2001 Chevrolet Suburban: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Sep 2, 2013 · Brakes · 67,125 miles · OH

I had just accelerated from a traffic light and two cars pulled out in front of me. They were forced to stop immediately due to a vehicle in front of them making a left turn. This forced me to make an emergency stop. I jammed on the brakes, the antilock system activated, the tires started to squeal and the brake pedal went to the floorboard. Fortunately, the turning car was able to make his turn and the two cars that pull out in front of me were able to get moving and out of the way as I slowly came to a stop. I took the vehicle to the dealer and they checked the brakes out. The brake line ruptured due to rust. They had to replace all the brake line due to extreme rust. They were rustier than rusty, they were trash. Upon inspection of the brake lines I noticed that only the brakes lines were extremely rusty. Rest of underside was not to rusty at all. As a retired quality supervisor with over 30 years experience in the metal stamping industry I am fully convinced that something is definitly not right here. The brake system is a safety related item the lines should not rust out as these lines did. I believe the wrong material was used for these lines or a step in the rust prevention process was not performed that LED to this premature rusting. Brake lines should not rust out like these lines did.

Filed Mar 22, 2006 · Brakes · 26,281 miles · ME

We have a 2001 chevy suburban with 26281 miles on it. On march 18 2006 we went on a 200 mile , round trip ride. Brakes were fine then. No indication of anything wrong. Stopping distance was the same no brake light illuminated on vehicle no noises coming from brakes at all. Everything seemed fine. March 19,2006 : backing out of our driveway to go to church. Stepped on brakes heard awful grinding noise. At this point the stopping distance did increase substantially and every time the brakes were depressed they would grind. Took to garage on monday to have looked at. Needed to rotors and brake shoes installed on the rear of vehicle. At twenty six thousand miles this shouldn't have happened. Chevrolet said it is due to road salt but have lived in maine my whole life and have only had a rotor job done once before on a car with 1100000 miles on it. The dealer shere we bought the vehicle is 75 miles away, so I didn't feel safe driving the 75 miles to have the vehicle repaired there. They say talk to chevrolet to reimbursement and chevrolet says since warranty expired may 30 2005 and that I didn't take it to the dealer they will not cover any of the repair cost. Rotors should not be wearing out at 26000 miles. This is a safety issue that chevrolet should be looking into.

Filed Apr 26, 2005 · Seat belts · CA

Driver's seat belt squeaks randomly, causing a major distraction while driving until I figured out it was my movements, causing the noise. Whenever I get the chance to take it in for service, it stops for weeks at a time. Dealer stated he would have to keep truck and check it out. If a problem, then he would order parts and I could bring it in again to have it fixed. I cannot leave it for days, so I have not gone back in.

Filed Jan 1, 2005 · Brakes · 24,445 miles · LA

On 2/12/04, I took my 2001 chevy suburban in to the dealer because the emergency/parking brake did not work. Being the first time I tried to use it and it did not work, I assumed it would be a warranty repair. The dealer said no, this is common and a normal wear and tear adjustment. I said I have never used it, how can it be! Not being safe w/out a emergency parking brake, I had to pay! After their "adjustment" the brakes or something squealed. Upon returning to the dealer, I asked them to check their adjustment and mentioned where I had seen on the federal safety agency site about parking brakes wearing all the time. They adjusted again to spec and when I got it back, brakes still did not hold the vehicle well - it would never have held on a hill! I took it back again to the chevy dealer on 7/13/04 and asked them to check it again, and they said it was to spec and it was not an emergency brake, just a parking brake. I told them it would never hold a vehicle this size and weight on a hill! On 10/25/04, the vehicle was making a grinding/scraping sound when moving, so I took it to a tire store and they determined that the parking brakes were totally worn out and needed to be replaced ($160). I think there is a engineering design defect with this system in these vehicles. First the brakes do not appear to hold the vehicle well and second the way they are designed they fail without ever using them! You don't know they don't work until it's too late! Very dangerous!!! Please look into this asap - I think brake failure is a very dangerous problem.

Filed Nov 30, 2004 · Body, Electrical · 4,368 miles · MD

While driving or idling the electrical system shut down intermittently and caused the vehicle to stall. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the dealer replaced the electrical system, but the problem recurred. The dealer still was unable to determine the cause of the problem. *ak the rear floor plastic plate had broken, the left rear window motor was inoperative up and down, the driver's side seat was coming apart by the door, seat track had broken, the right front seat belt shoulder strap sometimes tightened up, there was noise in the rear end had a harmonic vibration, the right second window would not go down, the passenger side seat belt in the front locked up right front retractor locked, the rear passenger side door squeaks really bad, the molding for the rubber coming off, and passenger side front light had come out.

Filed Nov 5, 2004 · Brakes, Fuel system · GA

Fuel leaked from the tank after the consumer put gas into the vehicle. The differential broke which caused a grinding noise. *nm the vehicle was taken in for service and found that the elevtrical wires around the neck of the tank were melted and the tank had to be replaced. Consumer stated that the short in the electrical lines could have cause a fire. On a road trip the vehicles right rear break started grinding into the pads.

Filed Apr 2, 2003 · Brakes · 50,809 miles · TX

I am concerned there is a chevrolet manufacturing defect, if what the lone star chevrolet representative told me is correct and an unused emergency brake in a 2001 suburban can destroy itself at any time making the vehicle unsafe to drive. On 3/10/2003 I took the vehicle to lone star chevrolet for its 50k mile routine maintenance. Nothing was wrong with the vehicle, except for a squealing from the right side when the breaks were applied. I asked them to check the brakes. On their first call, the representative said the mechanic found the front brake rotors to be glazed over, causing the noise. I told them to fix it, a standard wear repair item. Later, the representative called again to say the mechanic found the emergency brakes were broken,not holding against the drum, which caused, the car to be unsafe to the point it would not pass inspection. When I asked how that could be since I had not experienced any difficulty in stopping vehicle, he said the emergency brake was a totally separate system from the regular brakes. I pointed out several facts to him: 1)I purchased the car new and have been the only person to drive the car except when it was in their shop for repairs. 2)I have never (not once) activated the emergency brake on the vehicle and I always check to make certain its not on when its returned from repairs. 3)the car passed its annual inspection during 12/2002 with the inspection done by their facility. There was no mention about the emergency brake not working then. In light of these issues, I asked the representative to explain how a part that has never been activated got a drum that is so badly scored and worn that it no longer works and why the problem wasn't noticed during december. He then said normal road vibrations can cause the parts to slip out of alignment causing the damage at any time, and it was not damaged during december. He went so far as to say that their mechanics saw this problem all the time.