2001 Chevrolet Astro brakes problems

Filed Sep 19, 2014 · Brakes, Electrical · 100,000 miles · WI

I am a licensed car dealer. I am very concerned at what I am seeing with my customers, with cars I see at the auctions, and with blog sites on the internet concerning chevy's ebcm computer module. At the auctions I am seeing at least 25% of chevrolets and about 10% of fords coming through with brake and ABS lights on. My main concern is with the chevy's ebcm. These very expensive units fail at the relay point on the printed circuit boards due to bad solder joints from the factory. When they fail, the driver gets a brake light and an ABS indicator light on the dash. The brakes still work on the car, but they don't work as designed. In fact the driver gets a false sense of security because his car is stopping, but in a slippery situation it will not stop as designed. When I went to the internet for ideas to fix the problem, I am finding a lot of postings saying just take the bulb out of the dash! I am also seeing ads on e bay where you can send your ebcm to a repair station, they take it apart, and re solder the joints for $49. I called the chevy dealer and they want over $1000 to fix the problem! I have heard of people selling their vehicle as is and telling the buyer that it's ok. The brakes work. I can't get the light to shut off! This is a very dangerous situation and it will become more dangerous as more and more cars are driving with inoperative ebcm computers. It looks like the defect comes from having the computer directly attached to the frames near the transmission and they are taking all the shock and vibration in that area. I am asking the government to look into this problem and issue a recall notice for defective ebcm computers. I also feel this problem is far worse than the dodge clock spring recall, and that effected all dodge vehicles. This braking problem we are seeing is bad enough that it may cause a large loss of life.

Filed Aug 19, 2013 · Brakes · 58,000 miles · FL

Brake and ABS lights come on intermittently, I had the code pulled at the auto parts store, it is the electronic ABS control module and upon googling "chevrolet brake ABS lights" it came to my attention that their appears to be thousands of vehicles with faulty ABS electronic modules which prevents the ABS function from working.

Filed Aug 8, 2013 · Brakes · 150,000 miles · IA

Going to stop at a slow speed engages ABS , causing van to not stop unless breakers were slammed on hard and hops of stopping!

Filed Nov 25, 2012 · Brakes · 198,000 miles · NY · crash

While pulling into a driveway at lowspeed I applied the brakes. The ABS light came on and all braking power was lost. My vehicle struck the one infront of me. I have been able to duplicate this low speed loss of braking.

Filed Oct 18, 2010 · Brakes, Steering · 160,000 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 chevrolet astro van. While traveling 5 MPH, the contact noticed that the brakes would no longer engage and that the steering wheel had become difficult to turn. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 160,000.

Filed Apr 30, 2010 · Brakes · 97,000 miles · MI

Abs and brake light comes on while driving.

Filed Oct 18, 2009 · Brakes · 50,000 miles · FL

2001 chevy astro van ABS system . I have replaced every part and still have problems. I understand that this is a constant problem of this van. I think they should recall these vans before something bad happens.

Filed Oct 29, 2007 · Brakes · 110,000 miles · MI

Abs system activates at slow speeds causing increased stopping distance. This issue is sporadic, and appears to happen more often in cool or humid climate conditions.

Filed Oct 8, 2007 · Brakes, Lights · 69,800 miles · NY · crash

1) noticed that my brakes would "pressurize" when coming to a stop as if the anti-lock brakes were activating. I've experienced normal activation before on ice, snow, and loose gravel so I knew what it was doing. It began happening a lot so I took it to the dealer (basil chevrolet, wellsville, ny) on 9/24/07. They replaced the rotors, pads and told me "road test ok...on road test did experience antilock problem. Only once felt - unable to verify". 2) took my van home and was seeing the problem as much if not more so than before. Was quite upset that after spending over $400 dollars on the auto, I still didn't have the problem fixed that I took the van in for. Complained about it to the dealer and they said they could bring it in to "clean the sensors" for me but couldn't get me in until "next week". The very next day the problem arose while parking my vehicle at work. I lost all braking ability and smashed into the rear end of a truck. No damage to the truck at all but extensive damage occurred to the front of my vehicle. Smashed grill, bumper, hood, headlight, and possibly more that I haven't identified yet. Got stopped by the local police for the headlight issue. 3) nothing done yet to fix the problem. I left the van at the aforementioned dealer for repair work on the brakes and the headlight. Hoping to pick it up today.

Filed Feb 6, 2007 · Brakes · NY

2001 chevy astro -- does not stop when brakes are applied. Just keeps "sliding". Only way to fix is to remove the fuse for the ABS brakes. If fuse is in, when brakes are applied, the vehicle shutters and growls and just continues to slide and the vehicle does not stop. This happens when you are traveling at slow speeds such as coming to a stop or pulling into parking spaces. ---very dangerous--thank god husband is a mechanic and realized that taking the fuse out would stop this problem, but causes it so that there is no ABS.