The complaint is that the brake lines failed and are made of very poor material. The brake line failed on my way to work one day on march 10,2015.
2004 GMC Sierra 2500 brakes complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 56, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On 2/1/2015, at approximately 11:30 am, I was stopping at my brothers mailbox to get his mail while he was on vacation. When I went to stop at his mailbox, the brake pedal on my truck went to the floor with no resistance on the pedal. I pumped the brakes several times, put the truck in neutral and it came to a gradual stop over an extended braking distance of 20 to 30 feet (which is slightly uphill). There were no lights lit on the dash and the master cylinder was between the maximum and minimum levels on the reservoir, when I examined it after the occurrence. We live on a dirt road without much traffic, so I placed the truck in low range 4wd and drove it the 1/2 mile home. Upon returning home the top brake line which runs along the frame from the anti lock brake block back towards the drivers side rear of the truck had ruptured. The brake fluid in the master never went below the minimum level, so I attempted to refill it to see if I could get any brake pedal pressure back. The pedal went to the floor still after multiple tries with a full master cylinder. The brake line had ruptured where it is attached at a green plastic factory hanger. The brake line was corroded/rusted where it had failed. If I would not have stopped at my brothers mailbox, it is 1 mile down hill on an approximate 12 degree grade to the main road. The intersection at the bottom of the road is a 90 degree, t intersection in a creek bottom, where I am supposed to stop prior to entering the main road. We had just came home on 1/31/2015 from a 8.0 hour round trip to see my son at college through the mountains of maryland and west virginia on I-68 and had driven various major busy highways including I-79, I-68 and I-81. Due to the amount of fuel which we would have used, we decided to take my other son's wrangler on the trip or I may have been sending this email from the hospital if we were lucky.
I was leaving a parking lot, and as I hit my brakes, there were no brakes. I limped home, using the e-brake and transmission to keep the truck under control. Upon inspection I found the front brake line rusted and leaking.
On 9-19-2014 the truck was stopped at a red light and started to inch forward. Slight pressure on the brake pedal stopped the movement. The event was so quick and slight I thought nothing about it. I turned on the freeway and drove 30 or 40 miles before touching the brake pedal again. When I did it went almost to the floor without slowing the truck speed any appreciable amount. At that point I knew I had a serious problem. I geared the truck down and was able to avoid being involved in an accident. If I had needed to come to a full and fast stop it could easily have been a disaster. An internet search revealed gm has had this problem for some time without notice to truck owners that it exists. An inspection of the brake lines was done and indicated a failure in the brake line system due to rust. The fuel lines showed the same kind of deterioration. Pictures can be provided to verify the lack of advanced rust conditions to the underneath of the truck other than the brake line system, the fuel line system, and the drive shaft. The truck was purchased new in south carolina and has been driven there 90% on the total mileage on it.
This seldom used, well maintained, garaged truck, blew out the brake lines on left side on the frame, under the door, resulting in total brake failure. I had to use the parking brake to stop the vehicle. I was on my way to pick up a #9000 boat. If I had that boat behind the truck, it could have killed me, or others on the road. Brake lines are not a normal service part. Replacing all the brake lines is costing me 1300, at a minimum. My neighbor next door has a similar 2004 gmc sierra, with about the same mileage, only his is a 1/2 ton, where mine is 3/4 ton. His truck had the same failure the week before, in the exact same location on the lines. Do a simple search looking for brake failures on these vehicles, and you find that its well documented. This should be a recall before people are killed. There is no way that I should be looking at brake line failure on a 10 year old garaged truck that has a tow capacity of over 10,000 #'s. How should someone detect the integrity of the brake lines to determine when the should be replaced?
Brake lines rusted and leaking.
All the fluid lines corroded to the point where the vehicle was dangerous to drive with only 35000 original miles on it.
Brake pedal went to the floor. Almost impossible to drive like that. Takes over 100x longer to stop a 3/4 ton truck. I found that the brake lines rusted out. I also found several hundred reports of the same things on gm truck online. I also heard you were investigating this issue already. I wanted to make sure I am counted as one of the effected people. I also read where gm does not consider this a safety issue. I disagree. The line from the master cylinder to the ABS unit blew so I had zero brake pressure and pedal. I think this should be recalled as it is a huge safety issue. I have already spent over $1000 and a week trying to fix this and replace all the rusted line. I still do not have the truck back on the road. Thanks
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra 2500. The contact stated that the brake failed to engage while attempting to apply the brake pedal while driving 35 MPH. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic for inspection that confirmed that the brake lines were corroded. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 98,000.
When attempting to stop, the truck began to stop and then all of a sudden the brake pedal went to the floor. At this point there were no brakes at all. Thankfully no one was in front of me so I was able to coast until the vehicle slowed, and then use the e-brake to slow down enough to turn. Upon further inspection, a brake line had broken.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra 2500 hd. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, he applied the brakes but the vehicle did not respond. He continued applying pressure until the pedal touched the floorboard and finally, the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the steel brake lines exhibited massive corrosion and were leaking. The vehicle was taken to a different dealer where the repair was completed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 80,000.
While traveling on the pa turnpike at approx. 60 MPH, traffic suddenly slowed in front of me. I was pulling our 30 fifth wheel camper at the time. I applied the brake hard had a split second of braking action and then the brake pedal went to the floor. I was able to use the manual trailer brake control to slow the truck some, swerved into the left lane missing the car in front of me by inches and the car to the left of me swerved into the far left lane to avoid hitting me. (three lane highway) I managed to drive the truck to a rest area about a mile down the road using both the trailer brakes and the truck emergency brakes. The cause of the brake failure was that the brake line located under the drivers area had rusted through and ruptured.
Experienced a complete loss of service brakes. Fortunately this occured after completing a trip while towing a trailer. Had this happened during the trip serious injuries and multiple deaths could have been the result. Investigation of the problem indicated premture rusting through of the steel brake line to the right front disc brake. The brake line to the left front caliper is also badly rusted. The brake lines from the master cylinder are mildly rusted as well.
Got in vehicle, started it,put in gear,applied brake and pedal depressed farther than usual, hit again they went almost to floor.got out and saw brake fluid on frame where line had rusted in through.upon inspection all lines are terribly rusted and will need replaced.
My brake lines rusted at the rear of the lt front wheel splash area. This vehicle has low miles for the year and was not driven in salt or deice. The brake line should not need to be replaced at this time with so much service life left. I was lucky, the brake line burst in my driveway.
Rusty brake lines on 2004 gmc 2500hd sierra. Almost caused me to have an accident because the brake petal went to the floor immediately when the brake line burst. I have pictures of the old rusted brake lines if you would like to see the pictures. Since it seems to be a wide spread problem on gm pickup trucks from researching it on the internet, I'm curious to know when they are going to recall them? Just saw on the news where there is a government recall on 2005-2009 subaru's for the same problem. It cost $1290.00 to repair all the brake lines.
I was approaching a one lane covered bridge on the way home from work and another approaching vehicle failed to yield. I made an emergency stop by pressing firmly on the brakes. Brake pedal went right to the floor. I had to quickly use my foot operated emergency/parking brake to stop from having a head on collision. I had to pay close to $1200 to have the entire brake line system replaced due to severe rust of the brake lines. I am very fortunate that this turned out the way it did. My life and the lives of others are being endangered by gm not using a material that is resistant to corrosion.
Brake lines rusted through. All brake fluid leaked out. No brake system including emergency brake failed. Had to stop vehicle against curb system.
Complete brake failure, when brake line blew out while trying to stop. Prior to hitting car in front, swerved into left turn lane and applied emergency brake.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra 2500 hd. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH the vehicle began to shake violently. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was merged to the side of the road and after a few minute restarted the vehicle but the front wheel was locked and smoke was emitting from the hubcaps. After a considerable amount of time the wheels unlocked and the vehicle was driven to a dealer for diagnosis. He was informed that the seal in the boost had leaked and contaminated brake fluid and locked up the system. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and current mileage was 140,894. Updated 12/19/12 *cn the consumer stated while traveling 40mph the vehicle stared losing power. Upon further inspection it was found the brakes were smoking. After the smoke settled, the consumer attempted to press the brake pedal. It would not move. After about 3 hours the brakes released. The vehicle was then driven t a repair shop. Updated 1/9/2013
Brake lines all rotted away near ABS module mounted in frame. I had to take to a shop to get all line replace from ABS module forward. This truck has never been near salt ever. 100,000 miles and already relining the truck! Fuel lines look like they only have a few months left. This is a danger and a huge waste of money for a buyer I have had other gm cars that are 30 years old with 350,000 miles with factory brake and fuel lines.
Leaving work I pulled out from the parking lot and drove about 500 yards. Went to apply brakes and pedal went to the floor. I was able to make it back to my work parking lot and stopped the truck. Noticed that brake fluid was pouring from under the truck in two places. One leak was under the drivers area and the other was in front of the left rear wheel. The place I work has a car lift. Put the truck on the lift and the brake lines were rusted through. The truck has enormous amounts of rust on the frame, suspension, and axles. This truck is not my daily driver. I do not live near the ocean nor do I push snow with it. I have never seen brake lines rust out like this. Gm stated that I had to take it to a dealer for inspection. After reading up on the topic I know gm won't do anything about the lines. I already ordered stainless steel brake lines for the truck and will install them. Hopefully gm will reimburse owner for this expense.
Leaving small rural road. Brake pedal went to floor and vehicle rolled through stop sign. No oncoming traffic. Upon inspection, left forward brake line had ruptured due to corrosion. Only matter of time before other brake lines will fail.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra 2500 hd. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH downhill, the driver was attempting to brake and the pedal depressed to the floor. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred twice before. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the brake lines were completely corroded. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 33,000 and the current mileage was 36,000.
Second brake problem, second of three brake line problems from rusty brake lines and brake line failure while stopping and lose of brakes, needing to use emergency brake to stop. All remaining brake lines are completely rusted and need to be replaced for safe driving. This is completely unacceptable and are unsafe driving conditions. Brake lines should never fail from rust, period.
Both front hydraulic brake lines corroded on drivers side, with loss of braking, on chassis top rear of front wheel. It appears that there is a large wiring loom (1 1/2" o.d.) clipped on top of hydraulic lines, one to lf and rf wheels. Corrosion on both lines are at the contact of the loom and lines. Vibration may have caused the loom and lines to rub and allowed moisture to corrode the brake lines.
My truck is a work truck driven by an employee, I have just recently become aware of a condition regarding the instrument cluster, wherein the whole panel does not work, I was advised by the employee that this happened quite some time ago, but was never made aware. I contacted gmc but apparently, because this is considered a special policy recall (only if someone complains - and within a specified time period 7 yrs or 80,000 miles) they will not repair this defect. I never received a notice, nor was I aware of the problem within that time period. I was further informed by my worker that at the time the panel went out, the fan for the heater/air condition unit appeared to smoke and now it does not work. Here again, I have not received any recall notices for this defect either. Finally, in my attempts to get the cluster repaired, I have been informed that there is a recall on the hydro boost accumulator... I have not once received a recall notice on this vehicle and I purchased this vehicle new. My vehicle has 101,000 miles on it. You would think that a vehicle of this nature would last longer than 100,000. But apparently not... Also, when these is such a major recall out on a vehicle you would think that gmc would contact you and advise you of this problem..
When coming to a stop the pedal went to floor and had no brakes. Luckily I was able to swerve and miss the vehicle in from of me. But had to run through the four way stop and was blessed to have no other vehicles in way. The brake fluid was leaking from under the driver side about where the seat is. Upon investigation, the lines are all corroded and rusting. Obviously it only takes one to leak but all need to be replaced. This is such a surprise because this truck sits in the garage most of the time and has very few miles on it.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra 2500 hd. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH and attempting to decelerate, the brake pedal went straight to the floorboard abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where they advised him that the driver side rear steel brake line had failed. They advised him that all brake lines needed to be replaced due to the severity of the corrosion. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure and the current mileages were approximately 38,400.
Brake lines are rotted out. I pushed on my brake pedal while coming to a red light and it went to the floor, the rusted lines had broken and my brakes did not work. Luckily I was not going to fast or to close to the car in front of me so I was able to slow enough to turn off the road by pushing in my parking brake.
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