Technical Smoking wheel front right

[Micah]

Hello everyone,

While driving my classic fiat 500 (1965) today, I noticed after about 10 minutes of driving there was a strong smell coming from the front right wheel. After stopping, the wheel was extremely hot to the point you could hardly touch the hubcap. Furthermore, when I breaked the car seemed to hardly slow down and pull to the left. I am still a novice when it comes to tinkering around, so hopefully someone can give me some advice on how I can tackle this problem,

Thanks it advance,
Micah

 

[Goldnrust]

I suspect the brake on your front right brake has seized on, all symptoms point to that. If you are, as you describe yourself ‘a novice’ it might be best getting it to a garage as it’s not worth taking risks with brakes.

If you are a bit more keen on the DIY front, then I would jack the front right corner of the car up and see if the wheel spins freely.

If it does, pump the pedal a few times and then go check again.

Once the wheel is dragging, try loosening the brake line on the back of the wheel cylinder. If it releases pressure and the wheel now spins freely, you need a new brake flexi line (replace them all!) when old they can swell internally and act like a one way valve keeping fluid pressure in the wheel cylinder.

If this makes no difference then you likely have a seized wheel cylinder, and need to remove the front drum / hub to access the brake shoes and wheel cylinder to change it.