I should have complained about it immediately. It is so hard in the area I live on to get competent mechanics.
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This past weekend, however, I took it out on the highway and found it has a pretty bad vibration. The vibration is coming from the body, not the steering wheel, so i initially suspected the real wheel balance. Next I varied my speed betwn 50-75 mph expecting to feel the vibration intensity vary, but it did not. While doing that however I realized that when I let off the throttle, the vibration stops. Given it some gas and it comes right back.
I got off the highway and pulled in to a parking lot. Driving at parking lot speeds, accelerating or not, there is no vibration. Come to a stop either in gear or neutral, and the engine is rock solid steady. Then got back on the local streets and the vibration returned but only while accelerating, even gently.
At this point I should mention that we replace a bad motor mount a yr and a half ago when we bought the car, the upper passenger side. The mount damage was easily so it was an easy diagnose. Replacing it eliminated the vibration the car had at the time. We had also planned to replace the lower rear mount at the same time but the one we bought was defective, and the one we removed from the car looked fine, so we put it back in.
So now I am wondering if the rear mount has failed, but it is not possible to see the rubber unless you removed it. Could it be an issue with the engine itself, or do all these symptoms point to the mount?
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Today I noticed a strong burning rubber or plastic smell coming out of the right rear wheel well. All other wheel wells did not have this odour.
We had a bout of freezing temp's here recently and some snow, I'm wondering if the brake on that wheel may have seized slightly through the all wheel drives tourque vectoring or through parking brake use.
I'm going to drive it to the dealership tomorrow without making an appointment in hopes they will look at it right away as making an appointment this time of year is probably going to take forever.
Something I might be missing or can do?
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After smelling burning for a few days randomly, I've narrowed it down to the rear driver side wheel. After about on the highway, I stopped, and it is HOT! I pulled the wheel but the hub spins easily 1/16th of a turn or so, as it's in park, so the brakes are not dragging. What else this could be? Or are they dragging at random? The rotor is perfect, no rust and no groves, so hte pads are doing their job. 1/16th of a turn is way exaderation, but it can move. Also there's no sounds at all.
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I have a 2006 Mazda3 with about 112K miles on it and what I have noticed recently is that the steering shakes a lot. I looked up online for a possible cause and have found that wheel balancing could be a reason. I got wheels balanced and aligned but still there is still some vibration in the steering, so what do you think could be the reason? I have got rotors machined once before, like a year ago.
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I got a brand new 2011 Mazda 3 i Sport 4 door sedan in May and it's been great so far. Lately though, I have started to hear a sound coming from the back left hand side of the car. It really closely resembles the sound of tapping one's finger on a counter top. When I'm stopped, there's no noise but when I go I can hear it. As I go faster it goes faster as well and when I slow down it slows down. What is going on?
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My wife's 2007 Mazda3 is making a very slight clicking sound every while coming out of left turns. It's somewhat intermittent, only happening every few turns. I did a quick visual inspection and noticed that there was grease around the CV boot. The problem started about five days ago (or at least the noise started appearing five days ago). Three weeks ago I had the struts replaced, so I'm wondering if they could have torn the boot while replacing the struts, or if they didn't notice the issue.
Is the CV joint shot, considering this is only an intermittent sound, or is there something else that could be happening? Also, what is a typical repair cost for a CV joint (or half axle replacement) on a 2007 Mazda3?
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I have a 2008 Mazda3 (2.3L automatic, 34K miles), which has recently been annoying me.. The problem started about 4 months ago, when I got new tires and a brake job (pads + rotor resurfacing). Ever since, it has been having intermittent vibrations. I feel the vibrations mostly on the floor, but sometimes also on the steering wheel. Here's what I've done so far:
When the vibrations started, i thought it was a problem with the new tires. I had them re-balanced 3 times at two different places, with no improvement. I then took the car to the dealer, who replaced two of the three engine mounts (it appears these tend to break easily on this model). This seemed to improve the situation for about half a day, and then it went back to the same. I took it back to the dealer, who could not find anything wrong. Not being satisfied, I took it to a different dealer, who could also not find anything wrong.
So, I am now stuck with this vibration.. It is not always there, and not always of the same magnitude... it seems to be more likely to happen in the morning after a colder night (well, as cold as it gets in Los Angeles). It is most likely to be felt at around 45-50mph, but you can also feel it at higher speed sometimes. A couple of times I could definitely feel it at around 25mph. Also, I've noticed that the engine vibrates when the car is stopped, at around 1500-1800rpm (e.g. when I first turn it on). The dealer claims that this is natural for a 4-cyl engine, but I had never felt a vibration before.
My gut feeling is that this is something related to the engine, but two different dealers could not find a problem... since this is intermittent, it is hard to nail down I guess.
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I hear a noise- what I can best describe as a metallic plucking sound - like a low metallic chord being plucked- when my automatic transmission 2008 Mazda3 shifts from first to second gear. It only happens the first time. I don't hear it after the car ihas been driving and is warmed up. Any thoughts on what could be happening?
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Yesterday I just started noticing a clicking from my 2008 Mazda 3 sedan's fan. When the blower is set to "1" it is very quiet and inaudible when on the highway. As the fan speed increased from 1 to 4 the volume and rate of clicking increases. There is no difference with A/C compressor on or off or set to warm or cold. Is it the blower motor? Could pebbles be stuck in the fan? My repair expertise is almost non-existent (I changed the lightbulbs!) but I want to learn to do more with my car.
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I have a 2008 Mazda 3, and I have been bringing it to the same car wash for about a year now. It's the kind where the guys take it, while I sit in the lil' cafe and read. Eventually they drive it around front, wipe it down, clean the inside and hand it over. The last two times, the car needed to be jump started, because the battery would not start after the wash. The manager assured me this was normal, but the other guys at the car wash always seem surprised. Should I be thinking about getting a new battery? Is this really normal?
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I have a 2008 Mazda 3 with 63,000 km / 39 146 miles.I bought it last year used with 50,000 km / 31 068 miles. I park my car on the street.Last winter I noticed that I frequently got frost on the windshield on the inside of the car. Is there a way to stop this from happening?
This winter I want to avoid having to scrap the windshield on the inside with the heater on max.
Do installing a window deflector will work? I am thinking that if I leave one of the windows slightly open but covered with a window deflector that frost will not form on the inside of the windshield. Is this correct or just wishful thinking?
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I have had the truck just under a year. It has 104k on it i only drive it on weekends. Last weekend going to Home Depot about 15 miles got out and could smell brakes burning. Felt the wheels and the right rear was very hot. Got back home no smell but still hot not as hot as earlier. Pulled the wheel off it looks as if the pads and calipers are fairly new paint is still on them caliper is a TRW. The pads were stuck in the carrier even the stainless clip ends look rusted.
Cleaned it all up both sides lubed the pad carrier with pin lube. Pushed the calipers back in some both sides went in easy. The right rotor has definitley been hot. Put it all back together and went for a test drive. Came back no problems checked the temperature with a laser type heat thermometer all wheels were around 140 f. Went out yesterday morning stopped and could smell the brakes again. Drove it back home and the right rear was 300 f. others 150 to 160 f.
Jacked it up put it in neutral and the you can spin the wheels by hand. Started the truck had the wife get in put it in drive wheels turning applied the brakes they stopped let go they turn freely again tried the parking brake it works fine also. So do I buy new calipers and brakes or maybe is the wheel bearing going bad causing the brakes to heat up?ied.
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Car Details : 2004 Mazda 6 V6 3.0 L engine automatic transmission with 88,000 miles
Car Problem Vignette : After driving for a bit, say 20-30 mins (after my engine gets hot), I start to smell a burning oil smell. I’ve looked under the hood at my engine and do notice some oil leaking from the engine. This is not just some simple oil leaking after an oil change. The oil appears to be coming out of the engine "seams" itself. This has persisted for some time now. This problem started at least a year and a half ago now (12/05/12). I’ve had a mechanic take a look at the oil leak and supposedly he fixed the head gasket or valve cover gasket (I’m not sure which one), but the problem never fully resolved.
In a related or unrelated situation (I’m not sure yet if it is related) during this time my car started to jerk and sputter when I drove, so much so that I wasn’t sure it was going to make it to work one morning. The check engine light came on and I eventually made it to work and back home that day. It gave me a code that said one of my cylinders was misfiring. I proceeded to change all of my spark plugs to no avail. I then changed out one of my ignition coils to the bad cylinder misfire. It fixed my problems with the stuttering and I could drive my car again without fear of stalling. However, I still smelled burning oil. Over time I eventually started to feel my car struggle to take off during acceleration which felt different from when my car seemed like it was going to jerk and sputter to a stall. During this time frame one day I was at a stop light and when I went to take off, a huge plume of bluish / white smoke came out the exhaust and I smoke-screened the people behind me. After that incident, I ended up changing my positive crankcase valve (PCV). After changing my PCV my car felt like brand-new again! I could not believe it! My car started accelerating smoothly and driving so much better. I felt like I had gotten the “Zoom Zoom” back for my Mazda.
Sadly this didn’t last long, maybe a month at the most. My car started struggling during acceleration again and I started smelling burning oil again. I have dealt with this for over a year now. My car still runs and gets me around, but I can’t remember the last time that my car ran smoothly or didn’t smell like burning oil except for that time I changed the PCV. I have never seen any kind of smoke coming out of my exhaust again like that one experience.
Problems:
•Burning oil smell coming from my engine due to leaking oil coming out the "seams" of the engine
•Car is struggling when accelerating especially at lower gears
•I feel it every so often when I accelerate somewhere between 2nd and 3rd gear that the car jerks and makes this “chunk” type sound and feeling when it shifts gears.
Questions:What is wrong with my car? Are all these situations related? And what do I need to do to stop the oil leak and acceleration problem?
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I have a 2008 Mazda3. The car has a replaced engine with 24,000 miles on it. The engine was put in before I bought the car.The car and engine run like a top; except at certain RPMs and when in gear. When I have the car in any gear (auto), the engine makes a rougher noise at RPMs 1400-1700. As I apply more gas, the RPMs seem to get stuck at 1700, then it will break through and run smooth 2000+ RPMs. The engine sounds perfect at all RPMs except 1400-1700 when in gear. When I have it in park and rev the engine, the engine sounds perfect at all RPMs.
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2008 F-350 wheel will lock for no reason. I think the Hydroboost has a hair line crack it and when the temp and pressure reach a certain number then it sends brake fluid threw the crack to the caliper? I also heard it could be in the ABS because its locking just one wheel?
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the car's battery light still has not shut off and now the defrost button stays on for about one second. The engine bay sometimes smells of something burning, too.
No CEL, so what's going on here?
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I have a 2014 V6 Mustang. Recently I've begun to smell that special scent of burning metal intermittently, more often at slower speeds or when stopped completely. In addition I've noticed that my mileage has been dropping a bit and that the car doesn't pick up quite as fast as it used to. Today on a hunch I put the car on a non-incline surface and let the clutch out relatively quickly. I was shocked to discover that it didn't stall - it absolutely would have when it was newer. The brakes also don't appear to be shedding dust so I don't think one of them is locking up.
Normally these would be signs of a clutch going bad. I'm suspicious because my car only has 25,000 miles on it. It has been driven through two Michigan winters and thus subjected to some abuse, but even if I were riding the clutch daily (I would never) I would be surprised to see it go out so young. Should I be looking at something else, or should I just break down, go to the dealer, and fight with them until they replace it?
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