Noticed brake fluid on the floor of my garage as a result of brake line rust thru. Upon inspection I found that all of the steel lines in the brake system were corroded and required replacing. Even though the brake fluid level has leaked down significantly and the brake pedal is nearly on the floor, no brake warning light has activated indicating a brake system failure. Because I have prior experience working on vehicles, I knew enough not to continue driving the truck. I am in the process of replacing all of the brake lines on the truck because the defective steel brake line material has failed or is near failure throughout the brake system.
2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 brakes complaints
Page 4 of 15: complaints 71 to 100 of 429, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was starting up my 2003 chevy silverado this morning to go to work when the brake pedal quickly went to the floor board. After rolling backwards for a little I was able to stop the truck. After this happened I received the "service brake system" message on the control cluster. Looking outside the vehicle, I could tell a brake line had broken or had a significant leak as there was a puddle by the front passenger axle. I am waiting for a tow truck and have missed at least a half day of work. Reading through the website reports, I am expecting a large bill from the rusted brake line repairs that seem to be common in this chevy vehicle. Being in the military my truck has been driven in a number of states, but not in any northern states or on salted roads. I understand that no recall has been issued to date by chevy.
I was driving my 2003 chevy silverado down the road and when I went to slow down my brake pedal went to the floor after getting pulled over into a parking lot I inspected the lines and saw that they all had busted and were all very rusty I took it to the mechanic and he stated it wasn't worth fixing due to the excessive rust on the frame and gas lines it would cost more than the truck was worth.
As luck would have it, I had just left a very busy highway and pulled into a parking lot when my brakes failed completely. The brake petal went down to the floor and rather than risking a collision with any cars or people, I drove into a snow bank. When I got out of the truck to look for the problem, the metal brake line had split and was leaking fluid. When the brakes fail on your car, it always happens when you need them leaving you to make split second decisions, and in my case that consisted entirely of navigation as there was no time to think about using the emergency brake. I can only imagine the possible outcomes if this had happened an hour before or after while driving on the highway or freeway. My truck is well maintained, and is frequently serviced by a chevrolet dealer where I always have anything repaired that they suggest fixing. As this truck carries both family and employees, safety is of the utmost importance and this is a frightening problem that should result in a recall. I am having all of the brake lines replaced today...it is going to cost me almost $2000 and that is because my chevrolet dealer is not charging me for the tow, or labor.
Attempted to stop vehicle, brakes failed (later found to be due to corrosion) crashed into garage.
Driving my '03 chevy silverado 1500 (108,850 miles on the vehicle) on my way to get my oil changed, my brakes seemed to all of a sudden loose most of their stopping ability. I first noticed it approaching a stop light after traveling on a stretch of highway at 45 MPH. I had to press the brake pedal in much further than normal. No warning lights were on indicating a problem. The next set of lights, maybe a 1.5 miles down the road, same thing, putting the pedal to the floor to stop. This time a "service brake system" light flashed for a second then went away. I have now traveled about 6 miles from the first indication of problems to where I was getting my oil changed. As I pulled into there parking lot, very slowly (less than 5 MPH), I once again had to put the brake pedal to the floor to come to a stop. I looked under my truck to notice fluid dripping from the brake line under the driver side door. The mechanics there said the line was shot and recommended not driving it til it was fixed. They were not setup to work on brake lines at this shop, so I had to have it towed to another mechanic. My brake lines were severally rusted. The thing that concerned me the most was how quickly this all happened without any warning, and by the time the warning lights did come on I already had no stopping ability if I was traveling at normal speeds. Gm really needs to consider this poor design in the material they use for their brake lines, before something like this leads to some ones death. Very dangerous!!! Spend the time and money to put a quality braking system on your vehicles, it should be the first thing you do.
Second failure of brake lines due to road salt. First time back brake lines. This time front brake line. Mechanic said brake lines he uses nickel and will not rot. How come the truck is not made with nickel brake lines? This will cost me close to one thousand dollars! Every mechanic I talked to repairs several of these problems a month. Some just a few years old. My wife was driving this time with my kids after sled ridding and coming down a hill to a busy intersection ready to stop then no brakes. When you uses the brakes you should have confidence that are going to work. Not go to the floor and not work. Why cut corners on brake lines. In cases gm does not know you need brake lines to stop. Something needs to be done.
Luckily we were pulling out of the driveway when the brakes went out on the truck. Went all the way to the floor. If this had happened a week earlier while we (my family of 4) were traveling on rt 70 hauling a golf cart we and/or another family may have suffered severely or possibly died because of rusty, corroded brake lines. We live in maryland, have service at local chevy dealer and maintain our vehicles which includes washing/cleaning the vehicle, so there is no reason that at 107000 miles the brake lines should have corroded. Our estimate for repair of brakes/brake lines is 1681.00. We will get the vehicle fixed but after reading other reports about chevy trucks and brakes I thought it would be a good idea to send in my complaint. Luckily no lives were lost but gm should consider a recall before they get slapped with law suits.
At less than 18000 odometer miles, the dtc co265-ebcm motor relay circuit had a fault. The three: ABS, brake and service brake now lights came on. On 1/12/2015 the rusted ebcm ground had been removed and cleaned as per the 2003 chevrolet k silverado - 4wd service manual document id:2245394. This procedure didn't solve the brake light problem. The system is apparently the same in 1999 to 2007 silverado yet gm only recalled and replaced components through the 2002 model. It appears to me to be another gm manufacturing cover up and the federal safety agency should be pressing gm to cover this situation. Brakes are good to have in minnesota ABS brakes even better, I paid for them, but they were not provided by gm!
This truck has mostly highway miles so the brakes are not overused. While pulling into a parking lot the brake line broke and my peddle went to the floor. When looking online to see if this is normal I found that many people have had their brake line break in the same spot. A truck should be built to last more then 10 years since they will be sold and resold many times in it's lifespan. I do live in salt belt, however I always spray the salt off my truck after I drive on salty roads. And there is very little rust under my truck except the brake lines. This is crazy that a 5000 lb work truck has cheap brake lines on it, just so chevy can save $5 per vehicle. There should be a min requirement on parts that affect the safety of others. And as to having the lines inspected? How can someone inspect a line and visually see that it is about to break. You can see that your brake pads are getting low and they need changed. Can I see that the metal is getting pretty thin on my brake lines and they need changed?? No. All brake lines get a degree of rust on them, how can someone tell if they need changed, till they burst.
I was driving on a down hill road with a stop sign at the bottom. I began to press the brake and the pedal went to the floor. I could not get the truck stopped and ended up in an empty field to avoid a wreck with impact. There was a huge wet spot on the street where by brakes failed. Very scary with my young children in the truck with me. The brake lines were all rusted and had given way. According to the repair shop (and the internet) this is a known issue with these vehicles. I am also now having an issue with my instrument panel going crazy. The speedometer will say I am traveling 110 when I am rolling up to a stop sign. The fan blower will be on 0 and it will blow out at full force and will not turn off, even after the engine has been turned off. This ultimately results in a dead battery. I have had to have several jump starts. This issue according to my mechanic is a "known issue" with this vehicle. However, my VIN # produces no results for recalls. So like my silverado break down on the side of the road issues, the search results have left me stranded as well, only this time I am not walking down the road with my small children.
I left my home and drove approximately 10 miles before pulling into a parking lot. I was away from the vehicle for about 45 minutes.upon starting the vehicle I depressed the brake pedal and engaged the transmission. At this point the pedal seemed to travel further than usual. I left the parking lot and drove about 200' before having to stop; this time the pedal went to the floorboard but slowed the vehicle somewhat.(at this point the dash showed a check brake system).by driving under 30 MPH I was able to get the vehicle to the chevrolet dealership. The lines were rusted as were the calipers. Parts and labor=$1700 the truck is 12 years old with only 26,910 miles on it.
Earlier this year had monroe muffler and brakes repair a brake line. Last week a second line rusted through. Pep boys stated three lines needed replacement.
Was coasting down a hill and went to step on the brakes. The pedal then felt very soft. The truck proceeded to stop after several feet longer than normally. The next time I stepped in the brakes the pedal went to the floor with very, very little resistance. The truck had to be manually downshifted to come to a stop. Had to limp the truck home and only lightly use the brakes.
The brake lines are corroded and brakes gave out. I narrowly missed hitting my neighbor's car. There was no warning, the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. I put on the ebrake. It was towed to the local dealer and they confirmed it needs all new brake lines. Estimate is $1215 plus tax. This truck has had all of its service done at the local dealer and is in very good condition. I bought it certified used with the extended warranty. I called gm and they told me, "too bad, it's out of warranty, nothing we can do". I am very disappointed since this is a safety issue!! This is not some pos truck. This is a good truck and gm knows there is a problem, even the dealer told me the problem is known, but no recall. Very upsetting since my 2 year old daughter was in the truck with me. No brakes!! Come on gm, this is not a good way to fix your reputation.
I experienced complete loss of brakes without notice. Fortunately I was driving in a neighborhood with speed limits <20 MPH. Brakes started feeling strange when I attempted to brake. After several attempts the brake pedal went to the floor, I tried the emergency brake and it went to the floor with no slowing of the vehicle. I was going slow enough that I could rub up against the curb to slow the vehicle to a stop. Vehicle towed to garage. Mechanic stated that complete braking system failed due to corrosion. This is the second time a mechanic has commented about extensive corrosion in the under carriage. Last time was when the complete fuel lines needed to be replaced due to corrosion.
While looking at my truck after getting it back from the shop getting all 4 of the brake lines replaced, I noticed the fuel lines are leaking and extremely corroded. I have always been a chevy lover, and this is my first nice vehicle I have ever owned. Bought used in september of 2014. So far we have noticed that just about every recall from the past was never fixed on our truck, so we had to shell out almost $900 to replace the brake lines front to back. Now the fuel lines, the windshield seems loose, these are all recalls from the past. It doesn't make sense to put a time frame on recalls considering some people may never find out til it's too late, and others may not find out til someone gets hurt.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500. While driving 45 MPH, the service brake system warning light illuminated and the vehicle failed to respond when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the brake lines needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
I was driving my 2003 silverado 1500 down a 3 lane wide road in congested traffic up to a stoplight at speeds ranging from 15-45 MPH. I noticed that my breaks felt different than they normally did, requiring me to depress the brake pedal all the way to the floor to get "modest" breaking, not nearly the normal emergency/quick breaking action I'm used to. After slowly coming to a stop, I noticed that if I held the brake pedal at the same place/same pressure, the truck started rolling again! I eventually had to put the truck in neutral to avoid a collision with the vehicle in front of me. After 2 stoplights with these similar slow braking conditions, the red "brake" light on the dash light lit up and a message of "service brake system" popped up on the dash panel. With several close calls of nearing running into the vehicle in front of me, I pulled off the main highway to a local midas location, and their technicians examined the truck in the parking lot. The hood started smoking from underneath and my front drivers side wheel. My frame near the front drivers side was completely soaked in break fluid, and when we pressed down on the breaks, we could visually see the leak coming from the rusted through break lines. The smoke was from the leaking brake fluid, and could have started a fire. I have never seen rust do so much damage and create such a safety habit in my 13 years of driving and maintaining my vehicles. The steel brake lines were completely caked in rust, and had clearly burst while driving the vehicle. The manager told he would not recommend me to continue to drive the vehicle, with fear to my safety. If I was traveling at a higher speed, towing a greater weight, or had to make a quicker stop...I have no doubt in my mind I would have caused an accident, injury or death due to this serious safety defect. I have never felt this afraid to drive a motor vehicle.
While driving through subdivision approx. 20 MPH I applied brakes. Pedal dropped to floor, sudden loss of brakes with no warning. Brake fluid is leaking from driver side lines rear of module. This is a known problem due to galvanic corrosion. Why has there not been a recall ??
Traveling 25 miles home on interstate van had been cutting out if I pull over stop wait, can re-start and go a while. Cant predict it seemed to stay running if I went faster big mistake moved to pass it quit, at interstate speeds almost had to go into medium after yelling and waving arms and praying I got back into the right lane pulled off onto shoulder and went to pieces. It then stopped more and more finally got home and have not touched it since. I have been reading about similar events and it seems it is the crankcase positioning sensor. I am just happy to be alive. Need to fix it and sell it. Thanks for listening I am senior citizen.
Brake lines failed in 2 places on the drivers side due to corrosion. Rusted through under the drivers door and at the drivers side rear caliper. Traveling 40mph applied brake to make turn, initial brake resistance, then pedal went to floor. Removed foot and reapplied pedal. Able to make turn, tested upon stopping with two additional hard stops when going less that 5mph. Both instances pedal had resistance. Backed into driveway to attached trailer, pressed pedal to test trailer lights, pedal went to floor and brake light warning illuminated. Loss of fluid was observed on the street where 2 additional tests took place, main loss of fluid appeared in driveway during light test.
While driving the vehicle the brake pedal was pushed and went to the floor in rush hour traffic. Apparently the brake lines ruptured due to being rusted through.
Had been duck hunting with my grandsons pulled into my driveway and started backing my truck into garage with boat attached and brake pedal went to floor. At that point I had no brakes at all. Had to push parking brake to stop truck. When I got out I saw puddle of liquid on driveway ( brake fluid) . I looked under truck and saw that the brake line under the drivers floor area is rusted and blew out. I just thank god that it happened when it did and not as my grandsons and I was going down highway. I got on internet and I see that there is many other people having same issue with brake lines on chevy trucks. I just must ask how many people have to get hurt or die before gm fixes this problem???? I think it is time for them to step up and take care of this ...
My husband was driving his 2003 chevrolet silverado pulling a trailer when a dog jump out in front of us. He put on his brake but he didn't have any. There was a car in the other lane, a drop off on our side of the road and a dog in front of us. With god's help my husband missed all of that. My husband started checking and found a ruptured brake line probably due to the rust issue. Now we are looking at the cost of towing the vehicle and replacing the brake lines - which won't be cheap. Gm needs to address this problem before people get killed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I filed complaint 10650327 yesterday after loosing braking ability because of a brake line rupture in the severely rusted brake lines of my truck. My truck was towed to the dealership and today they told me the hydraulic module the brake lines connect to is crumbling apart when they try to unscrew the line connections. They told me the module is aluminum and that the brake lines are steel which is an apparent design failure. What appears to be happening is accelerated deterioration between the two metals caused by galvanic corrosion. Surely this condition should have been discovered during es testing in the prototype stages of product development and is a design flaw. It is a known fact that steel connected to aluminum especially in the presence of water or especially salt water will experience rapid and accelerated corrosion and potential failure.
Brake line rupture and loss of brakes. Severely rusted brake lines, driver side along frame and leading to ABS module are severely rusted to the point of delamination causing abrupt loss of hydraulic fluid and any ability to stop. Fortunately this rupture happened while maneuvering the truck in my driveway and not while on the road as there would have been no way to stop the vehicle.
I was driving my 2003 chevy silverado 1500 pulling a 27 foot camper to a weekend camping destination along with my family including two young children. Upon our arrival at the campground, I applied the brakes, the brake light came on, and my foot and brake pedal went entirely to the floor! I had total brake failure with no warning! I believe the brakes on my travel trailer somewhat aided in slowly bringing my truck to a stop as I pulled into our weekend camping destination. Upon a visual inspection of the brake lines, the steel brake lines are entirely coated with rust throughout the entire truck. The steel brake line had ruptured due to rust which caused immediate total loss of my trucks braking system. Fortunately, we were not driving in the hills at higher speeds while pulling my 6000 lb camper during our route to our family camping destination. I had young children in the car, and one strapped in a car seat. Thank god the total brake failure did not happen while going downhill with pulling the camper through some of the very steep hills of southern indiana! When will g.m. Issue a recall on these dangerous steel brake lines that are entirely rusting through? Children and my family could have seriously been injured or died during a weekend camping trip due to this total brake line failure! At current time, I have contacted chevy dealerships, they estimate a cost of $1500 - $2000 to replace all the rusty brake lines and to make this truck safe again! I can not afford to repair this truck and put it back into a working safe driving condition at this time. I can only express my concerns and hope people do not get injured or die from a total brake failure caused by g.m.s rusty brake lines on automobiles similar to mine. Why can we not get g.m. To recall these faulty brake lines or provide some assistance to aid with replacement cost to make these automobiles safe again?
Approaching a traffic light when it turned yellow, pressed on the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. Truck slowed a little, and I ended up coasting through the red light. Luckily the cross traffic had not moved yet when I went through. Got the truck stopped on the side of the road and walked around to inspect, found brake fluid on left rear tire and inside wheel well. Fluid was dripping from frame and I could feel the hole in brake line. Made it home by using the emergency brake to slow and stop.
While driving into work this morning the vehicle in front of me hit there brakes suddenly and I hit my brakes and the truck brakes acted like there was an ABS event and then the brake pedal went to the floor. Luckily I had enough space between us and swerved to the right to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of me and barely got stopped. Tried the brakes again and pedal went to the floor and brake warning light came on then a pop-up in the instrument cluster read "service brake system". Completely pulled off the road and began looking under the truck and you can see brake fluid is dripping under the drivers floor panel.
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