Complete brake system failure due to brake line leak due to inferior brake lines
2003 Cadillac Escalade brakes problems
20 complaints (25% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 85,337. 3 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 20
- of this car's complaints
- 25%
- typical mileage
- 85,337
- crashes
- 3
- recalls
- 1
Which part fails
- Antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip3
- Pedals and linkages1
- Foundation components: master cylinder1
- Foundation components: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings1
- Foundation components: disc: pads1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Cadillac Escalade brakes problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Cadillac Escalade brakes
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
Service brakes, hydraulic
- What is wrong
- Certain sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and passenger vans fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 135, ?passenger car brake systems.? Some of these vehicles were produced with an out-of-specification brake hydro-boost housing relief valve bore.
- Risk
- Consequently, the valve o-ring seal may fracture. Steering efforts may be slightly increased while braking or parking. Under certain driving conditions, a fractured seal may require a slight increase in the applied brake pedal effort to achieve the same vehicle deceleration rate as prior to the seat fracture.
- Remedy
- Dealers are to replace the hydro-boost relief valve. The recall began on june 18, 2004. Owners should contact cadillac at 1‑866‑982‑2339; chevrolet at 1‑800‑630‑2438; gmc at 1‑866‑996‑9463; or hummer at 1‑866‑486‑6376.
Recall number 04V045000 · Recall details
Related investigations
Brake line corrosion failure
On January 11, 2011, ODI opened EA11-001 to investigate allegations of premature brake line corrosion failure in model year (MY) 1999 through 2003 General Motors (GM) full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles sold or registered in the following region of the United States that the federal safety agency has viewed as salt states for investigations of corrosion related issues: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 subject vehicles represent the first five MY's of GM's GMT800 platform production, of which approximately 2,038,504 vehicles were sold in salt states (the subject vehicles).The GMT800 platform includes the following vehicles:1999-2007 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 series pick-up trucks; 2000-2006 Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport utility vehicles; and 2002-2006 Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Avalanche sport-utility vehicles.General Motors produced a total of approximately 10,427,062 GMT800 vehicles for sales in the United States, including almost 5 million that were sold in salt states.Although there are over 60 different brake pipe routing configuration used in GMT800 vehicles, with the exception of the rear crossover pipes in MY 200x-2007 vehicles that changed from rear disc to drum brakes, all of the vehicles use brake pipes from the same supplier with a common double-wall, brazed steel pipe design with a combination of hot dip Zinc-Aluminum corrosion protection coating and Aluminum paint outer layer known in the industry as AlGal (ASTM-B750). ODI analysis of field data regarding GMT800 vehicles identified a total of 3,645 complaints of brake pipe corrosion failures, including 107 alleging crashes, and 40 injuries.Though only 20% of total GMT800 production, due to age and region the subject vehicles account for a disproportionate share of the failure experience; with 2,702 of the complaints (75%), 88 of the crashes (82%) and 20 of the injuries (50%) reported in those vehicles.Analysis of the complaints showed strong correlations to vehicle age and region.For vehicles with less than 8 years of service, the complaint rates were minimal for all regions.In the salt states the failure rates begin to climb as the vehicles advance in age, particularly in the Northeast corner of the United States.The complaint rates in the salt states go from less than 0.1 incident per thousand vehicles (IPTV) at 7 years in service to over 1.0 IPTV after the 12th year of service for the subject pickup trucks and utility vehicles.Most of the failures reported to ODI occurred in vehicles with more than 10 years in service.ODI?s investigation did not identify any specific defect conditions that were causing or contributing to the brake pipe failures.Nor did the analysis isolate the problem to any subject vehicle sub-populations when analyzed by vehicle type or production range.The investigation found that vehicles experiencing brake pipe corrosion failures were likely to have general patterns of excessive corrosion on the majority of the brake pipe assembly and appear to be occurring due to expected wear out for the brake pipe coating material used in the subject vehicles and the environmental conditions in severe corrosion states.A safety-related defect has not been identified at this time.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will monitor t
EA11001
What 2003 Cadillac Escalade owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Breaks went to the floor and car went down embankment.
While driving I lost all use of brakes immediately after the brake system light came on driving 45mph on a city street. While driving the stability control light came on and car shut off 60mph on the highway. On another occasion stability control light came on and steering column locked up while turning. T/c light and engine light came on while driving 35 MPH on a city street and immediately lost response from the gas pedal. Dash lighting system flashes different indicator lights, display randomly goes out while driving.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 cadillac escalade. The contact stated that, on different occasions, the accelerator and brake pedals seized and failed to release when needed. The failure presented the risk of a potential crash. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign numbers: 04v045000 (service brakes, hydraulic) and 02v224000 (electrical system); although, the failures were similar to the recall campaigns. The vehicle was also not included in the federal safety agency action number: ea11001 (service brakes, hydraulic). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 cadillac escalade. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and it felt as if she would lose control of the vehicle while driving at certain speeds. On occasion, the driver's seat belt tightened and loosened on its own. Furthermore, the emergency brake was faulty and needed to be adjusted, the check engine indicator illuminated, and the "rear door maintenance" message appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home and then taken to kuni chevrolet cadillac (2449 fulton ave, sacramento, ca 95825, (916) 538-7217). The vehicle was repaired with the exception of the power steering and seat belt. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The contact planned to schedule another appointment for the steering and seat belt. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 100,000.
I was on I 75 passing under miller rd in flint, mi when traffic started to back up and slow down. I applied the brakes and the car stated to slow down, the brake peddle then went to the floor and I had no brakes. I was able to down shift to 1st gear and get to the side of the road. The car slowed down to where I could get it into reverse to stop it. We where so lucky! I got it to a cadillac dealer in dearborn, mi and found out that the main brake line had rusted through. I had all the brake line replace. I have major concerns that there are thousands of gm vehicles with this problem still on the road. I have since been told that gm had a brake line material problem during the early 2000 that lead to rusting out of the lines. Please look into this for the safety of others. The dealer was les stanford cadillac updated 10/9/15
Brakes have failed completely three times because of failure of hydraulic lines/components. Last time when brake failed I was on a freeway and I hit the brake to slow down the car to take an exit and lost complete control of the car. Thanks god no damage took place. I am having lot of rust/corrosion/chrome failure problem with this car.
I was driving home from work and when I brake the pedal went all the way to the floor, I had no brakes what so ever, lucky me I was close to home, it looks like the brake lines is broke, I have a pool of brake fluid in my drive way.
After approximately 1 year the truck started releasing the brakes on its own while descending a mountain and had to reapply to engage for brakes to work this has happened at least 10 times since we bought the truck. Its was inspected at the dealership where it was bought and nothing was ever done . I was told it was normal for this to occur and nothing was wrong with the truck. Other issues are the electrical in the dash has shorts and sometimes the A/C does not work and comes on by itself. The gauges ,speedometer and fuel gauge do not work anymore and the air bag light stays on . This truck was purchased with zero miles on it and purchased for over $ 70,000 and now only has 103,000 miles on it.
Driving home from work on a slightly icy road, the car ahead of me was coming to a stop. I hit my brakes, but the ground was a little slick so the ABS kicked on. I pushed the pedal harder, there was a pop noise, and my brake pedal went to the floor. The brake warning chime came on, along with a message that said "service braking system" in the dic on the instrument panel. My brakes were no longer functional, and I narrowly avoided hitting the car in front of me. I had a dash cam running at the time, and captured a video of the incident, which I have put on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve6gqfiwq_a I was able to pull into a parking lot up the road, at which point I popped the hood and saw a puddle of brake fluid directly under the master cylinder. When a friend arrived to give me a ride home, I had him push the brake pedal so I could see where the fluid was escaping. It was coming from a split in one of the brake lines under the master cylinder (also on youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mudtdmzla2u I noted that all of the brake lines that I could see looked extremely corroded, and decided to file a complaint once I saw that it wasn't a freak incident and that many others have had similar problems with their gm trucks / suvs.
Questions about the 2003 Cadillac Escalade brakes
Does the 2003 Cadillac Escalade have brakes problems?
Owners have filed 20 complaints about the brakes of the 2003 Cadillac Escalade, 25% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2003 Cadillac Escalade brakes problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 85,337 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Cadillac Escalade brakes?
Yes, 1 recall: 04V045000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Cadillac Escalade have bad brakes?
The Cadillac Escalade model years with the most brakes complaints are 2002 (47 complaints), 2003 (20 complaints) and 2004 (19 complaints).
Other 2003 Cadillac Escalade problems
Electrical 23Driver assistance 10Engine 8Fuel system 6Steering 6Airbags 5Acceleration 3Body 3Seats 3Transmission 3Visibility 3Wheels 3Locks 1Seat belts 1Suspension 1Tires 1
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