Hi - I'm new to this. Thought I'd try a post to see if anyone can give me ideas what this might be. I was traveling home last Tuesday and was about 2 miles from home when bad smell came through the vents, like burning wires. It's cold here, so I had the heat running. Turned it off, and it seemed to go away. I made it home, looked under the hood and couldn't see anything smoking or anything. Drove just fine the next couple of days several miles with no problems. Today on my way into town after about 15 minutes of driving, started smelling the same smell. I pulled into parking lot, and it smelled the same but this time was smoking. It was coming from left front near the wheel well. I couldn't see anything visible but I'm not a mechanic. Nothing looked out of the ordinary though. I thought it had something to do with the heat, so I turned the heat off and thought I'd try to make it to a friend's. The car seemed to want to pull to the left, and if I let it the steering wheel go, it would automatically jerk to the left. So I pulled over again into another parking lot and let it sit. Called a friend to take me home. Problem is, I live in a very small country town. Have only had experience with mechanics twice, 1 was the dealer and the other regular mechanic went out of business. I'm thinking of having this towed back to the dealer but it's a 45 minute drive to the dealer. Friend of mine said it could be the brake locked up on it. Does anyone know if this sounds like what it could be? If so, is it something that is easily fixable? I just had new brakes put on it in May 2005 and had the U-joint replaced at that time. It has also had the recall ball joints done on it too. I'm trying to get an idea on where to go with it and not get hosed. I'm a single mom and am not really up on the world of mechanics, so if anyone has any help, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

Since you have had the ball joints done, I'm going to assume this is indeed a first gen Durango. There are a few things I would suggest trying.

1.) Either you or someone else jacks up the front left tire and takes it off. Look at the front rotor. It's a silver disc looking object. I'm not trying to be sarcastic, just not sure how much you know about cars. Look very carefully at the disc. Rub your hand across it. If you can feel very noticable grooves/wear on the disc, then you could have a bad rotor. I would definitely have this looked at by a mechanic.

2.) Bad Caliper - This is the actual device that squeezes the brakes together on the rotor to slow your vehicle. If its malfunctioning, it can sometimes not release the brakes all the way, it can lock up and seize completely, or it can just not work at all. Usually a bad caliper occurs after someone has repeatedly overlooked their brake maintenance and has caused the part to malfunction due to negligence. I would definitely have this looked at by a mechanic.

3.) Check your brake fluid level. This is a very easy fix and sometimes is often overlooked. If your fluid is low, it can sometimes cause parts to work incorrectly. There should be a small container in the engine marked Brake Fluid.


Honestly, being that you are a single mom, I'd suggest finding a friend with some knowledge of a car and having them read the information we post. If you cant do that, maybe talk with a few of our members in your area who may be able to help as well. Good luck and I hope you find out what is wrong with your truck.

If it were my call, I would at the very least drop the $35-50 to have the dealer take a look at it. At the very least, you maybe get a piece of mind.

 

Hope you have this repaired by now.

DevilsReject has some good points. I would just like to add one: the flex hose. Basically it's a steel reinforced rubber hose that connects the steel brake lines flexibly to the front wheel. Due to it's layered construction it is possible that the interior of the hose has broken down and is mostly restricting the fluid flow from the wheel. Basically there is a lot of pressure when you are applying the brakes so it forces fluid through the restriction. Then when you release the brakes, the pressure is retained at the wheel causing the brake to be slightly applied. It will get very hot very quickly in a situation like this so having it repaired sooner is better than later.

Hope this helps.

Jeff