Brake Fluid Leak problems of the 2003 Chevrolet Suburban

Lost all brake fluid in the reservoir, brake line leaked all of the fluid out, I did not have any breaks, awful time trying to stop. The mechanic informed, it happens a lot with Suburbans.

While sitting at the mailbox checking mail and pressing on the brakes firmly, the brake pedal suddenly went to the floor and the warning lights flashed red repeatedly saying to check the brake system. The brake fluid was leaking all over the place. Fortunately there was enough braking ability left to park the vehicle in the driveway. Also, I am thankful this did not happen on the highway.

Brake lines rusting. Twice in a month the brakes failed after a hard stop at a traffic light. Lucky for me & others there were no cars in front of me or trying to cross the intersection. After applying the brake hard to stop, the brake pedal continued all the way to the floor and the car did not stop. The mechanic told me that the brake lines rusted and therefore the brake fluid leaked out of the system.

Brake lines rusted and leaking. Brake line to the rear brakes leaking on drivers side about as far back as rear door latch, about half way back of the gas tank. Brake pedal will go to the floor with minimal stopping ability and brake fluid leaks.

While applying my brakes on highway rout 87, near albany NY, the pedal went to the floor and we crashed into the car in front of us. After being towed to a aaa repair facility they told us that the brakes were fine but the steel brake line had blown out and the fluid had leaked causing loss of stoping power without any warning. . . We spent $890. 00 plus a hotel room for one night as we waited for them to make a repair to one brake line. I recently found out all the brake lines are rotted out and need to be replaced. This makes no sense. . . . . There is a clear safety issue here. Please reopen the case and advise a recall before a big SUV like ours hurts someone in a small car because there brake lines failed. They won't know until its to late!!!.

Was driving behind a school bus when it stopped to let kids off. I applied my brakes and the pedal went to the floor. I had no brakes, I am not really sure how I managed to stop without hitting the bus. I pulled over in a parking lot. Got out of my 2003 chevy Suburban went into the bank to call my husband to come get me. By the time I got back out to my truck there was a puddle of brake fluid under the drivers side door. My brake lines where shoot.

Applied brakes and had to press almost to the floor. Once stopped, the vehicle would start to roll again unless I applied further pressure on the brakes. I drove the vehicle home and the next morning there was a puddle of break fluid under the car.

Loss of breaks. The hydraulic break lines failed and leaked brake fluid. The brake system suffered a loss of loss hydraulic pressure. The break lines showed heavy corrosion. Corrosion caused the hydraulic brake lines to fail.

While transiting the parking lot at the end of the work day last Thursday, I was approaching the street entrance when I attempted to slow my vehicle. When I pressed the brake peddle, I encountered normal braking resistance for about a half second before resistance stopped and the peddle floored. I pumped the peddle several times to attempt to build pressure in order to stop the vehicle. This was unsuccessful. I abandoned the hydraulic braking system and deployed the parking/emergency brake in order to stop the vehicle before entering rush hour traffic on the cross street. The parking brake system was able to stop the vehicle before it entered traffic. There were no accident or injuries. The hydraulic braking system appeared to have suffered a sudden and complete failure without any warning. In fact, the "brake system failure" indicator light did not come on until several minutes after the vehicle had come to a complete stop. On site inspection showed rusted brake lines and no brake fluid in the master cylinder reservoirs. There were large puddles of brake fluid on the ground at both the left front and left rear wheels and a trail of brake fluid leading back up the parking lot. There was also a small puddle of brake fluid by the right rear wheel. The mechanic at the dealership, where I purchased the vehicle new, confirms that one brake line ruptured due to corrosion and that the others were also corroded and should be replaced. Please note: this vehicle was purchased in and has been continuously garaged in central virginia and has never been operated for significant periods of time in traditional "salt belt" states or in marine environments which would accelerate corrosion. Were "stainless" or corrosion resistant alloys mandated or used in these brake lines?.

The brakes on my 2003 Suburban failed suddenly with no warning as I was taking the exit ramp off the interstate near my house. I brake sharply when a vehicle cut in front of me from the right travel lane into the exit lane, and the brake pedal suddenly went all the way to the floor. At the moment that happened, the instrument panel chimed continuously and displayed "service brake system". The truck seemed to have no braking power whatsoever, and I had to slow the truck using the emergency brake. I had just driven around 55 miles in heavy traffic on I-95 and the beltway, with traffic often slowing, speeding up, then slowing again, then speeding up again. If this brake failure had occurred then, instead of on the slightly uphill exit ramp off I-66 1/2 mile from my house, it likely would have resulted in a serious crash. After I got the truck home, I saw fluid leaking from the brake line running under the driver's side door. A few days later, I spoke with a service rep at the dealer, who gave me a verbal estimate that replacing just that one brake line would cost around $500, and to replace all of them (which he recommended) would cost around $2000. I had the truck towed in a week or so later and had all of the lines replaced.

While driving down hill the light at the bottom of the hill turned red. I stepped on the brakes, heard a pop and hissing noise and the brake pedal went to the floor. The truck was slowing but not by much. I pulled it into low gear and blew the horn. The car sitting at the light took notice and pulled out of the way and I was able to go around the corner onto level ground and stop the truck. When I opened the door brake fluid was pouring out on the ground. There was no warning of the failure and the truck has been gm dealer serviced including brakes.

When departing for the day, the brake pedal went completely to the floor. The stopping time of the vehicle was compromised. Since the vehicle was being used to tow a 19 foot boat, the trip was aborted in the first mile and the vehicle was parked. Upon inspection of the brakes, a severe leaking of brake fluid was discovered. The brake lines were checked and extensive rusting of the lines was discovered. There was no indication of brake fluid leaks or reduced pressure from any indicator signal. The failure was sudden and unexpected as the brakes worked without issue the previous evening.

Right in my own driveway, I applied the brake pedal and without any prior issues the pedal went to the floor and the dash alert came on to service brake system. Thankfully, this did not occur while on the road because it was a sudden failure. Even at slow speed, the heavy vehicle took several feet to stop. The brake line from the abs module heading to the rear axle burst in 3 or 4 places causing a large amount of brake fluid to leak out. All lines to and from the abs module are heavily rusted and look much worse than other components. As I looked into this online, I've discovered numerous vehicles having this and much worse problems involving accidents. I can't see how this vehicle could have ever stopped safely. I just drove it the night before and had no warning signs. This is more than normal wear and tear. These brake lines are sub standard and could have been made better. Another sign of large corporations trying to use inferior materials to boost their stockholders profits. Someone help us.

On 3-8-14 at about 10:00 am I was less than a mile from home when I was approaching a two way stop sign traveling at about 30 mph. I began breaking normally for the stop when shortly after applying the breaks, the resistance from the brake pedal was lost and the pedal went instantly to the floor. At the time the pedal went to the floor there was no longer any breaking of the vehicle. I could not slow the vehicle by breaking and continued through the intersection. Fortunately, there were no cars in the intersection. Pumping the breaks lightly provided a slight breaking. I continued to drift and down shift the transmission until the car could be stopped. When inspecting under the vehicle, break fluid was seen dripping at a fast rate from a break line under the driver side door. A puddle of break fluid was quickly building up. Later that day I went to the Chevrolet dealer and explained what happened. I was told it's a common problem and there was a repair kit that could be installed. I was not aware of the common instantaneous break failure problem.

Driving down the road and the brake pedal became mushy, took precaution to get home with slow speed. About 100 yards from my driveway the brake service light came on. Complete loss of hydraulic braking power. Coasted into drive and applied parking brake. Checked brake lines and found all brake lines rusted but the front right brake line rusted through allowing all brake fluid to leak out. The brake reservoir was completely empty.

Was backing out of driveway and brake pedal went to the floor and would not stop. Threw shifter into park before it rolled out of driveway and down embankment and into woods. Inspection of vehicle found brake fluid leaking from corroded brake lines at rear of vehicle on driver's side. Further inspection showed that all brake lines are corroded and must be replaced.

Brakes failed when coming to a stop after leaving a gas station. Brake fluid leaking down frame rail next to abs booster by the fuel tank.

While driving my 2003 Suburban I was approaching a stop sign and attempted to brake. The brake pedal suddenly went to the floor with no braking action. As the truck continued through the stop sign (thank goodness no other car was crossing) I attempted to engage the emergency break which failed to slow down or stop as well. I then intentionally turned to truck over a curb into a grassy area as to stop the vehicle prior to rolling down the hill into highway traffic. Upon examining under the truck I discovered an area under a clamp leaking brake fluid. It appears that it had corroded though.

Thankfully in our driveway, the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. And we noticed fluid was leaking from the left rear. Our vehicle was towed to our repair shop and the mechanic reported the following: there was heavy rust on the rear differential. The metal brake line at the left rear wheel has a hole rusted through. All of the metal brake lines are in very poor condition due to rust contamination. All of the brake lines need to be replaced. I understand that you are investigating a rust issue with the brake lines on 2003 chevy Suburbans. We have maintained our vehicle with regular service, and oil changes every 3,000 miles. Our Suburban looks new inside and out. This is the second issue we have had with excessive rust. In 2008, with less than 50,000 miles on the vehicle, the backing plates rusted and needed to be replaced. Thankfully, gm paid for the repair. We take very good care of our vehicles and with 94,038 miles (mostly highway miles), we feel that the brake lines rusting through is not an expected repair. The brakes failing could have had catastrophic consequences. I have read about other people having the same issue with their Suburban.

As I was backing my vehicle from my driveway I noticed a puddle of brake fluid where the vehicle was parked. Upon closer inspection I noted that the front brake line leading from the master cylinder to the rear abs controller was leaking fluid onto the roadway. The vehicle is no longer safe to drive until the brake lines are replaced. All of the brake lines on this 2003 Suburban are heavily corroded and look ready to fail at any moment.

I was driving about 25mph on a snow covered road. I applied the brake and the abs system engaged then the brake pedal went down to the floor with no hydraulic pressure. The car no longer slow down so I down shifted to slow the car and finally got it to stop and shifted to neutral to stay stopped. Once I put the car in gear the brakes could not keep the car from moving. Once safely off the road I checked the brake fluid and their was none. The brake line failed and all the fluid leaked out. I am thankful this didn't happen while I was driving at any faster speeds, this is very dangerous and occurred with no prior warning.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban. While driving approximately 30 mph, the brake pedal was abnormally depressed into the floor board. The contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder and after inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed brake fluid leaking from the brake lines. There was corrosion on the brake lines as well. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic. There was an investigation under NHTSA action number: ea11001 (service brakes, hydraulic:foundation components:hoses, lines/piping, and fittings) that could possibly have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000. Updated 8/31/12.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban. While driving approximately 40 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal and stated that the brake pedal dropped to the floorboard abnormally. The contact was able to stop the vehicle and place it in park. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the brake lines were corroded and was fractured, causing the brake fluid to leak. The vehicle was not repaired. There was an open investigation under NHTSA action number: ea11001 (service brakes, hydraulic service brakes, hydraulic:foundation components:hoses, lines/piping, and fittings) that could possibly have been related to the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 86,000.

Upon backing into the driveway after returning from a short errand, the brake pedal went to the floor with no braking action. No damage occurred since the emergency brake stopped the car at low speed. All instrument panel lamps for the braking system were lighted and the message "service brake system" came on. Upon inspection, the brake fluid reservoir was empty and the fluid was dripping from the underside a little forward of the driver's side of the car. After having the car towed to the auto repair shop it was found to have rusted out steel brake lines in a cluster of four leading from the master cylinder back toward the rear of the car. Luckily this total loss of braking occured at the very end of the trip since there was no warning of any problem beforehand. Six lengths of the rusted steel brake lines needed to be replaced.

Corroded brake lines on 2003 Chevrolet Suburban caused a front end crash when brake line burst at corrosion. I was lucky to have had a snow bank in my path and not another car. I applied thebrakes coming to a stop light when the brake pedal went to the floor. Myself and my wife went through the red light, unable to stop, with no traffice coming from the cross street, luckily. I was able to get home slowly and found the brake line corroded and brake fluid squirting from the break when pressure applied upon inspection.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban. While pulling out of a parking lot, the contact approached a stop sign. He depressed the brake pedal and it extended to the floor. All of the instrument panel lights illuminated, which indicated that the brake system failed. The contact had to engage the emergency brake to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the entire brake line system was rusted. The repair would cost $3,000 to replace the entire brake line system. The failure and current mileages were 94,000. Updated 10/16/08 brake fluid was leaking from the left front of the vehicle. Updated 10/20/08.