ZR800

Government investigating brakes on 1.2 million GM trucks

By KEN THOMAS
Associated Press Writer

May 3, 2005, 1:33 AM EDT


WASHINGTON -- The government has opened an investigation of more than 1.2 million General Motors Corp. pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in Connecticut and 20 other states amid questions about the vehicles' antilock brakes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that stopping distances may increase when the brakes are applied at speeds of under 10 mph because of the build up of corrosion.

NHTSA has reported nearly two dozen crashes, including one that involved six vehicles and four injuries because of the problem. There have been no fatalities associated with the braking issue.

The investigation involves 1.27 million GM trucks and SUVs from the 1999-2002 model years in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia. It also covers the District of Columbia.

The vehicles include the GMC Sierra, GMC Tahoe, GMC Yukon Denali, GMC Yukon XL, GMC Yukon XL Denali; Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Suburban; Cadillac Escalade, and Cadillac EXT.

GM, the world's largest automaker, recalled about 150,000 pickups in eastern Canada in November 2004 from the same model years because of the condition in the antilock brakes.

In some of the vehicles, the corrosion of salt and other cold-weather road substances led to unwanted activation of the brake system at low speeds and increased the stopping distance.

NHTSA said the U.S. cases "appear to be related to the defect condition addressed by GM's safety recall in Canada."

GM spokesman Alan Adler said the company reported a failure rate of about 3 incidents per 100,000 vehicles in the Canadian recalls.

The company announced a recall of more than 2 million vehicles last week, including nearly 1.5 million sport utility vehicles and pickups because of problems with their seat belts.

BlenderWizard

My truck was built at the Fort Wayne, Indiana plant, but I live in Georgia. I'm really not sure if that pertains to me or not.

Rhymingmechanic

It looks like they are saving money by basing the recall on location rather than fixing all defective/ possibly defective parts. Apparently you are covered if the truck is registered in some states that use lots of road salt. But what about people from other states who travel in the winter, or people in the West who regularly drive over mountain passes?

GM also announced a parking brake recall in the last week or two--but only for manual trans trucks. I think an automatic has the same bad parking brake system. There's just less chance of rolling with the auto in park.

kenny-1907

I live in Winnipeg and they use a TON of salt here on the roads. Thankfully i have not had any problems with the antilock brakes on my truck..........yet , although i did get a recall in the mail for the antilock brake problem but GM's system was/is all screwed up and i got someone elses recall. At least it was my own personal info on the recall with the exception of the vin# and when i enquired about the recall they told me that my truck was not part of the recall because i did not live in the desiginated areas that the recall was for.

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Saltymut

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but the reason for the recall being mainly in the northern states is due to the salt causing corrosion to the ABS equipment, right?

Well, I live near the Gulf Coast in Texas and own a boat. I've experienced, first hand, what salt water and salt air can do to a boat and a vehicle. Why would this environment be any different than salt on the roads?

ZR800

I think the environment is much different. When they salt the roads, they litterally dump TONS of salt on the road, which turns everything to slush which literally sprays up and cakes your car, undercarraige, wheel wells, etc. Ever seen a nice dry road in the Northeast in January? The pavement will look white, absolutely covered with
salt. It will take a couple rains storms to rinse it away in the spring, and during that road wash, it will all be spraying up on your car. I agree the ocean salt can be corrosive, I saw it first hand 2 weeks ago in FT Lauderdale on my in-laws condo, all the window tracks and light fixtures covered, but I think the conditions in the North are considerably worse. Southern cars sell well in the North.

BlenderWizard

I'm from texas, near the coast, and I know that ocean salt is AT LEAST as bad as salted roads. Either place you're getting a salt/sand mix, and that is hell on everything.

ZR800

I would definately argue it is "AT LEAST" as bad. Do you have any idea what cars up here look like after number of years?????? Again, southern vehicles are sought after up here, and many used body panels people purchase to replace their rusted out ones are from the south. Many dealers up here travel to auctions in Fl and bring back the vehicles. But you say you "know that ocean salt is AT LEAST as bad" so I am curious as to how you know that? Are there facts somewhere? I would like to know the actual answer.

Seabornman

I would encourage anyone who has experienced the abs problem with their truck to file a complaint with the NHTSA at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ . GM's assertion that this problem is happening to only 3% of trucks in the rust areas of Canada is ludicrous. Everyone I've talked to with a truck with over 40,000 miles has had the problem here. I just removed the fuse from the ABS system as a short term fix.

Also, I have to agree with the guys who live near the coast - there's a lot of older rust buckets in coastal towns. It's not good for a vehicle to drive through salt water or sit near the ocean in the spray.

BlenderWizard

Do you have any idea what a car that stays near the beach looks like after a couple year? A rusted out hunk of crap. You said "southern," I said "near the coast." I have seen a few people have their ENTIRE CAR sprayed with bedliner... that seems to help.

Seabornman

Forgot to mention - here is central NY - more snow (and salt) than any other major metropolitan area of US.

BlenderWizard

FYI - auto manufacturers use a salt water spray to test corrosion resistance on body panels.

ZR800

IN LAWS HAVE A 10 YEAR OLD CAR PARKED THAT HAS BEEN PARKED 200 YARDS OFF THE OCEAN IN FL ITS WHOLE LIFE. EFFECTS OF THE SALT IS NO WHERE EVEN NEAR COMPARABLE.

Chevyman15004X4

I don't live on the coast but when I went to college, All my friends vehicles that were from up north were rust buckets which were about 10 year old vehicles or less. I mean the brake lines, body and chassis. I bought a van from up north that there where holes in the body membors, No lower body panels all the way around (all rusted through), The back bumper is fixing to fall off, (moves a little when I step on it) and the inside floor board has large holes in it. Every time i close the door, a plile of rust fall off of it somewhere. I recently had the rust pile towed off. Vehicle was about 15 years old.

I just put this up here for someone else to give a comparison of what they of seen on the southern coasts.

who fan

I would also argue the point. Cars are lasting longer now do to improved coating. I remember back in the late 70`s seeing four year old trucks with the doors falling off them. Wooden flat beds replacing the steel box that was once there. I`d take the coast any day.