Burning smell and fluid leak

[condywynn]

Experienced fluid burning smell and fluid splashed/leaked when driving very slowly with new to us 2013

R27 when retrieved on her trailer. Stopped to investigate and thought it must of come from the trailer's

hydraulic/electric brake system. But no, no sign of that and brakes worked fine for the 9 hour drive.

Leaking stopped after we stopped to check it out. Have no idea how this will affect her running at/during

the next launch. Any thought/ideas as to what would cause this? Any feedback to help with a diagnosis would

be greatly appreciated.

 

[bob daily]

You did not say the location of the oil leak, I would assume around the axle/tire location. Also do you have oil bath or grease berrings ? A 10 year old trailor is overdue for a wheel bearing and a brake inspection and rebuild if necessary. It is a lot easier to repare and rebuild in your driveway than on the side of the road! If your not comfortable doing the work yourself the money spent at your local tire shop is well worth it. Best of luck Bob

 

[glider4]

If you don’t already have one, I highly recommend getting and using an infrared temperature gun. They are under $20. These will measure the external temps of tire treads and bearings. It takes just a minute to check both tires and bearings on your trailer at every stop.
Great tool to warn of tire or bearing issues while towing. Measured temperatures should be within 10 degrees of each other on all hubs. Greater variation signals a possible problem.

 

[condywynn]

Thank you for your quick reply Bob, I could not for the life of me see the location/source of the leak.

To try & find it I want to first rule out any chance that it could have possibly come from the boat. Playing dumb here
because the boat is new to us. Trailer did have work done, as I requested, to include new bearings.

But it appears they only put new tires. hoses, electric lites check , etc. (& greased bearings) Trailer only used
once in 7 years to launch boat, each year trailer only used for winter storage & not launching..so has extremely
low mileage/usage but yes is 10 years old, aluminum float on 13,000 some gross weight capacity. Love it.

 

[Bobby P.]

Hi.

Do you have hydraulic over electric brakes?
If so, check you reservoir fluid. You could have burned up a brake pad, backing plate and eaten up a caliper, causing burning smell and brake fluid to leak.

On the boat, stick your hand down in the bilge and see if your fingers come out oily.

This is a first start to assessing your source of concern.

Let us know what you find.

 

[BB marine]

What type of bearing lubrication is used grease or oil bath? Some of the ez load float on trailers had oil bath. If the trailer repair shop added gear lube to the hubs they may have spilled some of the lube and it may have spilled on the rotors. When the brakes were applied the rotors got hot ( burning smell) . If the hubs are grease filled, they added grease, may have over greased them and some of the grease extruded past the seals. Slinging grease, this can also get on the brake rotors.

 

[condywynn]

First 3 mile run with boat on trailer: no smell or fluid, launched boat & also after, ran trailer ,empty, 6 more miles, no-issue

Cruised Southport $ Boothbay Harbor for a few hours, each of the 4 days.

When boat was hauled out & driving very slowly smell & fluid began to occur.

Drove trailer with boat on 9 hours, no issue. Hydraulic over electric breaks, bearings grease bathed

Fingers tell me there is some oil (thin, possibly like hydraulic oil) mixed with the saltwater in bilge.