more various questions

mastershake · 05-25-2011, 07:29 PM

1. the front drivers side wheel collects WAY more brake dust than the other 3. like, turning the rim black status. this started happening after i started waxing my rims (thats not really my point though) also even if im gentle on the brakes i can smell them horribly when i get out of the car. do i maybe have a seized caliper in the front?

2. i need a new cat converter but i cant really afford a grand to get a new one. will an aftermarket one be fine? (since the car already has over 200k miles) and how much would it cost at a shop to get it done?

3. this may be related to the cat converter issue.. but whenever i start my car up the exhaust smells extremely gassy. like not raw fuel but it smells like an old trucks exhaust. is this because of the bad converter? or another issue? i recently changed the upstream o2 sensor and cleaned the MAF, getting rid of a rich running code. could it still be running rich?

robalero · 05-25-2011, 08:03 PM

1 - yes I would say its either siezed or on its way to be. if you check it or have it replaced make sure you grease your slider's on all the over 3 and the current one
2 - I don't know your shop prices around you but you can pick up a cat high flo one even for about $100 to $150 bucks cost to do it about an hour labour ( even tho it takes less then that )

a.graham52 · 05-25-2011, 09:07 PM

1) check, you could also have sticking pads. wouldnt take much work to check both pads and calipors.

3) my car as an oder when its cold too. smells kinda ripe. however it could have something to do with the cat. if you get the cat replaced and the smell is still there i would consider it normal. iv had two aleros and the way i park i back up so i back up through my own exhaust. specialy in the winter i can smell it.

Redog · 05-26-2011, 12:28 AM

1 what kind of pads do you have? Semi-metalic pads make a lot of dust, that's why most people use cermaric.

2+3 it's not going to cost a grand to fix a cat. You can find universal ones on eBay for 100 bucks, but that may throw a code (P0420) Shop around for the cat and then find a shop to install it. Takes about 30 minutes or so with a little bit of welding. The smell could be because of the cat

mastershake · 05-26-2011, 12:48 AM

not sure what type of pads (they were put on before i got the car) but that wouldnt explain the massive buildup just on the one wheel plus the nasty burning brake smell

Redog · 05-26-2011, 03:37 AM

Well one wheel would get more dust than the other. I've had pads wear down to the backing plate on one wheel and still be at the warning mark on the other.

However, with the burning smell, are the brakes new? How long have you had the car? They do burn a bit when new, but in your case, I'm willing to bet a seized capiler is the problem.

Not too hard to replace yourself, but while your in there you might as well change the pads and rotors if they got all the abuse from being seized

robalero · 05-26-2011, 05:11 AM

and ull need a helping hand to bleed the system if you do it yourself. its not too hard to bleed yourself and if you want more info on how to bleed a system youtube has ton's of great how-to's on it for people who want to learn