Driving late at night, all of a sudden with no warning a complete loss of brakes and all fluid. Brake lines rusted and broke.. Was able to gear down to slow and use parking brake thanks to no traffic late night. This is not normal as the lines are not visable without crawling under vechicle where they are up in the frame. Only had 41,000 miles on truck. The cost for repair was $600.00 which I believe should be borne by chevrolet. If this had happened in traffic, it would definitely would have caused an accident. They are not located in a place where they can be seen easily.
2004 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 brakes complaints
Page 3 of 12: complaints 41 to 70 of 330, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard but the vehicle failed to stop. The contact then depressed the emergency brake in order to stop the vehicle and avoid crashing. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brake line needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 51,000. The VIN was not available.
Brake lines leak due to excessive corrosion. . All the lines have been replaced months ago. The truck has less than 50 thousand miles. I feel this is way to soon for this problem. The dealer laughed when I asked if this was a warranty problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed to the floor but the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle crashed into a four foot tall curb and the transmission prevented the vehicle from going over. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was diagnosed by the contact, who was an independent mechanic. He diagnosed that the brake lines were rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries reported. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Unwanted ABS application at slow speeds! Sometimes it activates, other times it doesnt. Very unpredictable & unsafe! This is a reoccurring problem.
Brake lines have rusted and ruptured on 3 occassions at different locations of the brake lines. Vehicle was in motion on city street.
Came up to a stop sign going about 30mph.brake pedal went all the way to the floor.had to use the parking brake to stop the truck. Mechanic says I need to have all the brake lines replaced. All the lines were rusted to the point one failed. The hydraulic system on this truck is not divided, meaning a hole in any line you loose all breaks. Truck only has 57000 miles on it? I can't believe a recall has not been issued for this known problem. When someone dies I hope to be called to testify against gm.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. While the vehicle was hauling a trailer, the brake pedal lost pressure and stuck to the floorboard when it was depressed. The contact was able to downshift the vehicle, coast onto the road shoulder, and apply the rear brake in order to stop the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and found that the brake lines were corroded and caused the brake fluid to leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
Driving down the road, applied brakes to stop at red light, brake paddle went to the floor. Had to use the emergency brake to stop truck. No warning, no lights. Brake line had rusted and broke. Had my wife and grand children in truck.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. While driving, the ABS, service engine, and air bag warning lights flashed and then remained illuminated. Prior to the failure, the dealer reset the unknown codes. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the anti-lock brake system was disconnected and that there was an internal disconnection for the air bags to function properly. The mechanic advised the contact to have the vehicle diagnosed and repaired by the dealer. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign numbers: 06v417000 (air bags), 06v289000 (engine and engine cooling), 05v043000 (service brakes, hydraulic) and 04v045000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 186,502.
Brake line failure
Brake lines rusted and ruptured. Brakes failed resulting in near accident.
Rear brake line blew (along frame) pedal went to floor no brakes, I was lucky I was off road at the time of brake failure. Truck has 21685 miles. Brake lines should last the life of the truck. I should of only lost the back brakes, I think they may have a problem in the ABS unit (echu)? They know they have a problem with these brake lines, why no recall? This will cost around $1500+ if I let them do the work.
I had just got of the interstate going about 65. After pulling in my driveway, the brakes went completely out. Nothing. Apon inspection, I found a rusted out brake line on the left front. This truck has never been abused as I am almost 70 yrs. Old. All the lines are flaking with rust and now I will not feel safe driving it until all the lines have been replaced at a very high cost since gm does not make a replacement part. I bought this truck new in good faith thinking it would be my last. It seems to me gm should at least stand good on defective parts. Now I find out this same problem has been happening all over. This is not just a few trucks either.
I was driving on a paved secondary road at about 40 MPH. As I approached a rr crossing I put my foot on the brake pedal and when I tried to apply the brakes, the pedal went to the floor. This was a normal gentle application, not a panic stop situation. I then pumped the brake pedal and got just a little braking ability and I was able to stop the vehicle. I was about one mile from my home, so I turned around in a driveway and very slowly returned to my house. I parked in my driveway. About an hour later I went out to the vehicle and noticed a puddle under the vehicle; I then opened the hood and there was a lot of brake fluid sprayed around the engine compartment on the driver side of the vehicle. I made arrangements to have the vehicle checked & repaired and had the vehicle transported to the repair shop. The shop said a brake line was ruptured due to corrosion, also said all of the brake lines had excessive corrosion and recommended that I have all of the brake lines replaced. I did have all of the brake lines replaced. In looking at complaints on your website, I see that this is a common problem on gm pickups; I am surprised that the federal safety agency has not forced gm to step up to fix the problem vehicles. Now that my truck is fixed, I am still concerned about all of the other gm pickup trucks on the road that have severely corroded brake lines. This problem is too serious for the federal safety agency to ignore.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. While driving 55 MPH, the brake pedal was difficult to depress and failed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that either the rear or front brake lines fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 124,000.
Brake line rusted and blew out while stopping. Known problem. Government motors
Was trying to stop at red light & brake went to floor with no warning & had no brakes so unable to stop. Had to keep going through light & had to use emergency brake & finally managed to stop on side of road. Brake fluid was all over ground under the truck. Fortunately this happened only going 25 miles an hour in a suburban setting. Never had a problem with brakes before.
On july 22, 2015 I was driving my 2004 chevy silverado 1500 and when I went to stop at an intersection the brakes failed and I had go through a stop sign. I had to hit the emergency brake to get the truck stopped. I was lucky it happened in a housing sub division and not on an interstate because someone could have been killed. I was close to my mechanics garage and was able to get it into the garage where I was informed that all of my brake lines were completely corroded and rusted through he also informed me that a brake caliper needed replaced due to all of the brake line corrosion. The mechanic also informed me that all the fuel lines were corroded and also needed replaced. The mechanic told me he has replaced brake lines on several silverado's all due to corrosion. This truck only has 65,665 miles on it and was seldom driven in snow. I'm not sure why there is not a recall on these trucks. If my wife or one of my kids was driving this the outcome could have been different. The total cost was over $1400.00 to get all of the lines replaced something needs to be done before someone gets killed.
The truck was bought new in south carolina in 2004 and has only traveled to "snow belt" states in the winter less than a dozen times in past 11 years. On 7/23/15, while on vacation, the vehicle suffered a sudden loss of all braking power. Fortunately, my husband was able to get the truck stopped in time before hitting the car in front of us by shifting into neutral and pulling the parking brake. After pulling off of the road and opening the hood, we discovered that a small fire had started from the spraying brake fluid hitting the hot manifold. Again, we were fortunate to get it doused in time before any major damage occurred. Once we found out that the front left metal brake line had cracked, we carefully made our way to advance auto using the neutral and the parking brake to stop us when needed. My husband was able to patch the corroded brake line in the parking lot of auto at 8 pm at night only to discover the other front line was cracked as well. By this time it was too late to fix so we made a harrowing trip back to our hotel without any real brakes. Good thing their wasn't much traffic and we were close to our hotel. The next day we were able to find a local repair shop to replace the right front brake line. They mentioned they had replaced one on a chevy suburban only a day earlier from indiana for the same reason. After searching the internet for this issue, I must strongly disagree with gm when they stated that the brake system on the affected vehicles is split between the front and the rear and that "should a brake pipe suddenly fail for any reason, the affected vehicle would be capable of stopping with the pressure supplied by the remaining circuit." we had no brake pressure at all and had no way of stopping. It was only my husband's quick thinking that saved our family and another family from an accident. I hope this matter will be investigated further.
Coming to an intersection 10 MPH, brake paddle went to floor. Emergency brake saved me. Rotten brake lines were the cause of the failure. One year later four more brake llines replaced because of leaks. All four were rusted out.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. While driving at approximately 60 MPH, the brake pedal was difficult to depress. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rear brake lines fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Two months later, the contact observed a puddle of brake fluid on the ground under the front of the vehicle, which caused the brake lines to fracture. The vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic where it was confirmed that the front brake lines fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
On 7/3/15, my husband applied the brakes to stop in order to exit a restaurant parking lot. The brake pedal went to the floor we (my husband, child, and I) drove across the marked parking ways and crashed into a parking lot sign to make the vehicle come to a stop. Upon exiting the truck, my husband noticed the brake line leaking. We were blessed that we had not pulled on the main street into oncoming traffic. We had to get the vehicle towed to a shop for repair. I also called don moore automotive service department and had no response.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. While driving at 30 MPH, the brake system failed without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the brake line fractured. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,395.
The ABS kicks in at low speeds to where it makes a grinding noise and have a grinding feel at the door pedal even after having the brakes and rotors replaced. The dash cluster gauges stop working one by one,only the heat gauge work off and on. The engine begins to over heat when sitting in idle 10 minutes, sometimes 5 minutes depending on how hot it is,and the air conditioning starts to blow hot air but it begins to cool off once you start back driving. I have had the water pump checked,some had the thermostat replaced and it still does it only in the summer
Brake pedal would constantly go to the floor after stopping at light, etc. Within a day brakes went to floor without stopping vehicle. Added two pints of fluid which immediately leaked out. Repair facility said they had to replace driver side rear brake line.
Driving 45 miles per hour along a rural road following another vehicle. The vehicle I was following applied his brakes to turn left onto a side road. When I applied my brakes I felt the ABS system kick in, then the brake pedal went immediately to the floor with only minimal stopping power. I had to drive up onto a lawn to avoid crashing into the rear of the vehicle in front of me. Because my truck is a standard transmission, I was able to nurse it home. This is the second blown brake line I've had on this truck. In august of 2014 while towing a trailer I had a brake line fail. Luckily there was no other vehicles around. I replaced the rusted line and bled the brakes, after which they operated normally. I've owned this truck since new, purchased in december of 2003, and noticed within a couple years that the brake lines were rusting unusually quickly. I'm an aircraft mechanic and am used to inspecting my vehicles for any mechanical defects or unusual conditions.
Complete loss of braking ability without warning and fluid leakage due to corroded brake lines. Fortunately the incident occurred while parked at home, but necessitated towing the vehicle to the dealership and a costly repair.
Thank god I was not traveling I got up in the morning to go to work and placed my foot on the brake in which it went to the floor which was odd I pumped the brake a time or two and heard the sound of dripping fluid under my truck I shut it off and looked under my truck to see a stream of brake fluid down to the ground. I could have only imagined what would have happened if I was on my way to work and this had happen or if I had my family with me on the way to the beach. This could have bee catastrophic not only to me but to my family and everyone on the road. I am an aircraft mechanic and after reading some of these known issues and chevrolets response to them my question is how can you continue to admit there is not a problem. I mean there are some things I can see needing regular maintenance on a vehicle and brake lines that are made out of steel is not one of them. The airlines use stainless steel in the aircraft to help resist corrosion for this very reason. Why put peoples lives in danger when you can fix it with better quality parts.
I was leaving the house with my boat hooked up and got on the highway, we had gone for a half mile and the brakes went to the floor and found out the line was rusted. Then the second time it happened again and I was told that most of the lines were badly rusted and had to replace them all. It is a shame that the lines are faulty and could kill many others this is a serious problem in any vehicle-don't you think so!
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