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.
2000 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 brakes complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 47, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driving vehicle brake pedal went to floorboard. Coasting to stop and parked. Saw copious amount of brake fluid under vehicle. Walked to nearby place of business who had container of brake fluid. I emptied container in reservoir and drove to garage where brake pedal went to floor again. Diagnosis was brake line rusted through. Vehicle was in se pa for most of its life and in above average condition. Cost to replace lines was $350.
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!
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.
When approaching an intersection the vehicle in front of me stopped quickly. I applied my brakes quickly to stop and the brake pedal almost reached the floor board. I could feel my foot jumping on the pedal as my truck was attempting to stop. A week after the incident my ABS light came on and has remained on and the dealership states this is an ongoing issue. I understand gm has much going on right now but they need to address and resolve all these issues before family's loose loved ones. Do the right thing gm acknowledge these numerous faulty brake issues and give us the opportunity to fix our vehicle investments.
The ABS/brake warning lamps light at random times. The first repair center/dealer told me they were very familiar with the problem and it is the ebcm modules. They were problems on 1999-2001 models of pick up and suburbans. He instructed me to ignore the lamps as it would be a high cost of replacement but the ABS system will not operate. He also instructed that gm knows very well the problem they had and corrected it on the 2002 models. This was told to me by 2 additional dealer service centers. Also by a top auto repair show on the radio. If you do a search on the web you can see this has been a known failure since 2005.I asked each of the service managers why gm hasn't recalled them and their answer is I don't know or there has to be a certain percentage before they will. Another was the federal safety agency hasn't gotten involved. A failure of this nature means when the brakes are applied they will lock up and skids/loss of control can occur.
Rear brake line ruptured. Found extreme rust.
Driving on paved road and slowed down to make turn. Brake pedal went all the way to floor and could not stop normally. Braking was very poor. There was no warning light and this was a sudden failure in braking performance. Cause was due to severely corroded brake line. I had 7 people in the car and I am grateful we were not on the highway at the time because this could have been deadly.
Brake line ruptured while driving with my family, almost hit the car in front of us when approaching a stop light. I hate to think what would have happened if I was towing the camper, or boat !!!!! Which is why I bought this vehicle !!
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.
Brake line failure.
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.
I was backing up my 2000 chevy suburban 1500 in my drive way and the brakes failed completely while backing up the vehicle. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor. I pumped the brakes several and the pedal went to the floor each time. There was no warning that the brakes were going to fail. I was able to use the emergency brake to stop the vehicle. The rear brake line is severely corroded and the line failed at the chassis location above the rear axle above the coil spring bracket. There was a large about of brake fluid on the inside of the tire, chassis and on the ground. This failure also indicates the master cylinder failed because there were no front brakes either. Upon inspection, all the brake lines on the vehicle are severely corroded and will need to be replaced. I am disappointed in gm engineers to produce a vehicle that could have a failure of this nature. Their design controls and process using a dfmea (design failure mode and effects analysis) would have had corrosion on brake lines as a potential failure mode. If their marketing knows that a large percentage of vehicles would be sold into regions that use corrosive agents to keep our roads and highways clean in the winter, then they should have shown that the break lines could fail given their choice in brake line materials and coatings used on this vehicle. Also, I am disappointed in my gm dealer and the state safety inspection process where I live that should also have caught the fact that the brake lines were severely corroded, especially since I had to have had my rear backing plates replaced on the same vehicle last year due to a corrosion failure that rendered the emergency brakes useless and would not pass the state inspection process.
Brake lines rusted and now leaking in front of and under the front driver side door where the brake lines start running down the frame rail of the truck body towards the ABS module. Last week the truck was fine, and I decided it would be a good time to bring it to my chevy dealer to have any outstanding recall work done. They told me among other recall orders due on my truck, one in particular is to have a 2 ft stretch of one of the lines replaced, and they replaced it. Less than a week after getting the truck back I now have a leak coming from one or two of the other brake lines in that area where the work was just done last week. I have lots of questions. Nothing was leaking till the dealer touched it, so why am I left with a new problem that was dealer caused. Secondly, what's up with a recall that chooses to replace "one part" of 1 of 4 lines all running parallel, and all rusted to the same degree? Thirdly, why is chevy which has a "built like a rock" suggested reputation using brake lines that can so easily succumb to rust, there lots of other solutions for this auto maker. For instance during manufacture, installing stainless steel lines, copper lines or copper nickel alloy lines just to name a few, instead of using cheap steel lines, what gives?
My rear brake lines rusted through, fortunately I was going slow at the time. I was able to stop. Expensive repair as the fuel tank had to be dropped to get at the lines.
While replacing front brake pads, I noticed severe rust/corrosion on the hard brake lines coming from the ebcm. I conducted a through inspection and found all the brake lines were severely rusted/corroded. The main brake line to the rear wheel was oozing brake fluid where it bends from on top of the frame rail towards the diverting valve. I had to replace all the brake lines to prevent a catastrophic brake failure.
November 18 2000 driving to a mc donald's restaurant went to stop and brakes failed. A loud sound of air and the pedal going all the way to the floor. Thank god I was not driving on a main road or my 3 kids and I would have had an accident and possibly injured. I am aware that this problem has happened to others with the same type of vehicle.
Upon stopping the suburban, the anti-lock braking system kicked in at a low speed resulting in a accident and rear ending the car in front of us. I'm worried for my families safety with this suburban. Updated 11/07/11
I was driving along a 3 lane stretch of divided roadway in the fast lane. I approached a new intersection, the light changed to red and cars in all three lanes ahead of me proceeded to stop. I applied the brake pedal and it immediately went to the floor. Being in the fast lane and traveling at 55 MPH with a concrete divider wall and no shoulder to my left I immediately downshifted while holding the pedal to the floor and cut the wheel hard to head across lanes of traffic. The rear end fishtailed out towards the drivers side barely missing the line of traffic in the fast lane. Luckily I had enough distance to slide the car sideways facing slow lane shoulder, and then cut the wheel opposite to avoid the cars in the slow lane. I barely got around them and fishtailed the backend the opposite direction in the suburban as it grazed the guardrail. At this point the brakes were still out, pedal to the floor, and I traveled through a very busy intersection under construction (rt 24 and rt 95) still rolling at approximately 30 MPH. I glided along the shoulder several hundred feet in low range gear with pedal mashed to the floor before using parking brake to stop! Once home I inspected the brakes and the brake lines as others have found, are corroded beyond belief. I live in maryland and we see icy conditions, but I find it hard to believe that a vehicle as heavy as a suburban was equipped with brake lines that would corrode away to nothing. All the lines running along the frame rail are completely corroded out now and all lines need to be replaced. This is a major safety hazard and from a simple search I am not the only one dealing with this issue. The only reason there wasn't a four car mangled 55 MPH crash was due to me sliding a 5000 lb vehicle completely across a three lane highway. Please help before someone like my wife is killed due to these brake lines!
June 29,2011-my 2000 chevy-suburban 1500 brake line ruptured. Due to severe rust,mechanic has to replace all brake lines,hoses and 4 brake calipers. Aprox. Cost $1,000.
Brake lines on my 2000 gm suburban rotted out, lost my brakes while driving. I see a lot of people have the same problem so there must be a recall by now, how do I get this recall, thank god know one got hurt. I will be going to tv and the local papers with this plus my lawyer to make sure know one gets hurt.
Brake light on dash intermittently turns on and flashes. Turns of when vehicle is turned off a restarted. Dealer said they had to reground the wires because a the grounding was an issue. $250 to resolve the issue. Problem reappeared a week later. They then said the ebcm (electronic brake control module) needs to be replaced at an addition $1100 charge.
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 chevrolet suburban. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH and attempting to engage the brakes the pedal extended to the floor. He was forced to stop to the vehicle by placing applying the emergency brake and shifting into neutral gear. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who performed a diagnostic test that confirmed the failure was corroded brake lines. A local mechanic replaced the brake lines. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current miles were 116,000. Updated 11/17/11 *bf updated 01/03/12
I own a 2000 chevy suburban 1500 4x4, on my was back from camping with my twin 3yr old girls the wife and the dog. As soon as I parked the camper in my driveway the brake pedal went to the floor, found two brake lines under the driver side door above the fuel filter had exploded. Thankfully it held out till we got home rather than on the interstate! Have not made repairs yet, but I have ordered a 7pc stainless steel brake line set pre bent. $300.00 for parts so far don't know what the shop is going to charge for labor.
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 chevrolet suburban 1500. The contact stated that on october 28, 2010, while driving 3 MPH, the rear end making noises. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop where the contact was informed that the rear brake spider gear failed causing the rear brake lines to fail; the vehicle was repaired. A month later, the emergency brake light illuminated and the contact noticed brake fluid on the ground. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop where the contact was informed that the front brake lines were corroded. The vehicle had been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 46,000. Updated 01/26/11*lj updated 03/28/11
The ABS system on my 2000 chevrolet suburban 1500 failed to operate properly. It activated while stopping at slow speeds. There is a product safety recall issued #050683 front wheel speed sensor corrosion. The chevrolet dealership refused to repair under the recall because the vehicle is now registered in kansas, however missouri is covered. I guess less than an inch of geography makes the difference between what is safe and covered and what is not safe and covered. I paid to have it repaired for the safety issues concerned. I purchased the used vehicle in missouri, and it was registered and driven in missouri. I put most of the miles driving to work in missouri. I'm confused about the logic at gm. Will be the last gm vehicle in my life.
The brakes in my 2000 suburban failed due to at least one corrosion-related leak in a brake line at the ABS controller under the truck. The brakes seem to have failed completely, and I had to rely on the parking brake to bring the vehicle to a stop. I had a local mechanic replace the first leaking line he could find, but while testing that he found that others were leaking. Because of the extensive corrosion, he could not say whether the second leak was there before he started work. I am having all the brake lines attached to the front of the ABS controller replaced as a precaution.
Rear brake line failure in 2000 suburban on 8/3/10....stepped on brake and it went to the floor when I went to put the car in reverse. Fluid was gushing out of the rear brake line. I managed to drive it because the front brake line still worked partly. Brake fluid was leaking out of the line for five miles and when I parked the car. Mechanic looked at the brake line and said it was rotted out and the rot extended to the front brake line. The car had 75,000 miles on it.
Vehicle 2000 chevy suburban 1500 4x4 - june 2007 rear brake line failure complete loss of braking, fractured line found behind rear axle. Repaired with new line. -august 2007 failure of ABS system, at very slow speed less than 5 MPH brake pedal would become very hard and there would be no brake effect. Abs examined and disconnected, braking is now as normal but without ABS. -october 2007 front brake line failure resulting in total loss of braking effect. Both front lines replaced, lines showed massive internal corrosion, repair with new lines.
I was driving my 2000 suburban on a highway. I attempted to slow for traffic and the brake pedal went to the floor, taking the brakes with it. The chevrolet dealer determined all the brake lines and fuel lines had rusted out. This truck has only 43,000 miles on it.
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