Does your car have an awful smell coming from the one of the wheels?

A car's major brake components consist of the brake pedal, master cylinder, brake lines, rotors, calipers, and break pads. All of these components work together to slow down or stop the car.

When you press down on the brake pedal, break fluid gets pushed through the brake system all the way down to the calipers, which squeeze brake pads. The calipers and pads work together just like fingers and gloves. These protected fingers grab onto the rotor to slow down or stop the car. Once you let go of the brake pedal, the calipers let go of the rotor.

When brake calipers malfunction many things could happen. One of which they could get stuck in the grabbing or sticky position. When you drive your car with a sticky caliper, brake pads could become so hot and produce very strong smell.

Some people say it smells like burning carpet, and some say it smells like burning resin. It's hard to describe the burning smell. But if the smell is strong and it is coming from one of the wheels, chances are you have a malfunction brake caliper. Get it checked ASAP as this could be very dangerous to drive.

Is the burning smell coming from one of the wheels? Often time when a caliper gets stuck it is not easily noticeable. Many people will continue to drive until some awful smell start to emanate from one of the wheels.

Wheel and brake assembly diagram. Refer to the following diagram to help understand of where the brake components are located.

Remove the tire to expose the wheel and brake assembly. Once the wheel is removed, it's not always pretty to look at the wheel and brake assembly.

New brake calipers. These calipers use brake fluid stored in the cylindrical area to clamp the brake pads to slow down or stop the vehicle.

New brake pads. Brake pads come in many shapes and sizes, but most of them look similar to the picture.

A burned brake pad that could produce lots of smell. Here is an example of what a sticky caliper could do to a brake pad. The brake pad is worn out unevenly with severely scored areas. If a caliper malfunctions, it could shorten the life of the brake pads.