Smoke is coming out of my font left tire area and I need to drive to Los Angeles

[bacon333]

I drove in from Los Angeles to San Diego last night to pick up my gf this morning. Need to head back in a few hours and get ready for the GALA event in downtown LA.

Thing is, when I arrived to SD last night, there was a smell of something burning and smoke coming out of the front left tire. It went away pretty quick but I checked for leaks and all the fluid levels of the car and I didn't see any problems.

I think the smoke comes out when there's a lot of turns involved, I tried to reproduce it but I couldn't. Seems like all the mechanics are off on new years eve so I was wondering if anyone can give me some insight on this problem or suggest a mechanic that's open today in San Diego. Thanks.

 

[homercles337]

Sounds like your left front brake is locked up. Did you notice if your rotor was glowing red?

edit: youd be a fool to drive back to LA. 75% of braking is done with the front.

edit2: if you cant reproduce now you may have burned up your pads.

 

[Eug]

Out of the tire itself? And it's not flat? You sure it's not the wheel, brake, engine?

I personally wouldn't drive on that anyway.

 

[50cent1228]

that happened to my car once... is your tire ans hovecap hott???

 

[Thorny]

Originally posted by: homercles337
Sounds like your left front brake is locked up. Did you notice if your rotor was glowing red?

edit: youd be a fool to drive back to LA. 75% of braking is done with the front.

edit2: if you cant reproduce now you may have burned up your pads.

It doesn't have to be a brake, A slipped belt on the tire can do that, as well as an alignment problem.

 

[Spacehead]

Tire rubbing against something?

 

[bacon333]

let me take it for a quick spin again, i'll be back in 30 mins

 

[iamwiz82]

a puddle on hot brakes or engine components will do that.

 

[DrPizza]

Get the jack out of your trunk. Follow the instructions in your owners manual for jacking up your car. Remove tire in question. Thoroughly inspect the tire. Inspect the brake pads. Go from there... Probably one or the other has a problem.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: Thorny

Originally posted by: homercles337
Sounds like your left front brake is locked up. Did you notice if your rotor was glowing red?

edit: youd be a fool to drive back to LA. 75% of braking is done with the front.

edit2: if you cant reproduce now you may have burned up your pads.

It doesn't have to be a brake, A slipped belt on the tire can do that, as well as an alignment problem.

I may be wrong, but he said it happened last night and now he cant reproduce the smoke or smell. To me that means brakes. If he hit something or otherwise knew something caused this problem he should have said, but he didnt indicating the etiology is not known. Im sticking with brakes.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Happened to me once when my right front brake locked up and started smoking. I think a little grease on the caliper slides helped.

 

[3NF]

Originally posted by: bacon333
let me take it for a quick spin again, i'll be back in 30 mins

I hope he makes it back

 

[bacon333]

k just got back, looks like there was a small oil leak. Dude at Kragen told me to put 1/2 quart of oil in and it should be okay. The brake pads were brand new. I've been told it's okay to drive with a small oil leak. Hope that's true.

 

[bacon333]

Thank you everyone for your comments. Have a wonder new years!

 

[JulesMaximus]

What does the smoke smell like? What color is the smoke?

 

[IGBT]

..if the steering isn't pulling I'll bet it's a wheel bearing.

 

[Wags1974]

nm you got it

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: 50cent1228
... is your tire ans hovecap hott???

Now here's a question I simply can't answer.

 

[Howard]

Was going to ask if the car had the tendency to turn left all the time.

 

[Squisher]

Drive it a couple of miles and put your hand in the general area of the rotor. Try not to actually touch anything. Feel any heat? Is it comming from the rotor, wheel hub, or maybe the tire itself, or something from under the hood?