Good additional info. Without hearing the noise myself, I'd look at brake pad shims and the backing plate, either of which can rub against a rotor if loose or bent.
Other potential noise makers in that area would include wheel bearing or cv joint, but your mileage is a bit low for those.
Does not sound like the clutch is malfunctioning. The smell has me stumped as well. Have you been able to jack it up, put a jack stand under it and take a look? Could be a foreign object lodged where it shouldn't be.
@ QueenKlumper:
The linkage in the photo and the other pix look fine.
You mentioned two seperate things, 1.) the noise and 2.) the smell.
1.) To the noise. As Eggman said, there can be a little chip or piece of rock between the front brake backing-plate and the disc/rotor. A tiny piece of rock will make a lot of noise. You could jack it up, take off the wheel, put it out of gear, and rotate the hub by hand to check for noise. You could also knock on the backing plate. If a tiny rock falls out, the noise will be gone. These things can and will happen if you drive on dirt roads. I just knock on the backing plate a few times, problem solved.
2.) The smell. It just might be the clutch, and that can get expensive. You want to make sure of two things. Firstly keep your left foot on the footrest, and do not keep it on the clutch pedal other than if you are actually and intentionally pressing the pedal! There is so little pressure needed to operate it, that just resting your foot on the pedal will make it slip, heat up, smell, and wear out in no time.
The second thing to look at is that there is play at the engine-side end of the clutch cable where it connects with the lever. That can easily be adjusted without any tools needed! No play, and it will destroy itself. Check out the following pix and read the text.
Last edited by foama; 04-01-2019 at 12:33 PM.
I was able to put the car on jack stands today to take a real look. there are no rocks stuck anywhere. The brake dust catcher is also not touching the rotor. I was able to drive slow in first gear, while the car was on stands, and no sound was to be heard. There was also no play in the wheel,(looking for bad bushings) so im guessing none of the suspension bolts are loose. The rotor also turned fine by hand, as did the wheel while in first. No odd noises even when turning left. The brakes are not too far engaged, and there isnt a rock lodged anywhere. (CV boots look like they came out of the factory. Its honestly remarkable how puzzling this is).
MY NEXT BEST GUESS
Possibly a motor mount is bad, and when turning left, the transfer of weight causes the engine to move a little more then it should? maybe it is rocking on the axle? Is this even possible?
Im truly lost at this point and have a long 20 hour road trip planned in 5 days. i even power washed the entire wheel well and there is no possible way a rock is stuck.
I feel like at this point you've done about all you can. If it were me, facing a 20 hour trip? I'd button it back up, try to get it to make the noise/smell again, and then I'd take it to a shop I trust to look at it. It sucks not being able to figure this out, but not as much as breaking down on the road...
There is one more helpful thing i just found out. when turning sharply, the rubbing/grinding/croaking sound is only there, when you're accelerating. I tried gaining speed, putting the car in neutral, and it would not make the noise while turning in circles. though if you're in first and on the gas, it always makes a noise while turning sharply left, or sometimes while going uphill. does this help narrow something down? the help is much appreciated guys thank you.
Just throwing this out there as something else to check, but you make have done so already? Steve started tearing into the front of his car when he realize his exhaust system was off one of its brackets. A hot muffler against a rubber bracket may make some smell?
I just remember this incident starting out as something serious, but ended up being only a minor problem. I search and found Steve's discovery moment post -
218,940 miles
Boy am I stupid. Never trust me to be your mechanic. I got home from work today and found that my goodies arrived. Unfortunately the dust boot on the new lower control arm had a hole in it, so I decided not to use it. I will be shipping the control arm back.
With my fancy smancy separating tool, I went ahead and disconnected the lower ball joint from the hub, cleaned and greased the ball joint, and installed a universal dust boot on it. I then proceeded to take the axle out to inspect it. I removed the metal clip from it and pushed it into the transmission. The gap it gave me, was the exact same gap I had before taking it out. I then put the clip back on and pushed the axle back into the transmission. I must mention that yes, I did have to use a pry bar to remove the axle and it did take a few hits from the hammer to get it back in the transmission.
Now here is the idiot part. While I was under the car prying the axle out, I noticed something didn't look right with one of the exhaust hangers. Upon further inspection, I found that one of the exhaust hooks was not connected to an exhaust hanger. The exhaust had been bouncing around the whole time! I connected the exhaust system back to its hanger and verified it couldn't bounce around and rattle anymore.
I finished up my axle work and poured in a quart of transmission oil. To my surprise it took the whole bottle. I guess I leaked out a lot more doing the axle work than I thought. When I get around to it I will order another bottle and finish topping it off.
Anyway, back on topic. I went for a drive and the noise is completely gone. Now the car drives just as nice as a cheap plastic car should.
So I know for a fact that the loose exhaust was at least part of the problem. Perhaps it was the whole issue, the world may never know. I will say I noticed the sound wasn't as bad after I installed my junk yard axle. It is possible that I had two bad things going on at once and did notice it until both were making sounds. I really have no clue, but I do know that my car doesn't make strange noises anymore. I just wish I had noticed the exhaust problem sooner.
Just one more thing to check maybe?
If the cv boots look new, then I suppose I'd have the front suspension checked. Sway bar bushing maybe? The fact it has to be under a load of the weight of the car leads that way. Still doesn't address that mysterious smell, though.
Without being able to actually look at the car, this has me stumped.
Since you want to take a long drive, I would have it checked out before leaving, better than getting stuck in the sticks somewhere in nowhere...