I own a 2002 chevrolet avalanche, that I could not get inspected due to the parking brake not holding. Upon having the vehicle serviced found that a retaining clip assembly failed, causing the parking brake shoes to engage at some point in the last year and wear the shoes down, damage the drum / rotor assembly, and cause chipping / cracking with the rear brake pads due to the heat generated by the retaining clip assembly failure. I contacted gm and was told that this was not covered under warranty, and my dealer also said the same thing, that these are 'wear and tear' items that I was fully responsible for. They said that there is no way to tell if the clip had failed or if I had driven with the parking brake engaged, which never happened. I found a previous tsb was referenced to this issue (020526002a) and the federal safety agency# 10000172, which were similar. The tsb indicated replacing the retaining clip with a newly designed one. Which tells me this was a design flaw with the retaining clip on my 2002 vehicle, which has now resulted in a costly repair (brake shoes x2, retaining clip x2, drum / rotor assembly x2, brake pads x2 (primaries) that is over $800. I've found many other avalanche and silverado owners also having this same problem, some are being covered by warranty, some are not. I feel that this should be addressed by gm and a recall issued before this $8 retaining clip part winds up costing other customers over $800.
2002 Chevrolet Avalanche brakes complaints
Page 7 of 8: complaints 161 to 190 of 200, newest first, as owners wrote them.
2002 chevrolet avalanche z66 has failed parking brake. I do not tow or even use the brake. However in attempting to pass texas state inspection, my parking brake fails. When brake is set in all the way, truck put in drive, truck will move forward as if brake is not set. Chevytalk.org has over 5000 post of users on this same item. Chevy ase mechanic said it's a known design flaw in the clips that causes e-brake to wear even if never used. My concern is that if I need it, due to a hydrolic failure, it doesn't work. Contacted dealer and they claim it is not part of warranty. This is clearly a dangerous design problem that gm is not owning up to.
Parking brake failure involving 2002 chevrolet avalanche. There was no damage or injury. However, when brought in for repair, I was given a report that states, according to chevrolet technical assistance "parking brake is not designed to hold on a down slope and only designed to hold at 8% grade on up slope." this runs counter to the 2002 chevrolet avalanche owners manual, section 7-20, entitled "parking brake and automatic transmission park mechanism check which instructs as follows: "park on a fairly steep hill, with the vehicle facing downhill" and proceeds to give steps for checking the parking brake function that create a clear expectation that the parking brake should function "on a fairly steep hill." since bringing my vehicle for requested adjustment/repair, I continue to find that the parking brake will not hold with the vehicle facing downhill on even a modest slope.*ak knowing that I cannot rely on the parking brake, for now I will take other steps to assure safety. I am very concerned for other owners of this vehicle ... For their safety and the safety of their families. If an owner, unaware of this defect, having a driveway of any modest slope, relies on this vehicle's parking brake ... They clearly face the risk of unexpected movement of the vehicle ... Risking damage to property or to human life.
Vehicle has rusted brake rotor. Problems with frame and suspension system components the frame and suspension rusted to the point of metal fatigue especially at the points of weld that hold the suspension to the frame. The rotors were tore up and the pads were ground down.
While driving on wet pavement at approximately 25 MPH, I attempted to slow my vehicle as I approached an area of flowing water. I applied the brakes as I normally would. The vehicle did not slow up, instead, the back end began to break loose and spin around. The vehicle spun around twice and came to rest against a utility pole. The ABS brakes obvoiusly did not perform as they should have. Instead of slowing the vehicle, they caused the vehicle to go into the uncontrollable spinout.
2002 chevrolet avalanche z66 has failed parking brake. I do not tow or even use the brake. However in attempting to pass texas state inspection, my parking brake fails. When brake is set in all the way, truck put in drive, truck will move forward as if brake is not set. Chevytalk.org has over 5000 post of users on this same item. Chevy ase mechanic said it's a known design flaw in the clips that causes e-brake to wear even if never used. My concern is that if I need it, due to a hydrolic failure, it doesn't work. Contacted dealer and they claim it is not part of warranty. Y understanding is that this defect existis to provide gm with a cost savings in manufacturing, but it is at the cost of thousands of drivers and thier families. Is that worth it?
Rear brake cover plates rusted. Vehicle did not pass state inspection. Consumer was concerned.
While applying the parking brake vehicle failed. There was no braking power. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer for inspection. Mechanic determined that parking brake needed to be replaced. Also, recall issued did not include this vehicle.
My emergency brake does not work on my 2002 chevrolet avalanche 1500 series. I went to get it inspected today and it failed inspection b/c of this problem....which I had no idea of! I am glad I found out this way. I was told that it was a common problem on chevrolets and it is quite an expensive problem to fix. I called parks chevrolet in charlotte and they want me to come by next tuesday to get it looked at and fixed. But if this a common problem shouldn't it be recalled or shouldn't the vehicle tell me that the emergency brake is not working?? I think this is a huge problem.
Parking brake does not hold vehicle. The brake does not lock the back wheels.
1.brakes--pedal goes to the floor...this has happened 5 different times 2.brakes--has been returned at least 10 times for brake- rotor problems 3.suspension noise--has been returned at least 10 times for noise 4.oil lights--has been returned 3 times for oil consumption--leaks 5.electrical--has been returned to replace electric motor for windows 6.electrical-- locks-click and click and keep causing, and the horn---beeps non stop this all while driving 7.vehicle was parked and light and horn would not stop flashing and beeping the dealer nor chevrolet want to except any responsibility for this vehicle....we are told that the noises(and vibration) from the suspension just standard for the vehicle. The back rotors had grooves was told no problem found..when asked about the grooves they told us this was normal for "heavy duty" trucks..brakes..was told we should only expect to get 6-7 thousand miles. Dealer should tell you that when you purchase the vehicle. Most of the times when the brakes go bad there is no warning...I just had no brakes...this vehicle is not safe to drive after the last time I was unable to stop at an intersection I returned the vehicle to university motors.....to date have heard nothing form university motors or chevrolet....
1. Brakes-again..pushed on the brakes and pedal went to the floor 2. Noise still coming from suspension 3. Can smell oil burning returned vehicle to university motors they checked brakes and told me no correction was needed....suspension noise was told that was just how the vehicle sounded, I could feel the vibration on the floor... Oil smell--they tightened the oil filter.
1. Brakes again... Noise and vibration... 2. Noise from suspension returned vehicle to university motors 1. Front brake rotors corroded with a slight lip, replaced rotors and pads... 2. They said couldn't find where noise coming from, may have been from brakes...(told them no, this is the same noise since 10790 miles).
Vibration when braking.
General motors corporation and team chevrolet's failure to honor terms of warranty on consumer's vehicle. (nar) *la the dealer refused to replace the vehicle rotors which were determined to be defective prior to the consumer purchasing the vehicle. The consumer request reimbursement for the cost to repair the rotors.
Intermittently at any speed when the brakes are depressed pads will not release. Consumer can feel a dragging or a degree of resistance on the vehicle. Also, rear right inboard disc pad completely failed at 30,000 miles. There is a technical service bulletin concerning this subject. *ak
Parking brake worn out and rotor rusted at 36ooo miles. I don't use the parking brake at all. Why was it worn out? Rear brake pads also wore out before front pads. Design of parking brake makes adjustment almost impossible at the wheel. The cable cannot be adjusted enough to activate the parking brake. The parts man at the dealershipjust shrugged his shoulders and informed me that the only possible remedy is to replace both rotors, pads and parking brake shoes. This seems like a design flaw.
Replaced brakes and rotors front and back 3 times within 1 year.
Parking does not work and cable is to long for any adjustments.
Parking brake when applied went to floor and did not hold upon having vehical check by dealer found adjustment to be fully adjusted and brake shoes to be worn since the brakes were never adjusted by anyone this had to come from the factory. I had to have new brake shoes installed and every thing adjusted properly for which I had to pay for I feel this was a manufacture error I think they should of had to pay for this.
At 8000 miles, we brought our truck in for squeaking and grinding brakes. The right rear brake was metal to metal, the caliper boots were cracked and torn, the left side was almost metal to metal and the right rotor was worn down. We went to the dealership and complained. Stewart dealership in colma, ca inspected it, agreed that it was under our extended warranty. Less than 8000 miles later we brought in our avalanche & the rear brakes & emergency brake was metal to metal and the front brakes are 50%. We took the truck back to stewart who did a 28 point inspection. When we got the inspection paperwork back, it said the rear brakes were metal to metal, the front brakes were 4/32 and the emergency brake was inspected and ok.. The emergency brake is gone and they said it didn't require attention!! They said its from regular wear and tear and not covered under warranty. We decided to take the truck to ellis brooks chevrolet in sf. They said that the rear brakes & emergency brake was metal to metal. They said this was normal wear and tear and not covered under warranty.
I own a 2002 chevy avalanche that ii am the second owner. There is less than 36,000 miles on the vehicle while we traveling we notice the brakes squealing. Before we could make it home we had metal to metal and had to use are trailer brakes to help stop us. We have three children and had to travel two hours on a sunday home unsafe. We immediately took it to a brake specialist and they informed us that we would need 4 new rotors. The serviceman stated that the caliper had a problem and it burn the brake pads completely off the rotors and the rotors were junk. He also stated this is a know problem and we were not the first. The rotors were peeling. When I contacted our gmc dealer they had a gmc rep. Look at our rotors. The representative said they could not do anything about it, that the brakes are wearable and not covered under the warranty. Maybe if we were the 1st owner they might been able to help us. The dealer stated this might of been a safety issue. The gmc rep said they should of had it towed. Our dealer did state they are having a lot of problems with the rotors and calipers and ford, jeep, chrysler were also. We had to had to spend over $800 to get our vehicle safe. We drive our children to day care and want to be safe. I am very upset. We had to drive over two hours to get home and had to use our trailer brakes to help stop us... I am sure we will need to be replacing those brakes problem soon because of this. I feel this should have been covered under our warranty. I have never been told or even heard of anyone not covering us because we were not the original owners. Why would the dealers sell vehicles state that it is still under warranty until 3 years or 36,000 miles. Please investigate.
Traveling at 65 MPH passing another car switched land and rearend went out. Did 360 degree and hit the side on high way. Air bag did not deploy. It did $9000 in damage to the front end. Steering feels like its hitting another metal dealer has to grease the steering shaft every 25,000 miles factory defect but I have to pay for it after warranty ran out. Applying brake when making a turn if truck goes over a road hole or bump in the road anti-lock brake does not work and loose control of the truck. Suspension is not good.
My 2002 avalanche failed the state inspection because the emergency brake would not hold. I never use the emergency brake and the inspector said the majority of the avalalache's that he checked have the same problem.
Front brakes rattle when going over pot holes and speed bumps at any speed. Rattle goes away when applying the brakes. 2 dealers stated that only oem chevrolet pads can be used when doing a break job on the front/rear brakes. Shop that did 2 brake jobs in 48000 miles stated that front and rear brake wear was "unusualy high" for manufacturer parts and installed aftermarket "lifetime" brakes. While the shop (thankfully) will retighten the breaks at no cost as needed, I think this is not a good answer to the prpblem.
The parking brake shoes wore through both rear top hat drum rotors of my 2002 chevy avalanche. I first noticed this problem when the parking brake did not function for the vehicles annual inspection. I do not use the parking brake, so I know that wear was not the cause of the failure. I then found this problem in tsb # 02-05-26-002 and a correction which changes the design of the clip retaining the parking brake shoe so it will not scrape without the brake being applied. The people at the inspection place as well as where I had it repaired said this was a common problem with the newer chevy trucks, suburbans, tahoes, etc. My vehicle was in the chevy shop for unrelated repairs and they did not mention or perform this tsb, nor did they notify me to have it repaired. The parking/emergency brake failed to function without warning and chevy knew about it yet chose not to inform me.
The braking system on my 2002 chevrolet avalanche seemed inadequate. I have now found that only the rear brakes on the vehicle were working. In addition, the emergency brake has apparently never worked correctly. The vehicle is fairly new and only has about 28k miles on it.
Similar to complaint odi 766153. This occurred , twice this year, initially 1/10/03, brakes drums and rotors in rear were severely worn. 2nd date shown below. Outside rim also became brown and corroded. Dealer repaired and replaced due to 3/36 warranty.
When the brakes were applied it sounded like "crushing glass" and the vehicle exhibited a delayed response which caused the vehicle to slide into an intersection. The vehicle has been to the dealer five times in regards to the ABS light.
2nd time ABS failed, the pedal hit the floor while braking which caused an accident. The first time was august 2002 and the last one was march 31st 2003. Each time damage was extensive and the dealer found nothing wrong with the ABS
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history