Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | ||||||
| EA11001 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 01/05/2011 | Brake line corrosion failure | |||
| The office of defects investigation (odi) received defect petition dp10-003 on march 2, 2010, requesting the investigation of model year (my) 2003 chevrolet silverado 2500hd 4wd pickup trucks for corrosion failures of the vehicle brake lines.dp10-003 was granted and on march 30, 2010, preliminary evaluation pe10-010 was opened on more than six million model year 1999 through 2003 light trucks and sport utility vehicles manufactured and sold by general motors corporation (gm).on july 2, 2010, odi received gm's response to an information request, which included gm's assessment of the frequency and safety consequences of the alleged defect. gm stated that:(1) the brake system of the subject vehicles is split front/rear and should a brake pipe suddenly fail for any reason, the affected vehicle would be capable of stopping with the pressure supplied by the remaining circuit; (2) the subject vehicles were designed to meet the hydraulic circuit partial failure requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standards 105 and 135, light vehicle brake systems; and (3) should a brake fluid leak occur for any reason, the brake system malfunction indicator lamp (mil) would illuminate and warn the driver before the brake fluid level was low enough to cause a loss of line pressure. of the890 total complaints for brake pipe corrosion identified, 761 were located in salt belt states (connecticut, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia and wisconsin).the complaint rate per 100,000 vehicles sold is significantly higher in the salt belt, 43.0, compared with 3.0 for the remaining states.in approximately 25 percent of the complaints, the brake pipe failure has allegedly occurred suddenly, with no warning to the driver (i.e., no brake warning light), and resulted in extended stopping distances.in 26 of these incidents, the increase in stopping distance that resulted was alleged as a factor in a crash and in 10 others the vehicle was intentionally steered off the road or into another lane of travel in order to avoid a crash.an engineering analysis has been opened for subject vehicles sold or currently registered in salt belt states to further assess the scope, frequency and safety risks associated with sudden failures of corroded brake pipes that can result in decreased brake effectiveness. odi will continue to gather information on subject vehicles outside the salt belt as well. | ||||||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - FOUNDATION COMPONENTS - HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS | ||||||
| EA11001 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 01/05/2011 | Brake line corrosion failure | |||
| The office of defects investigation (odi) received defect petition dp10-003 on march 2, 2010, requesting the investigation of model year (my) 2003 chevrolet silverado 2500hd 4wd pickup trucks for corrosion failures of the vehicle brake lines.dp10-003 was granted and on march 30, 2010, preliminary evaluation pe10-010 was opened on more than six million model year 1999 through 2003 light trucks and sport utility vehicles manufactured and sold by general motors corporation (gm).on july 2, 2010, odi received gm's response to an information request, which included gm's assessment of the frequency and safety consequences of the alleged defect. gm stated that:(1) the brake system of the subject vehicles is split front/rear and should a brake pipe suddenly fail for any reason, the affected vehicle would be capable of stopping with the pressure supplied by the remaining circuit; (2) the subject vehicles were designed to meet the hydraulic circuit partial failure requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standards 105 and 135, light vehicle brake systems; and (3) should a brake fluid leak occur for any reason, the brake system malfunction indicator lamp (mil) would illuminate and warn the driver before the brake fluid level was low enough to cause a loss of line pressure. of the890 total complaints for brake pipe corrosion identified, 761 were located in salt belt states (connecticut, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia and wisconsin).the complaint rate per 100,000 vehicles sold is significantly higher in the salt belt, 43.0, compared with 3.0 for the remaining states.in approximately 25 percent of the complaints, the brake pipe failure has allegedly occurred suddenly, with no warning to the driver (i.e., no brake warning light), and resulted in extended stopping distances.in 26 of these incidents, the increase in stopping distance that resulted was alleged as a factor in a crash and in 10 others the vehicle was intentionally steered off the road or into another lane of travel in order to avoid a crash.an engineering analysis has been opened for subject vehicles sold or currently registered in salt belt states to further assess the scope, frequency and safety risks associated with sudden failures of corroded brake pipes that can result in decreased brake effectiveness. odi will continue to gather information on subject vehicles outside the salt belt as well. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | |||
| 02/01/2013 | 105242 | 2 | |
| The first time this happened i was going home from work on the freeway. i was going 65 mph and my engine died i had no power steering and the brake pedal was very hard to push. i was able to put my truck in neutral and restart it. the second time the engine died i was sitting at a red light and it shut off. the third time it happened i was going home from work, just got off the freeway and stopped at the red light. when the light turned green i made a left and was going to the next light to make a right and the engine died. i tried to put the brakes on, but they were very tight and i had no power steering. i had to fight to turn the wheel and just made the turn without hitting the other traffic. *tr | |||
| 02/01/2013 | 105242 | ||
| The first time this happened i was going home from work on the freeway. i was going 65 mph and my engine died i had no power steering and the brake pedal was very hard to push. i was able to put my truck in neutral and restart it. the second time the engine died i was sitting at a red light and it shut off. the third time it happened i was going home from work, just got off the freeway and stopped at the red light. when the light turned green i made a left and was going to the next light to make a right and the engine died. i tried to put the brakes on, but they were very tight and i had no power steering. i had to fight to turn the wheel and just made the turn without hitting the other traffic. | |||
| 09/19/2012 | 80000 | ||
| As i was about to park my avalanche in the street in front of my home i pressed the brake pedal to come to a stop and the brake pedal was firm and then became soft and depressed quickly quite farther than normal. the avalanche continued to roll and i had to pump the brakes to get it to come to a full stop. after getting out of the vehicle i inspected the underside of the vehicle and found a great deal of brake fluid on the under body and puddled on the ground. as i inspected the vehicle i found that the brake lines were heavily corroded and flaking off rusted material. the brake line failed because of weakened tubing caused by excessive corrosion. the brake light did not come on and there was no preliminary warning of brake failure. the failure of the brakes caused the vehicle to have an excessively longer distance to stop than normally would be acceptable. i frequently tow a 6,500 lb pull behind camper with my avalanche and if this brake failure had occurred during towing and in traffic during a stop it most likely could have caused an accident. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | |||
| 11/18/2011 | 52000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2002 chevrolet avalanche 1500. the contact stated the brake lines on the vehicle rusted out. the contact attempted to stop the vehicle and the brake pedal went to the floor. the contact was able to down shift the vehicle and get it to cost to a stop. the contact had a five foot section of the brake line replaced, but was told that all of the brake lines will need to be replaced because of rust. the failure mileage and current mileages were 52,000.rl | |||
| 10/12/2011 | 148029 | ||
| I was driving down the intersate on my way to work, in my 2002 chevy avalanche, going 65 when everyone in front of me slammed on their brakes. i followed to slam on my brakes but when i pushed the pedal it went straight to the floor, so in order to not rear end anyone i pulled onto the shoulder flying past the cars in front of me with my brake pedal pushed as hard as i could, thankfully no one was hurt. i drove off the rode and got my truck to the nearest garage. when the garage owner looked at my brakes he said my rear brake lines rusted out and that the front were about to do the same. he also said the brake lines are shoved so far into the truck frame he would have to remove the body from the frame to fix it properly | |||
| 04/14/2010 | 49123 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2002 chevrolet avalanche 2500. the contact was driving 45 mph, the brake pedal traveled to the floor surface when pressure was applied. the emergency brake was engaged to stop the vehicle. there was a massive leakage of brake fluid. the vehicle continued with extreme caution. the contact noticed excessive rust within the brake line several months before the failure. the manufacturer was notified and they were unable to provide assistance. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was 49,123. js | |||
| 08/28/2009 | 46798 | ||
| Coming up to stop sign on a downhill back road, i experienced partial brake failure followed quickly by complete brake failure as i tried to stop the vehicle. fortunately, i was only doing 5mph or less at that point but i went thru the stop sign and had to make an abrupt turn to the right and onto a shoulder to avoid hitting a car coming from my left. again, i was still heading downhill and picking up speed. i tried to use the emergency brake but it wasn't effective much so i pulled the tranny down into second and ultimately down to first to get the speed down. i was able to turn into a local cul-de-sac which at first goes down hill and then uphill. i was finally able to stop and from there i limped the 1/4 mile back to my house in first gear and park it. i called aaa for a tow truck and had it towed to my mechanic. he reported to me that the entire brake line system was badly corroded and asked me if i parked the vehicle a lot at the seashore. i told him no but i don't garage the vehicle either especially during the winter. he said that ha had never seen anything like it. he had to replace all of the brake lines, hoses, fittings and bleeder screws. it cost $1,246.12 and, yes, he showed me all of the lines and parts which he removed---i couldn't believe it. i considered filing this report at the time but #1: i'm a procrastinator and #2 i thought it was a fluke since again i don't garage my vehicle, i don't drive it that much ( 50k miles in approx. 9 yrs) and i get a lot of salt on the vehicle during the winter since i live on a hill. i'm now sorry for not reporting this sooner since i no longer have the old parts of my braking system available to me but i figured i better let you know just what happened in my case because i read a newspaper article on 04/05/10 that said you were looking at 110 complaints of brake failures in general motors suvs of all sorts. | |||
| 10/09/2009 | 53000 | 1 | |
| Abs brake system malfunctioning --- when slowing down to stop, at about 5mph, brake pedal becomes soft and vehicle pulls to the right. recall tsb#02-05-25-006b does not include this vehicle but this is the same problem. local gm service dept refuses to repair this unsafe design defect. *tr | |||
| 09/20/2009 | 81000 | 1 | |
| 2002 avalanche 2500 4x4 brake lines are failing one at a time under the driver seat their is a bracket that seems to collect dirt, salt , ect. in my opinion there should be a recall. this should be stainless brake lines. i almost got killed went off road to get stopped, towed home the truck. now the next problem is trying to find parts actual 1/4 i.d. with metric o.d. 10 mm . *tr | |||
| 01/26/2008 | 33000 | 1 | |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2002 chevrolet avalanche 2500. the contact took the vehicle to the repair shop for routine maintenance. the mechanic noticed that the rotors failed and a report was filed with the manufacturer. the manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to one of their dealers for a diagnosis and to consider if they would assist with the repair. the current and failure mileages were 33,000. updated 3/16/09 *cn the front rotors needed to be turned and the rear pads needed to be replaced. updated 03/19/09. *jb | |||