chitty chitty bang bang Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hey guys, here's a set of issues that I cannot seem to solve: Issue one: Last week, when i drove for about 20 minutes to do some errands, I noticed a "stink" coming from my front wheels. I had no idea what it was but it smelled warm, a bit rubbery, and a bit "burney". I thought that it was a rotor or pad issue, but after looking at the pads, ruled this out. I also drove through a muddy puddle this day. Saturday, when I was doing my tuneup and taking out the plugs on the right bank, I noticed the splattered grease from the front right inner axle boot all over the lower arm of the passenger wheel. I really don't know when this happened - and have made some very long drives in the past several weeks to Boston and Toronto from here in Baltimore and have not noticed any "clinks" or any sort of friction during coasting. Immediately, I did an underbody wash thinking that maybe the mud from the other day was causing the burning smell. Just today, after driving to do some errands, I noticed the stink again, this time, I followed the stink to the front right wheel (same wheel with the open boot). The wheel was hot to the touch (none of the others were) and had the same "rubbery smell". The front rotors seemed to be the same temperature, and the front calipers as well. A friend suggested that it may be a bearing issue, but as I said, I notice no friction during braking - can you guys help me narrow this down? Issue two: Weeks ago, I noticed a creak coming from my back left wheel while getting out of the car. I suspected a weakening strut and did the "bumper test" by pushing down on the bumper and watching the oscillations. The car came to a stop after 1-2 cycles. Recently, there is no longer as prominent a creak coming from the strut. On the recent trick back from Toronto, i noticed a heavy rumbling during high speed braking - from 80-30. The entire car shuttered the vibration felt like it was coming from the front left wheel. Searching in other forums, some have said that a faulty rear strut will cause the vibration from the corresponding front wheel - is this possible? Now, during driving on straight and bumpy Baltimore roads, the car is now developing the same shudder at a 40 mile cruise. I think this can almost be described as "violent" - the steering wheel vibrates like crazy and makes me feel pretty uneasy. I don't think this is a balancing issue because this rumble does not happen unless i repeatedly go over bumps. This also makes me believe it is the strut, but when i did the "bumper test" again today, the car still came to a stop after 1-2 cycles... what can these problems be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitty chitty bang bang Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Update for issue 1: Jacked up the car just now to do a "wheel turn" test. Both wheels seem to rotate with the same amount of resistance and brake pads are just as thick on both sides. Drove for about 10 minutes and jacked up the car again and took off the wheels... the right rotor felt hot at the hub, the left rotor just warm. Seems like it is the bearing but could it be something else? Like mentioned above, there does not seem to be any sort of resistance when coasting even at a very low speed. Issue 2: No clue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Issue 1, I'd replace the axle, or just replace the boots. Seems you have caught it early enough, you can probably get away with just replacing the boots. Clean up the grease spatter, and see if that smell sticks around afterwards. Also, get some high temp brake pad lubricant and grease the slides, backs of the pad shims, and clean and regrease the metal clips for the pads. You may just have a slightly sticky caliper. For Issue 2, you may just want to take the strut out and visually inspect it. Sometimes the springs of the car will rebound it up when just pushing on the car a couple times, because it's hard to recreate the dampening of the shock just by pushing down on the vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronemus Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Rock Auto sells new axles for $52 for my car; at that price it's not worth it to replace boots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitty chitty bang bang Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 I guess it is just the principle of not junking an axle that can still go a while i guess... no clicks no worries right? Anyway update on the wheel situation: Took the caliper off today and noticed that the upper caliper was a bit sticky - good call Bdubs. I got some silicone grease and greased up the pins and the pads and then put a nice dose of DOT 3 into the piston - hopefully the problem will not come back but I am driving very carefully at the moment. Just returned from a drive and no extra heat from the right. Also, the rumbling issue went away - braking is smoother, and no rumbling at speed. Good thing I didn't just go out and get a hub! I think I will remove the strut for inspection soon. For anyone out there thinking about hub replacement, these are great links: http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/suspension-handling/134319270-how-remove-hub-assembly-02-wrx.html http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=787070&page=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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