2002 GMC Sierra 1500

TRAVELING NORTH ON ROUTE 28 NEAR CHANTILLY, VIRGINIA, A LINE OF CARS IN FRONT OF ME CAME TO AN ABRUPT HALT. I PRESSED MY BRAKE PEDDLE HARD AND WITHIN THREE SECONDS THE BRAKE PEDDLE WAS AT THE FLOOR. I QUICKLY MANEUVERED MY TRUCK TO THE RIGHT AND WAS ABLE UTILIZE THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO SLOW THE TRUCK TO A STOP. INCREDIBLY, MY SON AND I WERE NOT INJURED, WE DID NOT HIT THE LINE IF VEHICLES IN FRONT OF US, AND WERE ALL SPARED A POTENTIALLY DEADLY OUTCOME. AFTER COMING TO A STOP, MY SON AND I INSPECTED OUR TRUCK AND BRAKE FLUID WAS LEAKING FROM THE LEFT SUPPLY LINE TO THE REAR BREAK. THE LINE HAD BURST DUE TO HARD BRAKING AND CORROSION OF THE FUEL LINE. WE WERE SAVED FOR SOME REASON, HOWEVER, IF THIS HAD BEEN ON A WEEKDAY DURING COMMUTING HOURS, THE OUTCOME WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. THE NHTSA SHOULD CONTINUE TO HOLD GM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS POOR ENGINEERING (FUEL LINES) AND EVENTUAL CATASTROPHIC SITUATION THAT WILL, OR PROBABLY ALREADY HAS, HAPPENED. *TR

MY 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING THE TRUCK AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE. SHE HAS HER TEMPORARY LICENSE AND WAS DRIVING FOR THE THIRD TIME. AFTER DRIVING IN TOWN AND ON SOME RURAL ROADS, SHE STARTED GETTING TOO CLOSE TO OTHER CARS AT STOP LIGHTS AND STOP SIGNS. I BEGAN TELLING HER TO STOP SOONER, SHE SAID SHE WAS TRYING. IT ONLY GOT WORSE SO WE WENT HOME. SHE ALMOST RAN INTO OUR HOUSE AS TRIED TO STOP IN THE DRIVEWAY. BECAUSE SHE IS A NEW DRIVER, SHE DID NOT REALIZE THE BRAKES WERE GOING OUT. AFTER WE GOT OUT OF THE TRUCK I NOTICED A PUDDLE OF FLUID FORMING UNDER THE DRIVER SIDE. I DETERMINED THAT IT WAS BRAKE FLUID. I RAISED THE HOOD AND HAD HER PRESS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. BRAKE FLUID STARTED SPRAYING OUT OF A BRAKE LINE NEAR THE FRAME. THE BRAKE LINES FROM THE MASTER CYLINDER TO THE ABS MODULE ARE VERY RUSTY ALONG WITH EVERY OTHER BRAKE LINE. THIS TRUCK MAY BE 12 YEARS OLD AND HAVE 87,000 MILES BUT I HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN VERY GOOD CARE OF IT AND IT STILL LOOKS NEW INSIDE AND OUT. I DO NOT BELIEVE A MAJOR SAFETY COMPONENT LIKE THE BRAKES SHOULD BE FAILING AT THIS TIME. OTHER CRITICAL COMPONENTS HAVE WARNING SYSTEMS TO ALERT YOU TO POSSIBLE FAILURES BUT WHEN THERE IS NO WAY TO TELL IF SOMETHING CRITICAL WILL FAIL I BELIEVE THOSE PARTS SHOULD BE MADE TO LAST. IF THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A PART IS LIMITED, THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD RECOMMEND SERVICE AT A REASONABLE INTERVAL. MY DAUGHTER IS NOW SCARED TO DEATH TO DRIVE ANY OF OUR CARS BECAUSE SHE FEELS IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN. I AM JUST GLAD I WASN'T PULLING MY 20 FOOT BOAT AND HAD TO MAKE A PANIC STOP AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN THE LINE FAILED. SOMEONE COULD HAVE GOT INJURED OR KILLED I AM CURRENTLY GETTING QUOTES TO HAVE IT REPAIRED. SO FAR I HAVE RECEIVED PRICES RANGING FROM $600-1500. I FEEL GM SHOULD COVER MOST TO ALL OF THESE EXPENSES BECAUSE THEY USED SUB-PAR PARTS TO BUILD A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE BRAKE SYSTEM. *TR

WHILE DRIVING IN TOWN, I DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL TO SLOW FOR A STOP SIGN TRAVELING UNDER 25 MPH. THE PEDAL PRESSURE FELT FIRM/NORMAL FOR A BRIEF SECOND AND THEN WENT NEARLY TO THE FLOOR AND I WAS BARELY ABLE TO STOP. THE BRAKE LIGHT ON THE DASH DID NOT ILLUMINATE UNTIL APPROXIMATELY THE 10TH TIME I TRIED TO STOP. IF THERE HAD BEEN SOMEONE IN FRONT OF ME OR I WAS TRAVELING IN A HIGHER SPEED ZONE, I MOST CERTAINLY WOULD NOT HAVE STOPPED IN TIME. THE DIAGNOSIS IS THE REAR BRAKE LINE RUSTED THROUGH. I'VE BEEN TOLD BY SEVERAL MECHANICS THAT ALL THE BRAKE LINES WILL HAVE TO BE REPLACED AS THEY ARE ALL SO RUSTED NO ONE LINE CAN BE REPLACED WITHOUT DAMAGING THE REST OF THE LINES BECAUSE OF THEIR CLOSE PROXIMITY TO EACH OTHER. I CAN'T FIND ANYONE THAT WILL TAKE ON THE JOB. *TR

2002 GMC SIERRA 1500-BRAKES WENT OUT SUDDENLY AS I WAS TURNING INTO A BUSY INTERSECTION. PEDAL WENT RIGHT TO THE FLOOR-NO BRAKES. THERE WAS NO SEPARATE SYSTEM CIRCUIT THAT BROUGHT THE TRUCK TO A HALT, THERE WERE NO DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHTS ENGAGED, AND NO BRAKE FLUID LEAK BEFORE THAT WOULD ALERT ME TO A FAILURE. HAD TO USE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO PULL OVER TO A SAFE SPOT- VEHICLE NEEDED TO BE TOWED TO REPAIR FACILITY. REPAIR FACILITY STATED THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE VEHICLES- BUT THERE WAS NO RECALL OR SAFETY BULLETINS ISSUED THAT THEY COULD LOCATE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 GMC SIERRA 1500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BRAKES AND ABS WARNING LAMP ILLUMINATED SPORADICALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE ABS CONTROL MODULE WAS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 75,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 130,000.

TODAY I WAS ON FREEWAY IN BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC AND WHEN I WENT TO STOP MY BRAKES FLUTTERED AND MADE A WEIRD NOISE AND I PUSHED WITH ALL MY STRENGTH ON BRAKE PEDAL TO STOP AND WASN'T ABLE TO STOP LIKE 25 OTHER CARS IN MY LIFE WOULD HAVE STOPPED AND REAR ENDED A MINIVAN, THERE WAS MINIMAL DAMAGE DONE TO HIS VAN, MY BUMPER HAS A LITTLE DENT AND HIS VAN HAS A SMALL SCRATCH, THIS I THE THIRD TIME IN LAST WEEK THIS HAS HAPPENED WITH THE FIRST 2 ME THINKING IT WAS NOTHING BECAUSE IT ONLY HAPPENS MAYBE 1 OUT OF EVERY 300 BRAKE APPLICATIONS, I CAME HOME TODAY AND DID SOME RESEARCH ON GOOGLE AND FOUND OUT THERE ARE 1000S OF TRUCKS LIKE MINE WITH THE ABS ACTIVATING AT LOW SPEEDS CAUSING CRASHES, I CALLED GM AND ASKED A FEW QUESTIONS AND ALL THEY SAID WAS MY VIN DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR ABS OR BRAKE RECALL GM HAD ON THESE YR TRUCKS. IF MY TRUCK IS DOING THE SAME THING AS THESE TRUCKS THAT QUALIFIED FOR RECALL WHY WONT THEY FIX MIND BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY ITS SAME PROBLEM, THE GM GUY I SPOKE WITH PLAYED DUMB AND ACT LIKE HE HAS NEVER HEARD OF SOMEONE HAVING MY ISSUE, HE IS LYING BECAUSE THERE IS TONS OF PEOPLE ON THESE GM FORUMS THAT HAVE CALLED GM WITH SAME PROBLEM AS MINE WITH SAME RESULTS, PLEASE HELP ME OR LET ME KNOW WHAT RECOURSES I HAVE TO HAVE GM FIX THIS ABS ISSUES BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED, THANK YOU *TR

WHILE TRYING TO PARK MY VEHICLE IN A PARKING LOT THE BRAKES ANTI-LOCK SYSTEM ENGAGED. I WAS PULLING FORWARD TO BACK INTO A STALL. THERE WAS A PERSON WALKING DOWN THE PARKING LOT SOME DISTANCE IN FRONT OF ME. AS I APPLIED THE BRAKES TO STOP GOING FORWARD AND START TO BACK THE ABS SYSTEM ENGAGED AND I COULD NOT STOP. THE GENTLEMAN IN FRONT OF ME THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HIT HIM, AND QUITE FRANKLY I THOUGHT THAT I WAS ALSO. THE PAVEMENT WAS DRY, THE TEMPERATURE WAS ABOUT 62 DEGREES. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BRAKES AT HIGHER SPEEDS. I HAVE READ SOME THINGS ABOUT ISSUES WITH THE ABS SPEED SENSORS ON THE WHEELS. IF THIS IS THE CASE GM NEEDS TO RECALL ALL OF THESE VEHICLES BEFORE THERE ARE SERIOUS ACCIDENTS OR DEATHS!! *TR