Hi y’all. Straight into my situation, last night my car broke. I was turning out of the store parking lot and it made a super loud POP! noise . afterwards, it sounds horrible like a crunchy grind sound and feels like the whole bottom of the car is going to fall off. It also shudders and pulls funky when attempting to stop. I was terrified and prayed to Jesus to please let me make it home. I did make it home but believe me the noise the car is making when i stop is horrific. a bit of previous week history, I notice that the front passenger tire and fender are all black and when i stop it is a bit noisy i guess you would say. that has been for a week now, but the pop came only last night and now its a whole bunch worse since last happened. My question is how do I know what is broke in order to fix it. is it the brake pad or all the brakes parts or is the drive axle truly fixn to fall out from under my car. my husband has passed or he would know exactly what to do. He always made sure everything worked on my vehicles, if something went south he would get on it immediately… Now, its up to me so if someone can share with me how to go about finding out which part is broke i would be forever grateful. thanks.
Sorry for your situation but I think about all you can do is have it towed to a shop and just explain to them what happened. They’ll be able to take a look and determine what the problem is and the price.
Sorry for the loss of your husband, a few pictures of the front right inside and outside of the car might be helpful along with the year. Is this a repair you are planning on doing yourself?
My apologies. It is a 2001 toyota camry le. It has been a completely fabulous car with no issues til this past week and then of course last night. As you suggest, I will take the pics in the morning and post them. I appreciate your condolence and your advise. thanks
thank you for your reply, our kindness and the advice.
Grease splatter in the fender and wheel area makes me think the CV boot failed. The CV axle failed soon after that.
If the CV joint went, the car wouldn’t be moving at all. I’m thinking brake caliper, ball joint, strut, strut tower or bearing, or who knows?
In your situation, you need a good, local independent mechanic to take care of your car. Take your car to him and have him fix what is wrong and let him give the car a good looking over to spot any impending problems.
I understand why you did what you did, because you didn’t know what to do, but ignoring car symptoms usually makes repairs more expensive and can be dangerous.
After that, have your regular oil changes done there, this will build a bond and give him a chance to spot things.
If you or your friends and relatives don’t know a good mechanic, try the mechanics files on this website. That is no guarantee but at least the ones listed have been recommended by readers.
Sounds like the front brakes were metal-to-metal for long enough for the brake parts to come apart. Next a piston will come out of the caliper and the brake fluid will be lost.
thank you. your advice is sound and I appreciate the sincerity in your words. I am going to do exactly as you suggest. Blessings to you and yours…
thank you for your reply.
Whoa… your little picture caught my eye. I like your hair style! We usually just get ugly guy pictures with bad hair. Some of the guys look like dogs or cats!
Can you tell what the black stuff is? About the only things that come to mind are possibly the CV grease that was mentioned or possibly brake dust (from failing brakes) or rubber (from a rubbing tire) caused by a broken suspension spring or part.
Is there any smell that goes with the black stuff that you are familiar with? Have you ever smelled burning rubber at a car drag strip or smelled a parking brake that was left on by accident?
CSA
Hair? What hair? Aint looking at hair. So, what did shop say?
Another idea, your exhaust system may have sprung a leak. It it sounds like a string of firecrackers going off at a Chinese New Years parade, definitely suspect the exhaust system. A leak in the exhaust system can cause poor engine performance too, likewise it could cause black oily soot to appear on a wheel or fender.