Hard brake pedal, vehicle was moving on a city street, braking. All r/f braking components contributed to incident. Possibly recall 991006000 was never exercised.
Chevrolet S10 spongy pedal problems
20 of the 5,662 owner complaints about the Chevrolet S10 describe soft or spongy brake pedal, most of them for the 1994 model year.
- owner complaints
- 20
- worst model year
- 1994
Is there a fix? There are 7 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
The brake pedal was hard to press due to the loss of vacuum assist after the vehicle sat over night. *jb ph
When traveling over slight bumps in the road, the truck feels as if it has no brakes. I am not talking huge potholes or extreme dropoffs, but bumps as low as approximately. 2 to 3 inches. The problem happens most often near my home traveling at 35 MPH, using the brakes to slow to around 28 MPH when I hit the 2 to 3 inch bump. At this point the truck starts coasting and the brake pedal is stiff, approximately. 10 feet past clearing the bump the braking is restored. I don't know if this is normal for ABS.
The brakes feel spongy when applied, on two occasions the pedal goes to the floor, in snowy weather the brakes lock up and do not unlock, the dealer replaced a leaky master cylinder and power brake booster but the brakes continue to fail. Nlm
While driving at 55 MPH and applying the brakes, ABS light came on and the brake pedal was hard. Ther e wasn't any brakes. Consumer kept pushing on the brakes in which the brake pedal went down due to the pressure, and the brakes locked up which threw the vehicle to the left of the center of the road.
While driving 45 to 50 MPH and applying the brakes while coming to a red light,the brake pedal was hard, and the egr valve locked uo, causing the power brakes not to work.
The brakes are very spongy when applied at all times. There is an extended stopping distance which several extra car lengths has to be allowed for in order to stop without a collision. The two near misses I had was I had to leave the road and go to the shoulder in order to keep from having an accident. I also have a 1998 chevrolet astro van and the brakes on it is 100% better. I am real happy with its stopping distance.
Ea94038, the ABS braking system malfunctioned, making a grinding noise and "spongy feeling" on the brake pedal, causing extended stopping distance. *ak brake pads have been changed 8 times within a 2 and a half year period, the rotor, caliper, and sensor were replaced due to the ABS.
Consumer noticed the brake warning light on. He went to apply the brakes , the pedal went to the floor and the vehicle did not stop. The dealer replaced the brake modulator. *ak consumer states after repair, there was still a soft brake pedal, so dealer replaced the left front wheel speed sensor, failure occurred again and dealer replaced master cylinder at no cost to consumer, a week later same failure occurred and now consumer refuses to drive vehicle, dealer checked the ABS modulator and stated that it was no good.
Abs, brake booster unit failed while pulling out of parking lot, very hard pedal, increased stopping, entire braking system replaced.
Related recalls
Service brakes, hydraulic: foundation components: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: electric pickup trucks. A condition in which the fuel-fired heater fill pipe ground strap contacts the rear passenger side brake pipe.
- Risk
- This could wear off the corrosion protection on the brake pipe, leading to premature corrosion and eventual loss of brake pipe integrity. When brake pipe integrity is lost, brake fluid leakage can occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will relocate the ground strap attachment, inspect the brake pipe for wear, and replace the brake pipe if necessary.
Recall number 00V159000 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: light duty pickup trucks equipped with 4-wheel disc brakes. Some of these vehicles have an antilock brake system (ABS) motor containing an out-of-specification spring clip. This clip could allow the motor bearing to become misaligned. If misalignment occurs, eventually the ABS would be non-functional.
- Risk
- The base brakes would remain fully functional, but the dynamic rear proportioning (drp) system, which optimizes front to rear brake balance, would become inoperative.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the brake pressure module valve assembly.
Recall number 00V055000 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: s -trucks equipped with 2 wheel drive. These vehicles may have had the right-hand antilock brake system (ABS) module feed pipe and/or brake crossover pipe tube nuts tightened without seating the pipe-flared-ends enough to withstand normal assembly and vehicle inputs without partially unseating. This does not comply with requirements of fmvss no. 105, "hydraulic service brake normal, emergency, and park braking performance."
- Risk
- If this occurred, the seating seal could be broken during vehicle assembly, or from early road inputs or brake fluid cycling, and a leak could occur increasing the brake stopping distance.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the brake pipe union for signs of brake fluid, and if necessary, install a new brake pipe union.
Recall number 99V220000 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: certain 4-wheel drive pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles equipped with ABS (antilock braking system) manufactured from september 1989 through august 1996. Under certain driving conditions the switch which signals the ABS system whether the vehicle is in 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive can malfunction causing increased stopping distances during ABS stops while in the two-wheel drive mode.
- Risk
- If this occurred at a time when minimum stopping distance was required, a vehicle crash could occur without prior warning.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace or repair the 4-wheel/2-wheel drive switch.
Recall number 99V193000 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: foundation components: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: light duty pickup trucks and multi-purpose passenger vehicles. A fatigue fracture of the rear axle right-hand brake pipe can occur causing a slow brake fluid leak resulting in a soft brake pedal. If the brake pipe breaks, the driver would experience a sudden drop in the brake pedal, the instrument panel brake light would illuminate, and there would be a loss of rear brake performance.
- Risk
- Partial loss of braking at a time when minimum stopping distance was required could result in a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and replace the brake pipe.
Recall number 97V218000 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: foundation components: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: light duty passenger pickup trucks equipped with 4.3l engines. The front brake line can contact the left-hand side of the engine oil pan causing the brake line to wear to the point of brake fluid loss during brake application.
- Risk
- Brake fluid loss can reduce braking effectiveness and increase stopping distances resulting in a vehicle crash without prior warning.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the clearance between the oil pan and the brake line. If the clearance is 6mm or less, dealers will install an additional brake line clip and if there was contact between the oil pan and brake line, the front brake line will be replaced.
Recall number 97V146001 · Recall details
Service brakes, hydraulic: power assist: vacuum: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
- What is wrong
- A vacuum hose can detach from the power brake booster check valve as a result of engine backfire.
- Risk
- This can result in increased engine idle and loss of power brake assist after depletion of the booster vacuum reserve.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a clamp on the power brake booster assist.
Recall number 94V228000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chevrolet S10 spongy pedal
Which Chevrolet S10 years have soft or spongy brake pedal problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1994 (9 complaints), 1995 (5 complaints) and 1992 (2 complaints).
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