Brake Light On problems of the 2004 GMC Yukon

Had just backed our bay boat into it's spot after hauling it on i95,the blue route and PA turnpike . When I released the emergency brake to pull away from the boat,the service brake light appeared,and immediately lost most of my braking power . I found that one of the brake lines had ruptured . If this had happened on the highway ,towing the boat,it would have been catastrophic. I didn't realize how common a problem this has been until I found untold numbers of other owners on the web with the same issue.

A vehicle in front of me stopped short because a car was making a left turn in front of him. I applied the brakes. I was able to stop but immediately there was a white smoke coming from under the hood and the traction control and brake lights came on. I went to drive a few feet and tried to stop when I realized I had no brakes at all and the white smoke was still coming out. My vehicle was towed to a shop. The brakes line failed because of corrosion. The brake fluid was spraying onto the exhaust manifold creating the white smoke.

As I was backing my truck out of my driveway, I release there was no brake pressure. Then the service brake light came on, I stop the car popped the hood and notice the fluid was low. Check under the car and found the line that goes front to rear is busted in the middle from rust. I had to use my parking brake to slow it down when I moved it back to its space.

I was hooking up a dump trailer to my 2004 Yukon xl and when I went to do a turn signal and brake light check on the trailer, my brake pedal went to the floor. No warnings of any kind. I am extremely lucky that I was not moving and had just completed driving in high speed traffic for several hundred miles. The failure was total and immediate. I drove the vehicle to a nearby shop with the parking brake. The shop diagnosed the brake failure as corrosion in brake lines and fittings. I just moved to florida this year, previously the vehicle had been driven in heavily salted and brined roads in the northeast.

The subject vehicle had recently been parked after towing a 29 foot long travel trailer. It had sat for approximately two weekssince we last used it. During the 2011 30 October snow storm in PA, I went to pick it up to use it. I started down the driveway and went to apply the brakes and the brake pedal traveled to the floor. All of the antilock and brake warning lights appeared on the dash. I was able to stop the vehicle and back it back the driveway and park it. We later called aaa and had it towed to a local chevy dealer. They diagnosed the problem and left us know that they had found a brake line that burst due to corrosion. This brake line is almost directly under the power brake booster assembly and is somewhat hidden from view. It lies atop the frame in this area and according to the dealer had corroded. According to the dealer they had to fabricate a replacement brake line and were able to replace it. They further indicated they looked at the other brake lines and did not see any further indication of corrosion. I have driven the GMC for about ten miles since the repair and the brakes appear to be back to normal. Let me add this, I have owned 15 different vehicles in my life and not one has had to have a steel brake line replaced. This is the first. Just like the other gm owners, when these lines fail the braking ability to stop this two ton vehicle is almost non-existent I am very thankful this line did not fail while towing the 29 foot travel trailer.