Hello all, I just went out for a drive in my 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 as the night was cool and clear. When I got home, I could smell a burning plastic odor. At first I thought I may have run over a plastic bag or something that may have hung up on the exhaust or catalytic converter. I opened the hood; could smell nothing; sniffed under the car; nothing. I started toward my house, opened my door, Nope. Checked the neighbor's house; nothing there. Could intermittently still smell the plastic. Went around the car again. Then I heard it: pinking, tinking. I reached for the left rear wheel and could feel the heat radiating off of it. The wheel itself was HOT! I checked all the other wheels. Definitely more than a hundred Fahrenheit degrees difference. All the others were reasonably and normally cool. It is too dark to see what may be the problem, and I will certainly take it to the dealership as soon as possible. What say Ye regarding the cause; and do you think the dealership will stick me with the bill since brakes are a wear item? This certainly is a defect or failure that I haven't caused. I have only about 11500 relatively easy going miles. All other brakes are working properly. Car was purchased July 2008.

I'd say dealer should pick up everything. The brakes are a wear item, but they are not wearing equally so I believe that is on them to repair. I don't think your problem would be described as normal wear.

My guess is that the caliper is sticking and dragging. Most likely the caliper will need to be torn apart and have the guide pins greased. Dealer should pick that up.

Thanks guys for your replys. Rich, are you kidding? 4:20 a.m.? Just wanted to let all know that I drove it again this morning and all is back to normal. The rotor is not blue as I was expecting, but it does seem a bit glazed. I still will make an appointment to have it checked. This could be dangerous if the brake overheated this severely, at random times, and if I were to need it for emergency and it faded horribly or if the fluid had boiled.

Good thing it's only the rear. Rear brakes do so little for actual stopping because of the weight transfer.

I work 5AM - 5PM, Sun - Tue and every other Sat. Wasn't kidding