Jump to content

'03 Avalanche w/burning smell @ rear

fyrftrbel

Recommended Posts

fyrftrbel New Member

fyrftrbel

Posted
Posted

I have an '03 Avalanche w/93.8K miles. Got out of the truck at the grocery store and immediately got hit w/a very strong burning odor. Original thought was electrical, so took a flashlight in my pocket and looked for smoke in the cab. There was none. In fact, I couldn't see any smoke anywhere. Smell had dissipated while in the store, but upon arrival at home (2 miles away), there it was again. I sniffed around and found that it was strongest around the left/rear wheel well.

Hoping someone else has had this issue and been able to resolve it. I cannot find any recent posts about anything similar that have any confirmed solutions posted. Thanks in advance, I really LOVE this truck!

NARDA1 Enthusiast

NARDA1

Posted
Posted

Do you have an aftermarket dual exhaust? I have dual exhaust on my truck and had this happen with my truck. The spare tire had moved up against the exhaust pipe producing a burning rubber smell. Loosened the spare tire and made sure it was pushed back agaist the trailer hitch and tightened it up, no more problems.

Explorer Enthusiast

Explorer

Posted
Posted

Sounds like a dragging brake shoe/pad

X2 I've ran across a few sticking calipers lately. For some unknown reason, it's usually the rear drivers side.

fyrftrbel New Member

fyrftrbel

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks to all 3 of you thus far! Stock exhaust on my Avalanche.

 

I've done more research and believe it to be related to the rear axle seal(s) and leakage onto the calipers. I will be delivering it to a trusted mechanic this weekend for evaluation and repair. If this is the solution I'll make sure to mark this problem solved for future searchers.

  • 2 weeks later...
fyrftrbel New Member

fyrftrbel

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Problem solved! My mechanic found the issue to be a sticking left caliper. Had both replaced as insurance. He also discovered that the Emergency Brake on the left was totally worn (due to the temperatures generated over time by the caliper issue) and the EB on the right lost one of the "pads" as he was inspecting it. Had both of those replaced as well.

 

Thanks again to those who replied. Safe travels to all.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Chuck FB
      Tire psi

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I will admit I haven't experimented much with pressure drops beyond the numbers I put in and part of that is that the numbers I used are fairly low and then found out it would trigger regardless at that 35 psi. Having said that I had tried before had changed the placard pressures and being that I have a 1 ton set to 80 on the placard for the rear I believe it triggered close to 60, the front I don't recall now for sure but thought maybe it could get close to 45 from that factory 60 placard pressure. So I never did figure out if it was a number of psi from placard pressure to the alarm or a percentage of the total placard number as some figured it was like a 25% drop from placard pressure would trigger it. So as to try and answer your question, I believe I set the placard pressure on the front to 47 or so and while I run the front tires at 40, they have dipped below that some if its colder and I haven't put "winter air" in yet and never once have had the front alarm go off. I would say that the answer your looking for is no, that if you set your placard pressure to 45, you have a certain amount of room to drop below that pressure before the alarm will go off.    The pressures you decide to run in your truck, that ends up being what makes sense to you based on what your carrying in your truck or if towing, then have to bump them back up to something that will carry the load in the rear and the fronts typically left at the same pressure. It all comes down to that chart I put the link to and using an accurate roadside scale to be your guide, both unloaded and then loaded to know your minimum safe pressures.    I just wish GM would allow a person to change the readings for the tire pressures to the English system of pounds as I have to look at that goofy metric reading that will never ever jive in my head and will go over and change it just to figure out what they are if need be and then change it back. 
    • TrueBlue
      No Software Updates - Old Build

      By TrueBlue · Posted

      That part I understand, that the dealer can do it. But I'm not understanding why updates that were available to the truck since it left the factory, or the dealership originally, would not still be available to it without dealer intervention.   I'm thinking along the lines of recalls. They stay available until they are completed. Why not updates as well, especially since some of those can be safety related also?
    • jgaudet99
      Tire psi

      By jgaudet99 · Posted

      That's good to know, but I don't think I'll even be running them under 45 in the rear  unless it's on the sand or something but will only be for a short distance anyways!    I didn't read all the instructions in the booklet yet, but do you know let's say I set the rear psi on the placard to 45, will the warning light come on soon as it drops under 45 or is there a percentage it has to drop from the set value before the warning light is triggered?
    • newdude
      Would this CV Shaft be bad?

      By newdude · Posted

      That's bad.  Like, its probably destroying the stub axle the CV slides into.   Do you have a proper lift installed with differential lowering brackets?  Did you install AT4/Trail Boss factory CV axles?  
    • PunchT37
      Would this CV Shaft be bad?

      By PunchT37 · Posted

      Hot? New Jersey? Today? I was working on my old 2000 Silverado 1500 today. Believe me, it was boiling hot today. As it has been.

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...