hot or burning rubber smell

[newuser1990]

i recently purchased a 2005 corolla ce and started driving it around. it has been in an accident on the driver's side right on the door and front fender. the fender was replaced. after driving it a bit i have noticed what smells like hot or burning rubber coming from the front driver side. i have also noticed what seems like a metalic ticking sound coming from the drivers front. Any suggestions?

[johnoh]

This is a dangerous condition and you should not drive until you figure it out, since if rubber is burning it will only be a short time until that rubber breaks.

To see if the left front tire is coming into contact with some part of the car, turn the car all the way to the right and inspect the left front tire to see if it is touching anything, or is within a couple inches of touching anything. Then do the same after turning the wheel all the way to the left. Also inspect it while having a friend push down hard on the fender above the tire, to see if any part of the car comes close to touching the tire. These different views of course are meant to simulate what the tire goes through while you are driving, to help you find if it is rubbing anywhere. You might also do this while looking at the right front tire to compare it to the left front. Also examine the left front brake area and compare it to the right front, again while the wheel is turned one way and then the other, to see if they have the same clearances. This tests for intermittent rubbing of the tires or brake areas.

Also you can look closely at all areas of the engine with the hood open and the engine idling in park. If anything is rubbing within the engine bay area, you should be able to hear it.

These are just a couple thoughts off the top of my head. Obviously there are other things that might be going wrong here, such as poor contact between the rotor and the brake pad