Rob Heath

All: My daily driver is an '88 3.2. Runs just great, all servicing up to date. Running Toyo all season tires. No LSD.

When I drive the car on snowy days get the usual sliding around and tire slippage etc. but car drives fine. 75 miles RT a day to work.

I do however notice that after a snowy drive I have a burning smell on left side, rear only, near rear wheel. Pretty strong smell. Smells more like rubber (not a brake or clutch burn smell). I get under the car don't see any thing that looks like it is burning, CV boot looks in tact, no oil dripping, etc.

Day after snow car may smell some, but a lot less. 2 days after snow no smell at all.

Smell does not come into the heating system, just outside rear left.

Then it snows again, and smell is right back.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Rob

Ed Hughes

Is snow getting packed into a crevice or something? Around the cat, or its shield? Heater ducts?

rusnak

I wonder if the car is mis-aligned or weight jacked? The snow/rain could let the drivers side tire to sort of skid along if the toe is uneven in the rear.

Ed Hughes

That could be...

Rob Heath

Ed - nothing I can see is packed. Looks a little gritty from the snow / road but nothing obvious.

The weight / alignment idea is interesting and hadn't thought about that. Did a suspension refresh last spring, koni adjustables, spring plate bushings, lowered and corner balanced. Went to the same shop that also did a larger refresh suspension on my 912. Really good shop in Denver that has been working on P cars since the '70s.

rusnak - so is one of the thoughts that while the car is corner balanced and lowered (and there is always some trade off for corner balance weight vs. height at that corner) that there might be less pressure on the left rear tire, and not being LSD, that that tire brakes loose and spins out more quickly? It is a great question as the burning smells like burning rubber. Certainly one for a good conversation at the shop Might have them get the car on scales and just see what it looks like.

Still learning about alignment. So is the question, is the toe on the left wheel out of alignment with the right? If yes, for it to drag along in the snow would it be too much in or out? Does it matter if it is in or out, or is it that it just needs to be aligned with the right rear?

Supposed to be dry in the 40's on saturday so think i"ll go for drive to clean the smell out.

Hey thanks for the thoughts!

Rob

rusnak

I was thinking that if one side is off, relative to the car's center line, then the rear will find neutral toe by crabbing over a little bit. You might not even feel it. But if the road is sufficiently wet, as in soaked, or snow covered, then the side with more toe would be dragged along the road because there is not enough grip to push the rear of the car to one side.

If it's severly weight jacked, then you'd think the weighted wheel might slip more as all the power is sent to that side, and given the slippery road surface offered by the soaked road surface, you could have a lot of wheel spin.

Rob Heath

rusnak - thanks for the additional thought on alignment and weight.

I'll talk to the guys down at Eisenbud's in Denver that have worked on the car's suspension.

This is second winter having the car, and have noticed the smell before. This year more snow, more smell. I looked at the wear of the tires and don't notice any difference in the 2 rear tires. Have about 12K miles on them.

Generally doesn't snow that much in Denver / Boulder but I do get a lot of rear wheel spin in the snow in the lower gears and need to get up to 2 or 3rd even at low speeds. Was just thinking that wheel spin was just "natural" for high torque cars. If this weather keeps up have been thinking that I might need to move from all -seasons to winter tires.

Thanks!
Rob

Ed Hughes

I was going to ask you about the tire wear. An off alignment would seemingly show up as uneven wear in the dry. But, a funky brake imbalance may only show in wet/slippery conditions.