2004 Chevrolet Silverado 1500: soft or spongy brake pedal

Filed Aug 27, 2017 · Brakes · 85,000 miles · KS

Upon exiting highway at 75 MPH, I applied brakes to slow down. The brakes felt spongy then went to the floor. Tried to pump with no results. This was a single lane exit ramp with a car turning left and one turning right at the end of the ramp. Still at approx. 60 MPH I had nowhere to go. Down shift to 2nd and apply parking brake. Finally one car turns and I blast through intersection about 40-45mph and just missed t-boning another vehicle. As I went down the entrance ramp back onto hwy. I was able to bring truck to a stop. Later inspection of truck showed all 4 brake lines from ABS to front of truck severely rusted with one ruptured. Rear brake line also rusted. G.m. Need to recall these vehicles before someone gets killed. At the speed I was traveling I had seconds to make a decision. I was lucky the car in front of me turned and I missed the car on the crossroad. This truck has 85,xxx miles and has only been driven in snow or bad weather maybe a half dozen times during its life so corrosion should hot have been an issue. I've owned many cars with 200,000 plus miles and never had brake line issues. I believe with as many complaints as I read about this problem you need to force a recall before someone gets disabled for the rest of there life, or someone loses a family member!!!

Filed Apr 6, 2015 · Brakes · 167,218 miles · MI

Brakes became very spongy while driving. When I stopped in my driveway I noticed brake fluid leaking under the truck. When I checked where the leak was I discovered my brake lines are completely rusted from front to back! They have leaked through under the cab. This looks like an expensive repair and is completely unnecessary had the company not used such cheap material to save themselves some money. The brake lines should not be in the rusty condition that exist on this truck.

Filed Aug 16, 2014 · Brakes · 96,279 miles · IN

My son and I were going home from a day of hunting when we started going down a large curvy hill (back road) when no warning, brakes starting going out. The pedal became very spongy and I pushed it all the way to floor to slow down and down shifted to first gear to get to bottom of hill. It was scary for both of us, it reminded me from a scene from a movie unfortunately this was no movie. The truck has less than 100,000 miles on it and has been babied in a garage and serviced regularly. Apparently I am one of many that have experienced this problem of rusty brake lines. I am very disappointed in the quality of materials that gm has used on brake lines. In hindsight I am not surprised from gm.

Filed Sep 21, 2013 · Brakes · 170,000 miles · OH

Occasionally, the brake were would become spongy and depress lower. There was never any warning lights. On the 15th of september 2013, I went to pick up my boat for a day at a lake. The speed limit is 70mph along the stretch of interstate to the lake. I stopped by the storage office then proceeded to back up to go to the storage yards entrance gate. The brakes did their usual random lower than usual depression. Just as I rolled up to the security keypad the brakes failed. At this point all the brake and the service brake system lights came on. Unbelievable!!! I do thank above I became ill that weekend and skipped the boat fishing tournament to lake huron hours away. It would have been a disastrous and taken my life!!! I put fluid in it but it did not help. I made it 1/2 mile down the road to the auto store for more fluid. It did not help. I made it another 1/2 mile home by using the poorly adjusted emergency brake (previous owners neglect probably) and the 1 inch of brake pressure left in the regular brakes. I was in utter shock to see the amount of rust. Not only the brake line but the other lines, also. That is completely unacceptable even for a 2004 truck. I have older vehicles than this with very little or no rust on component lines. This was intentional by gm? Maybe to make sure to make service money on such a dependable vehicle? I can not make up excuses or think of one good reason to jeopardize consumers lives this way. An inch of brake use is not going to stop the truck at regular speeds let alone a truck with a payload or a trailer. I usually think people who sue others are out for money. Now I am thinking of suing gm for endangering my life. That should wake them up to this situation. There are some really good class action lawyers out of tennessee that successfully filed against a major drug store chain. I am calling them.

Filed Apr 15, 2009 · Brakes · 7,000 miles · IL

The brakes on my 2004 silverado 1500 4 x 4 are terrible. Took truck to dealership while truck was still under warranty. Replaced rear rotors. Brakes were still bad. Took truck back to dealership, was told everything was fine. Brakes still bad. Service manager drove my truck and a different truck a couple of years older to compare them. Acknowledged brakes were not near as good on my truck. They checked truck again and could not find anything wrong. Brake pedal is very spongy and when I need to make an emergency stop, I stand on the brake pedal and wait for the truck to come to a stop. There has to be a common problem. I have heard that I am not the only person with this problem. This needs fixed before someone gets hurt or worse.

Filed Aug 21, 2008 · Brakes · 28,300 miles · OH

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. The contact stated that his brakes had to be completely replaced at 18,000 miles. The rotor was rusted, corroded, soft, and spongy. The dealer replaced the brakes for free. Currently, at 28,000 miles, the brakes are in worse condition than before the previous repair was performed. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealer for repair; however, they wanted to charge him for the service. The contact feels that he should not have to pay since the brakes were not properly repaired the first time. Instead, the contact took the vehicle to a private mechanic for repair. The failure mileage was 28,300.

Filed Aug 12, 2005 · Acceleration, Brakes · 17,647 miles · OK · crash

Dt: the vehicle is a 2004 gm chevrolet k1500 z71 extend cab 4x4. Anti lock brakes were defective. When consumer applied pressure to the ABS they did not hold. On 2-11-05 he took vehicle to the dealer to be repaired, and they did nothing to fix the issue. While driving on 6-23/24-05 the ABS did not hold , causing consumer's vehicle to lightly bump another vehicle. When consumer contacted the manufacturer they told him to take it to city chevrolet. He took it to them on 7-5-05 ,and he still has not gotten it back yet. Consumer found that there was a recall in november . 2004 in canada concerning corrosion in the ABS brakes. The vehicle he owned was manufactured by general motors in canada ltd.. *ak there is a special order part that was not immediately available in dealer inventory for the inoperative brakes. Vehicle downshifts at highway speeds to 2nd gear. Engine surges while driving and the brake pedal is hard to push down and doesn't stop well.

Filed Apr 12, 2005 · Brakes · DC

Problems with brake equipment on 2004 chevrolet 1500.*mr the consumer indicated that the brakes felt spongy as if there was air in the brake lines. The vehicle had no sopping power and the consumer had to stand on the brakes to get the vehicle to stop. The vehicle has been taken to the dealer four time but they have been unable to locate the problem.