2000 Suburban Brake Failure

[sk29]

Almost immediately after buying our Suburban new, we experienced the brakes going almost to the floor when attempting to stop. Because it was not a recurring situation, we did not investigate it. Last spring it happened again, only this time the car did not stop. I ran a red light and hit someone. The guy behind me asked what had happened because he could see I was trying to stop and couldn't. We contacted Chevy and their people looked at the brakes and said it was not brake failure and there were no issues with the brakes that they knew of. We also had a problem with the parking brake as others have posted. Has anyone had the brake to the floor experience and a similar response from Chevy or know of recall issues etc.

[GMMerlin]

You had a suspected brake failure and did not investigate why?

[jfmctlaw]

I know it's a headache to run to the garage for an intermittent problem, but the record you generate when you do may save your butt later, and I'm not always talking about a lawsuit. Lets say there is a warranty clock ticking, if you document the problem began in the warranty periord, you can usually get it repaired under the warranty if it completely fails shortly after the warranty expires.

[GMMerlin]

Safety items such as brakes should never be ignored!
I recommend to everyone to have their brakes inspected and if you notice any change in the way your brakes react..definatly have them checked immediatly!

[mainer3]

I have a 2000 Tahoe LS 2WD that has a similar problem. It only happens after I drive the truck for 1-1.5hrs or more usually on the highway. I find the brakes get very soft to the point I need to press nearly to floor. I would hate to think what would happen if I had to stop fast or if I was towing a boat.

I find that this clears up say if I stop for gas then get back on the highway but it will come back. I drive the truck daily about 30 miles on the highway with no issues. I also drive about 45 min on the highway to visit a relative on weekends with no issue. It is the 1-1.5 hr highway drive that puts it over the edge.

I am thinking something is casing the fluid to heat to the point air may be introduced into the system. I have heard of a known issue with front brake pads rididing too heavy on the rotors at higher speeds for an extended period causing high temps and fluid overheating...

Good luck!

[Dr. Eagle]

Originally Posted by mainer3

I have a 2000 Tahoe LS 2WD that has a similar problem. It only happens after I drive the truck for 1-1.5hrs or more usually on the highway. I find the brakes get very soft to the point I need to press nearly to floor. I would hate to think what would happen if I had to stop fast or if I was towing a boat.

I find that this clears up say if I stop for gas then get back on the highway but it will come back. I drive the truck daily about 30 miles on the highway with no issues. I also drive about 45 min on the highway to visit a relative on weekends with no issue. It is the 1-1.5 hr highway drive that puts it over the edge.

I am thinking something is casing the fluid to heat to the point air may be introduced into the system. I have heard of a known issue with front brake pads rididing too heavy on the rotors at higher speeds for an extended period causing high temps and fluid overheating...

Good luck!

I have had two suburbans and not experienced this kind of problem. But I have read that if you put a boat in the water the brake fluid may be able to absorb moisture over time. This will then gas when it gets hot and cause the sponginess or in extreme cases can cause failure. This is why I fully flush my brakelines every two years or so.

[stickbella9]

GM has had many problems with the Suburban brakes. The solution to all these problems is Rofren brake pads, go to www.eurobraketech.com to get the only pads that work right now with the Suburban.

[Dr. Eagle]

Originally Posted by stickbella9

GM has had many problems with the Suburban brakes. The solution to all these problems is Rofren brake pads, go to www.eurobraketech.com to get the only pads that work right now with the Suburban.

I am sure they are a great product. That being said, the problem described in the thread IMHO had nothing to do with the pads. And sorry the statement is wayyyy too general. Stock pads on the older burbs sucked. Newer brakes are a totally different story.
This sounds like a hydraulic failure for some reason, contaminated fluid, anti-lock problem or some other problem that pops up under certain circumstances With the pedal is going to the floor. If the problem is intermittent as described, the question is, when does it seem to occur.
Has the vehicle been driven a long enough for the fluid to warm up? Is there any common condition prior to the failure?
I just went back through the database and there are only two issued about the brakes and both are related to "how to" service issues.

[DSS]

This is a serious problem. I have a 2000 Burb 2500 that does a lot of driveway time as we primarily use it for towing / camping. In the last three days, we have experienced loss of braking power at low speed combined with rapid activation of the anti-lock brake system. The pedal literally goes to the floor and the vehicle does not stop. On the next application everything seems to be fine. The occurance of this has lead me to this site for information and feed-back. The vehicle will be going in for diagnostics. In the meantime, any responses would be appreciated.

Recent diagnostic has revealed that we need to replace the front hub antilock sensors to the tune of $125 ea. plus labor for a total of $475 (approx.) Any opinions on the part cost and total for this? (SE WI locale price)

Had time to investigate on my own and performed the procedure for removing the front wheel speed sensors and cleaning the rust from the hub surface. Have been driving the vehicle for two weeks with no further instances. There are vehicles that have the wheel speed sensor as an integral part of the hub assembly. This was not my case. It was well worth the effort to check out the front end anyway.