Brake lights may not come on when the pedal is pressed, while at other times the lights illuminate for no reason.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu brakes complaints
Page 6 of 6: complaints 131 to 153 of 153, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The brake lights on my vehicle stay illuminated when the brake pedal is not pressed. This causes other drivers to think that I am braking when I am not. When I press the brake pedal, the brake light goes off for two seconds and then comes back on. After releasing the brake pedal, the brake lights stay on. The vehicle has been to the dealership four times. The dealer has replaced the brake position sensor twice, the brake control module, and they performed a fix that was issued through a tech bulletin from gm about the issue by applying dielectric grease to the pins on the brake control module and connector. None of these solutions have corrected the issue.
The vehicle began to display a "service traction/ESC" message on the hud. Brake lights would come on randomly and stay on, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours. As a result of brake lights being on, cruise control was not functional. Had a sensor replaced which temporarily resolved the issue. The problem has returned 53 weeks and 17,000 miles later.
The brake lights began to turn on when the brake pedal was not depressed, even when the vehicle was in park. When driving, the brake lights will stay on and the cruise control does not work. These problems may only last a couple of minutes but may also persist for greater than an hour at a time. The problem manifests itself somewhat unpredictably but its frequency and duration have increased over time.
Hello, my car's service traction and service ESC light turns on intermittently. The brake lights behave in the opposite way, I.e. They stay on during normal driving, turn off when I press on the brake pedal, and turn back on when I release the brake. The cruise control does not work whenever this happens. I do not experience anything different while driving and I believe this is a sensor/circuitry issue. I read through the forums and news websites and found that this is a common problem in a lot of chevy vehicles. There is a tsb on this issue and recalls for a few cars. This is a serious issue as it might lead to accidents when someone driving behind my car sees that the brake light turns off when I press the brake pedal. I would like gm/chevrolet lo help me out here and fix this issue without making me pay for it but they have not responded positively. The dealership charges $110 just for doing simple diagnostics. But this issue is something pretty common to a lot of chevrolet cars and is not a wear related issue. Gm or chevrolet should take responsibility to fix the issue. My car is out of 3-year warranty but is still within 5-year warranty (bumper-to-bumper). I hope that an action will be taken and my car will be repaired and/or I will be reimbursed for the repair expense. I found many articles on this issue and a few of them are copied below. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
My service seat belt sign goes on occasionally when I start car, but goes off if I shut off car and restart it. The dealer said they cannot test it if the sign on dash is not on. Also, I had to replace rear brakes and grind rotors at 37,000 miles-seems kind of premature. Now I am having some kind of possible electrical draw since my old and brand new battery have gone dead. Has anyone else experienced these problems?
When driving my 2009 malibu my brake lights will come on. When tapping the brake they go off, but when I need to use the brake no lights show. When this happens my service ESC and service traction lights also come on. Im getting very aggravated, I have only owned this car since june 2012, and constantly having problems.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the brake lights remained illuminated whenever the vehicle was driven and stopped illuminating when the brakes were applied. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for a diagnosis. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 37,000.
Brake lights come on without pressing the pedal and when u press the pedal they go off for a second and come back on this has happened numerous times.
Brake lights remain on while driving. Go off when braking. Have been stopped several times by folks passing by to tell me that the brake lights were on.
If cruise is engaged, sometimes it will just turn off. This is accompanied by constant brake lights even when the brakes are not pressed. Other times, the cruise will not engage and the brake lights will be illuminated constantly. Usually this occurs along with an error message regarding the est stability system on the car. Usually after turning the vehicle off everything works again.
I bought this car in june 2010 and the first thing to happen was the battery exploded in 09/2010. A few months later a my car was broken into because I did not realize that when I lock my doors that all locks but 1. The next thing that happend was the front head light shorted out, not the actual head light but the socket that the light goes into and that happend around 03/2012. Around january 2013 I was stopped beside my daughter school and a man pulled over and told me that my brake lights had been on for a few miles. I did not realize this and could not see this unless I was driving at night. I rarely drive at night but when I was driving at night I noticed when you get to a certain speed the brake lights will come on and and then go off if you tap the brake and then come back on and stay on until whenever they decide to go off. Sometimes they will be on when you crank up the car. It concerns me because what if they brake light fail all together. It seems like there is some kind of eletrical malfuntion with this car. I have researched online and find many people have the same issue with lights coming on in the care at sporadic time times as well as the brake light issue. I called gm, they took the info but offered no assistance. I really believe a recall or some type of investigation should be done on this. I know people that have gotten behind the same car I drive and they see they brake lights continously on like my car. This is very dangerous.
This is a recurring problem, beginning nearly 2 years ago. I have had the vehicle in for repairs several times, but the last documentable incident is march 9, 2013. Esc service light comes on, cruise control shuts down, brakes lights illuminating when they should not, and not illuminating when they should. There's always been some "thing" they find wrong, from re-calibration of the ESC system to this last incident, where they told me it was the brake light switch! I had just had the vehicle in to have a headlight replaced the prior weekend and I never noticed the brake lights not working, and the dealer that replaced the headlight never mentioned it either. I'm thinking they would have if they could charge me to fix something additional on the car. I just paid $250 to replace what I was told was a burned out brake light switch on march 9th, (palmen motors, kenosha, wi), and its already recurring. I heard part of possible recall on wnn abc news and started researching and ended up at your site this morning. I want to report this. There's no telling how many dollars have been paid to mechanics to fix unnecessary repairs because of this! I am furious! I am hoping that if this is a recall, or made one, I can at least get some of my money back! Thank you,
I had a problem with the brake light function. When driving, the brake lights would be on. When pressing the brake, the lights would turn off. I had to pay to have a switch replaced by the dealership to fix this issue.
Backing out of my drive way the left front brake caliper locked up and would not release the rotor. Under warranty the dealer replaced the rotor, caliper, flexible hose and pads. The car would move forward but felt like the brakes were applied. After a short distance the rotor heated up and was smoking. This same thing occurred again on 9/24/2012. Mileage at that time was 37900. Dealer currently has the car and is trying to duplicate the problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the brake lights remained illuminated whenever the vehicle was driven and stopped illuminating when the brakes were applied. The contact also stated that after having the brakes, rotors, and calibers replaced at the dealer, the failure occurred. The vehicle was repaired because the dealer stated that moisture was penetrating the brake system. The contact spoke with the dealer and was informed that the failure was not covered under the extended warranty. The vehicle had not been inspected. The failure and current mileages were 41,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the traction control and electronic stability control lights began to illuminate intermittently. The cruise control feature then failed. The brake indicator also failed, as it indicated that the vehicle was braking when it was not. The indicator also displayed a message that the vehicle was not braking when the brakes were applied. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 36,000 and the current mileage was 37,000.
Intermittently, the brake light will come on and remain lit solidly until the pedal is depressed, then it goes off -- acting opposite of the way it should. At night, the light is visible in the rear-view mirror and we can see it come on. We then depress the brake pedal and it will remain on tail lights only for a few minutes, then it glows brightly again as though the driver were depressing the brake pedal. When the light is on tail lights only, the brake light will illuminate correctly when the pedal is depressed and the brakes appear to be effective. There is an occasional "service traction control" and "service ESC" light that appears on the instrument panel. When the fault codes are scanned with an ABS braking system code reader, it yields a c-0131 anti-lock brake system pressure circuit malfunction. This problem seems pretty prevalent with late model chevrolet vehicles from what I have read on the internet, but the repair procedure is not clear to anyone who is experiencing this problem. Some say that it is a $1,000.00+ dealer repair item and that the problem tends to occur at the end of the 36,000 mile warranty period, just like ours did. It is extremely annoying and distracting to other drivers, some of whom pull alongside and say that the brake light is working "opposite" of the way it should. The brakes seem effective, but in case of a loss of traction, skid, etc., I am not sure what the result might be to the electronic stability control or the traction control -- both of which we keep turned off to minimize any problem until I can locate an appropriate fix. It seems that a recall of these vehicles is in order.
While driving at 68mph with the speed control engaged, the speed control turned off. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw break lights on. I checked the mat to verify that it was not pressing the pedal. I then depressed the pedal, the car slowed and the break lights turned off. Now the brake lights are always on when the pedal is not pressed, and they turn off after pressing the pedal. This causes other drivers to not be aware that I am stopping.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet impala. The contact was driving approximately 45 MPH and upon engaging the brake there was vibration within the brake pedal and steering wheel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer three different times for the identical failure. The first repair consisted of resurfacing the front rotors and eventually both rotors were replaced. In addition, both front brake pads were replaced at a different time. The contact was advised by an independent mechanic that both rear brake pads and rotors would need to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the repeated defect. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000. The VIN was unavailable.
1. Brakes squeak and are not as responsive as they should be a. The dealer has checked them several times and says there is no problem 2. On two occasions when traveling between 50-75 m.p.h, the car has not accelerated properly and has made strange grinding noise a. Dealer indicated that another owner of the same model vehicle expressed the same complaint b. Dealer said computer did not show anything wrong on my vehicle, or the other vehicle owner's vehicle 3. On 4-6 occasions, the car has surged... Sometimes this happens @ slow speeds and other times when cruise control is engaged.... I am afraid to use cruise control anymore a. Dealer says computer shows no problems.
Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. While the vehicle was at an authorized dealership for routine maintenance, the contact was informed that the slides and calipers were rusted and bending. The brakes were repaired. The failure and current mileages were 15,972.
Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. While driving approximately 35 MPH he tried to activate the ABS but the vehicle did not stop and proceeded through a traffic light. He took the vehicle to the dealer who stated that he needed a new master cylinder for the braking system. The vehicle was repaired under the warranty for that failure. He spoke with the manufacturer and was offered two years of maintenance service which the contact declined. He asked the dealer for a related service bulletin but was denied the bulletin. The current mileage was 11,829. The failure mileage was 3,481.
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