2000 Chevrolet Suburban 1500: brake failure

Filed Sep 17, 2016 · Brakes · 196,000 miles · MN

Was driving around 45mh and was coming to stop sign but when I went to use brake the pedal went to the floor. I kept pumping which seemed to help just enough to turn into the drive way of a mall that happened to be closed. I am so thankful that it was late at night or I would have smashed into someone. Shop said main brake line rusted through, a common problem that chevy could care less about. Very sad chevy........

Filed Jul 28, 2016 · Brakes · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 chevrolet suburban 1500. The contact stated that the emergency brake failed to operate without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the emergency brake was adjusted and the wiring was replaced; however, the failure recurred. In addition, after the repair and the brakes and emergency brake were applied, the vehicle rolled backwards. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

Filed Jul 20, 2016 · Brakes · 149,000 miles · MD

Passenger rear brake line ruptured with complete brake failure. Passenger front brake line ruptured while repairing the rear lines during the bleeding process. Gm's statement that their vehicles still have braking to 2 wheels during a line failure is incorrect. When the line ruptures there are no brakes at all. Thankfully the incident happened as I was leaving my driveway and not on highway the day before. I was able to downshift and use the emergency brake to stop the vehicle before any collisions .I've owned over a dozen cars in my life. I have never seen such extensive corrosion on brakes lines. It's unfathomable that gm would use inferior and non-corrosion resistant metal in one of the most important systems in any car. There will be multiple accidents due to this if there haven't been 100's already.

Filed Feb 8, 2016 · Brakes · 139,000 miles · MI

Rusted brake lines to rear driver wheel leaks fluid resulting in vehicle not able to stop. Collision nearly occurred as result of loss of braking.

Filed Oct 26, 2015 · Brakes · 238,000 miles · MN

I was driving my 2000 suburban at 60 MPH on the highway on september 29,2015 when I needed to brake for traffic. The brake started to stop but then went all the way to the floor. I had no brakes and had to go into the ditch in order to prevent a serious collision. There was a main brake line failure. I have contacted chevrolet about the failure but they have yet taken any responsibility for the poor design. This issue is very well documented all over the internet for rust failure on brakelines on this vehicle and yet chevrolet has yet to notify anyone of the possibility of complete brake failure and more importantly, done anything to correct the problem. This needs to be addressed before anyone is killed. I was driving with my 18 month old granddaughter at the time. If I had not acted quickly, the outcome could have been devastating.

Filed Oct 13, 2015 · Brakes · 30,000 miles · NM

Emergency brake went out around 30,000 est first time. I replaced the shoes not sure what year/ but now the left side no shoe left. The clips do not hold the shoes in place and end up wearing out the shoe and diskhat. Note: this is a very poor design. For years I never used the ebrake now I have converted the suburban over to a manual transmission and need the ebrake.

Filed Apr 24, 2015 · Brakes · OH

Total braking system failure (including emergency brake) on my 2000 chevy suburban. The day before the incident occurred, I noticed the brake pedal going lower than usual when pressing on it. I checked the fluid reservoir and notice that it was almost empty. I then added fluid to the full line on reservoir and that seemed to solve the problem. Next morning on my way to work, the brakes failed as I was approaching a busy intersection. The pedal went all the way to the floor as I was approaching the intersection at about 20 MPH. I pressed hard on the emergency brake on a last failed attempt to stop the vehicle. I shifted to lower gears, reverse, and park without success. There was no traffic ahead on the intersection or traffic on the left or to the right approaching as I made a right turn. The suburban slowed down on its own to a safe speed where I could turn into a driveway off the busy road. I'm not sure what to do with this vehicle. The mechanic tells me that it will cost over 1000 to fix it.

Filed Nov 23, 2014 · Brakes · 161,901 miles · PA

I was coming upon an intersection with my 2000 chevy suburban when the brakes were feeling spongy to me. I decided to apply hard pressure to the brake pedal to see if it would stop in a hurry if I needed it to. As I did this, the brake pedal began to slow the vehicle but then went straight to the floor. No brakes! I was able to get the vehicle to a stop by pumping them but luckily I wasn't traveling very fast and was able to get the suburban under control. Thank god my wife and 4 young children weren't in the vehicle when this happened. The rear brake line had ruptured due to rust and corrosion. I did a google search on this and noticed in july of 2014, this exact problem was brought to gm as a potential recall but gm's reply was that it's normal wear and tear. It almost cost me my life! Please advise gm of this in the hopes of saving further lives in the future.

Filed Oct 18, 2014 · Brakes · 207,465 miles · CA

On friday afternoon october 17, 2014, I was driving my suburban to get new tires installed at my local big o tires store. While I driving there the brakes were fine. Once I pulled in to the bay of the store, upon the 2nd or 3rd time I pressed the brake pedal, the pedal went straight to the floor, no brakes! Luckily there was little motion on the suburban, moving it to park stopped the motion. Not at any time did any ABS or brake lights come on the dash to alert me of any potential problems, nor any indications of spongy brakes. Just sudden and complete brake failure. The mechanics at big o tires alerted me of a leak coming from underneath the middle area of the driver's side of the suburban from the frame. They lifted up the suburban and proceeded to inspect. They informed me that all the brake lines where rusted and rotted out and that one or more of the brake lines had burst or broken, causing the brake failure. I started to research this problem on the internet and was surprised to find that both gmc & the federal safety agency are aware of this issue and no recalls have been issued to date. In fact from the information that I can gather online is that the federal safety agency has been inundated with complaints in regards to this problem and gmc refuses to issue a recall, claiming that this is not a safety issue. I was lucky enough for this to happen to me at very low speed in a controlled environment. What if this would have happened without any warning while driving and approaching an intersection? I can think of a many different scenarios where this could have played out to much worse circumstances. Brakes are probably the most significant safety mechanism on any vehicle. How dare gmc make the claim that is it not a safety issue!

Filed Aug 24, 2014 · Brakes · 195,000 miles · MI

I was backing up my suburban to attach and move my camper. I had just returned from a short trip to the grocery store, brakes were fine at that time. Upon the 3rd or 4th time I pressed the brake pedal while backing up, the pedal went to the floor. No brakes. I was on fairly level ground, so moving it to park stopped what little motion I had. There was never an indication of spongy brakes. Never an indicator on my dash of a brake issue, I just immediately lost all braking function. At this time it's sunday and I'm waiting on monday to contact a mechanic. I have fluid leaking from above the side frame member on the drivers side, under the rear door on the passenger side. I still don't have an indication of failure on my dash. I realize cars rust, I live in michigan. But the failure is what disturbs me. Supposedly gm has a dual line system, but I had no or very little stopping power on a 6000lb vehicle. Had I been in motion or even towing my camper, the results could have been catastrophic. I understand there is an investigation still open on these vehicles. It is not terribly time sensitive that this vehicle get fixed, so if you'd like to inspect I'll need contact immediately. Otherwise I will get it to a mechanic for repair.

Filed Dec 25, 2013 · Brakes · 181,000 miles · IL

I was driving home, and the brakes were very spongy, then the next morning I went to go out on errands and the brakes stopped working, I had to drive on the shoulder till I came to a stop.

Filed Nov 26, 2012 · Brakes · 222,000 miles · MI

Started to pull out of driveway and brake pedal went to the floor. Inspection revealed that a rear brake line had rusted through, leaving a puddle of brake fluid on the ground.