NHTSA Investigates GM ABS Problems!!!!

[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.

[tyrant33]

Well it's about F***ing time.
How lomg before they actually do the recall?

[ZR800]

No idea on how long, I tried emailing NHTSA yesterday, but no response yet.

[txgearhead]

Wow.....a 6 car pile up going less than 10 MPH?

[ct5051]

I have a 2000 Tahoe with this problem. When coming to a stop, the abs breaks kick in at around 5 mph lengthening my stop distance. This just started happening a couple days ago, and I was just starting to investigate - was going to bring it into the dealer tomorrow - this is good information, I'll be looking for a resolution before I pay to have it looked at, thanks!

[ddesens]

Originally Posted by ct5051

I have a 2000 Tahoe with this problem. When coming to a stop, the abs breaks kick in at around 5 mph lengthening my stop distance. This just started happening a couple days ago, and I was just starting to investigate - was going to bring it into the dealer tomorrow - this is good information, I'll be looking for a resolution before I pay to have it looked at, thanks!

I just bought a 2000 tahoe yesterday that does the same thing you state here. Did you find the problem yet? PLEASE RESPOND!

[ct5051]

This article explains it perfectly: http://www.ebearing.com/news2005/053101.htm. I visited the dealer already who explained to me that my options were to replace the hub assemblies, which would be very expensive, or have them clean out the current hub assemblies, and reset the sensors for $300. After complaining some, they were not willing to do the work free of charge due to the design of the ABS being flawed. I've written to GM about the issue and am waiting for a response. I also submitted a complaint here http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?did=57&scid=46 - just go down the to complaint box link.

I was also hoping I could turn the ABS off by simply pulling a fuse or something until I got it fixed. There doesn't seem to be a simple way to do this though. Mine aren't so bad that it's dangerous yet, and it only happens sometimes. But it's getting worse and soon I'll be forced to get it fixed.

[ultraviolet]

The recall was finally announced for the issue.

http://www.wdsu.com/nationalnews/4914750/detail.html

Now the question is for those of us who go to school in one of the states affected but are residents of some state not affected will be able to get it fixed. I notice mine doing it more than I'm comfortable with.