2003 Chevrolet Silverado: ABS light or ABS activating

Filed Feb 1, 2016 · Brakes · 129,000 miles · MD

Front brake lines rusted through and spilled brake fluid while moving at slow speed. Had front brake lines replaced. Six months or so later, rear brake lines rusted through and spilled brake fluid while moving at slow speed. Had rear brake lines replaced. Abs is now contaminated and is causing stop time delay, especially at high speed. Almost crashed on several occasions where my heart dropped to my stomach. Decided not to drive truck anymore until I can replace the entire brake system with rust free components.

Filed Sep 4, 2015 · Airbags, Brakes · 100,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado. While driving 60 MPH, the vehicle lost power and failed to accelerate. The ABS, check engine, and passenger side air bag lights remained illuminated. In addition, the power steering failed. The failures recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, but a failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

Filed Dec 31, 2014 · Brakes · 93,185 miles · MN

There was a complete brake failure coming to a stop sign. Fortunately was able to get the vehicle stopped using emergency brake. There was also no other vehicles at stop sign or at cross street. Went through the intersection. There was little or no brake pressure and the brake pedal went straight to the floor. At the shop it was noted there was a complete brake line failure at the ABS module near the driver door of all 6 rear brake lines. The brake lines all rusted through. The shop noted this was a common defect of the chevy silverados. This appears to be an issue especially in cold climates where salt and snow accumulates. This needs to be a safety recall to fix this defect. All 6 brake lines were replaced.

Filed Oct 30, 2014 · Brakes · 84,900 miles · MI

I depressed brake pedal to shift the truck from park, and the brake pedal went to the floor! Pumping the brakes did no good. I looked underneath, and brake fluid was running down from under the driver's seat area. Upon closer inspection, one of the brake lines coming out of the ABS modules had sprung a leak at the point where it bends over the top of the frame rail. If this had occurred while driving, an accident is likely, as there was no brake, despite the dual master cylinder! All of the brake lines are severely corroded, especially where the oem factory formed bends are. The brake lines are actually at the point of crumbling in places. To counter any claims about severe corrosion environment causing the problem, contrast the brake lines to the fuel lines on this vehicle which have no to very minimal corrosion. I also own another 2003 gm vehicle with far more miles, and it also has very little brake line corrosion. I have owned both these vehicles from new, and the silverado has less miles, and less winter salt exposure than the other vehicle. I have also owned other vehicles for many more years and miles than this silverado, and have never experienced anything like the horrible crumbling of this obviously defective brake line material used on the silverado. Please the federal safety agency, take some action on this obviously serious safety situation caused by defective manufacturer materials!

Filed May 8, 2014 · Brakes · 53,000 miles · NY

One of the hydraulic brake lines in front of the ABS module burst due to corrosion causing loss of all brake fluid. This was sudden with no warning, no lights to warn of brake fluid loss. .ea11001.

Filed Mar 6, 2014 · Brakes · 179,000 miles · WV

I got off interstate hit my brakes to stop at light when I hit my brakes it made a noise and went to the floor I almost hit another car in the rear had to run a stop light because it wouldn't stop some one could have been hurt bad this has happened to me twice. I was told my brake line was rusted which I had it replaced about 2 months ago and my ABS lights come on and it dings.

Filed Feb 24, 2014 · Brakes · 176,000 miles · WI

The brake lines on this truck are so rusted so are the fuel lines I'm surprised even stops or that the fuel lines haven't burst yet I have ABS light on and service brake system because everything is so rusted and now have a short somewhere so anytime you hit a bump warning light flashes and it starts dinging and warning lights flashes service brake system... There is no reason for this to be rusted like it does this vehicle is washed at least once a week it is in immaculate shape.

Filed Apr 25, 2013 · Brakes · 36,095 miles · HI

I entered my 2003 model year chevy silverado 2500 hd truck on april 19, 2013 at my residence. I started the vehicle and pressed on the brake pedal to put the automatic transmission into drive. Upon pressing the brake pedal, it immediately went completely to the floorboard and no brake stopping action was apparent. It is imperative to recognize that I routinely apply the manual parking brake when I park the truck, so in this instance when the brakes severely malfunctioned the truck was prevented from moving forward as the vehicle went into drive. I placed the truck back into park and pressed the brake pedal numerous times attempting to recover my vehicle brakes, to no avail. It should be noted that I was parked facing a downward angle when I experienced this terrible brake failure. And had I not employed the parking brake in advance there surely would have been a collision resulting in personal injury and property damage. After my attempts to recover my truck brakes proved futile, I discovered a large puddle of brake fluid on the ground directly under my driver's side compartment. It was determined all steel brake lines were severely rusted and the two (2) brake lines running from the truck's master cylinder to the ABS module had a number of rust deterioration holes in the steel lines rendering the truck unusable and unsafe. My truck has only 36,095 miles on it . I can not comprehend how this "latent defect" in the 2003 year chevy silverado trucks brake systems could go unrecognized by the manufacturer and a recall not initiated and corrective action not taken. An immediate recall is warranted and adequate repair compensation to me in particular is certainly justified, along with all others who have experienced this same "latent defect". The manufacturer must take immediate action to correct this dangerous situation and provide me compensation.

Filed Nov 5, 2012 · Brakes · 70,102 miles · WI

Failure of the brakes due to rusted brake lines going to the ABS unit. Upon inspection all brake lines were badly rusted and were replaced.

Filed Sep 25, 2012 · Brakes · 80,125 miles · KY

Truck was pulling partially loaded trailer entered curve in road going downhill & when brakes were applied pedal went to floor with obviously no rear breaks,truck nosedived when applied at bottom of pedal, truck & trailer started to jacknife had to get off brakes and steer my way out of trouble & apply only lightly until entering straight section of road. This made for an extremely intense ride down the hill. Any hairpin turns or stopped traffic in front would have resulted in a serious accident. Stopped & pulled off road to see what had happened and brake fluid was running all over the bottom of the drivers side frame rail. Closer inspection reveals obvious burst brake line but without removing inner fender or wiring harness I can not actually see the rupture and it may be concealed by the clips attaching the line to the frame. Oddly the lines have some rust but nothing which looks like it is so severe to have allowed a rupture. The attaching hardware may be allowing some movement in the lines allowing additional rust to take hold. I bought this truck new in 2003 in october I think and one thing about it that was different than the two previous new chevy trucks I bought was the rear brakes never seemed to apply as hard as they should and nothing even close as the 2000 tahoe or the 1994 silverado. Since the brake lines seem to burst in front of the ABS system it could be that the ABS system is partially blocking the flow creating a higher than normal line pressure between the master cylinder and the ABS system.

Filed Jul 20, 2012 · Brakes · 79,102 miles · MI

While towing a boat and trying to come to a stop, by brakes had gone out (as indicated when I pressed the brakes to the floor and warning light came on). I applied the emergency brake immediately and downshifted, but this was not enough to stop me and I narrowly missed oncoming traffic turning left at a red light. Upon further investigation, I had found one of my break lines was completely corroded by the ABS under the driver side door behind the front left wheel. I also noticed all of my other lines are severely rusted as well. According to multiple sources, this is a known gm issue, but there has not been a recall placed???

Filed Sep 1, 2010 · Brakes · 36,000 miles · OH

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer at 36,000 miles for a squealing noise. All four of the rotors and brake pads were replaced due to rust which seemed to remedy the noise. At 42,000 miles the ABS system began to pulsate while driving 5 MPH. The dealer stated that the hubs needed to be replaced and provided an estimate for the repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. At 56,000 the brake lines rusted through while the contact was driving and he lost all braking function. The vehicle had not been repaired. Chevrolet advised that they have had other complaints with rust and corrosion on other model years but the 2003 did not have any problems. The failure mileage was 36,000. The VIN was not available. The current mileage was 58,000.