Nine problems related to brake light on have been reported for the 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Was driving home and brakes failed. Massive holes in the lines, pedal down to the floor no brake warning light until it was too late. Thank god my wife and kids were not with me this time. Lucky I'm alive. I was not on a main highway. So far the cost is up to $2000. 00 to replace all the lines. Also now the master cylinder seems to be faulty. Another $400. 00. I have read way tooo many complaints about gm brake lines rusting out way too soon many with low mileage. Something has to be done about this in the form of compensation. Lives could be lost and some probably have.
While braking for a red stop light the truck was stopping normally and was almost stopped when the brake pedal went nearly to the floor and braking action was severely affected causing a much delayed completion to the stop. When the brake pedal collapsed a chime came on and a brake failure light appeared on the dash panel. Luckily I was able to avoid hitting the car in front of me. I was able to drive the car slowly out of traffic going very slow and using the emergency brake. Upon initial inspection, brake fluid was observed leaking from somewhere under the truck. The truck was towed to a service garage where the initial diagnosis was a rusted out brake line.
I lost the complete hydraulic braking system due to a line(s) burst due to rust. Thankfully I was just coming out of a parking lot so I was not going fast. My foot immediately went to the floor, the warning sound and indicator came on, but I had absolutely no brakes other than the emergency brake, which I used to pull over. It goes to the shop on Tuesday so I will know then the extent of the damage. Had I been going 30 or 40 and coming to a crowed intersection, someone surely would have been hurt, there would have been absolutely no way for me to stop in time. I had no pre-warning of an issue, no low fluid indications, no brake warning lights, just my foot going to the floor. Pretty scary.
My 17 year old son was on the freeway and the brake pedal travelled all the way to the floor while attempting to stop. The service brake system light came on at the same time. Stopping distance was increased dramatically, by at least double. If there would have been a curve or car in front of him there would have been an accident. Parked the truck until it could be inspected and found a leak under driver side front door. All of the main brake pipes were rusted and fragile. Taking truck to dealership to have all brake pipes replaced with kit mentioned in (TSB) 13-05-22-001. I am very disappointed that gm is fighting a recall by sighting the fact that there are two different brake systems and it is not a safety issue. What if the rusted brake lines for both systems failed. At the very least it seems that having your stopping distance increase by almost double with out warning is a safety issue.
At a stop light, with the brakes applied, a loss of pressure was felt. Letting off and reapplying the brakes lead to the break pedal traveling to the floor / front of driver cab. At the point there was no braking pressure felt and the truck began to travel at idle speed into the intersection. Two failed attempts at applying the brakes lead to the brake warning light going off, after the initial failure. Applying the parking brake yield similar / failed results. The truck was safely steered into a parking lot and put in park to bring the vehicle to a rest. The engine was turned off and let rest a period of 5 minutes and then turned on and brakes tested while in park. No break pressure was felt at the pedal. Brake fluid was observed under the drivers side front portion of the truck. No bystander injuries or property damage occurred. Aside from the driver, a fourteen month old was the only other occupant, neither sustained any injuries.
I was driving down the road with my wife and granddaughter when all the brakes ,I mean all the brakes went, and a service brake lights came on at the same time. I managed to drift to a stop, otherwise we would have hurt someone or been killed. No warning. I had to pay 1900 for the repair which we cannot afford since I am on disability. It still scares us.
2003 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle complete brake failure. The consumer stated while driving 70 mph, the brake light failure light illuminated. When the consumer applied the brake, there was no response. The consumer was able to pull over safely. The vehicle was towed to a certified Chevrolet dealer, where an inspection revealed, the brake failure was due to a break in one of the brake lines, and all of the brake lines were so deteriorated and rust encrusted, that all of the lines had to be replaced.
The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche. The contact stated that while driving 5 mph, the brake warning light illuminated. The contact applied the brakes, but the pedal depressed to the floor. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that all the brake lines were rusted and fractured. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 130,000.
Service brake system light comes on in information center, brake and abs lights are on. The garage says the brake computer for the abs is not functions disabling the abs on the vehicle. The computer part for the vehicle is unavailable. The abs brake system remains disabled. It is a 2003 model year vehicle. Brake parts should be available for the abs system.