2000 Chevrolet Sierra

On January 11, 2011, ODI opened EA11-001 to investigate allegations of premature brake line corrosion failure in model year (MY) 1999 through 2003 General Motors (GM) full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles sold or registered in the following region of the United States that NHTSA has viewed as salt states for investigations of corrosion related issues:Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.The subject vehicles represent the first five MY's of GM's GMT800 platform production, of which approximately 2,038,504 vehicles were sold in salt states (the subject vehicles).The GMT800 platform includes the following vehicles:1999-2007 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 series pick-up trucks; 2000-2006 Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport utility vehicles; and 2002-2006 Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Avalanche sport-utility vehicles.General Motors produced a total of approximately 10,427,062 GMT800 vehicles for sales in the United States, including almost 5 million that were sold in salt states.Although there are over 60 different brake pipe routing configuration used in GMT800 vehicles, with the exception of the rear crossover pipes in MY 200x-2007 vehicles that changed from rear disc to drum brakes, all of the vehicles use brake pipes from the same supplier with a common double-wall, brazed steel pipe design with a combination of hot dip Zinc-Aluminum corrosion protection coating and Aluminum paint outer layer known in the industry as AlGal (ASTM-B750). ODI analysis of field data regarding GMT800 vehicles identified a total of 3,645 complaints of brake pipe corrosion failures, including 107 alleging crashes, and 40 injuries.Though only 20% of total GMT800 production, due to age and region the subject vehicles account for a disproportionate share of the failure experience; with 2,702 of the complaints (75%), 88 of the crashes (82%) and 20 of the injuries (50%) reported in those vehicles.Analysis of the complaints showed strong correlations to vehicle age and region.For vehicles with less than 8 years of service, the complaint rates were minimal for all regions.In the salt states the failure rates begin to climb as the vehicles advance in age, particularly in the Northeast corner of the United States.The complaint rates in the salt states go from less than 0.1 incident per thousand vehicles (IPTV) at 7 years in service to over 1.0 IPTV after the 12th year of service for the subject pickup trucks and utility vehicles.Most of the failures reported to ODI occurred in vehicles with more than 10 years in service.ODI?s investigation did not identify any specific defect conditions that were causing or contributing to the brake pipe failures.Nor did the analysis isolate the problem to any subject vehicle sub-populations when analyzed by vehicle type or production range.The investigation found that vehicles experiencing brake pipe corrosion failures were likely to have general patterns of excessive corrosion on the majority of the brake pipe assembly and appear to be occurring due to expected wear out for the brake pipe coating material used in the subject vehicles and the environmental conditions in severe corrosion states.A safety-related defect has not been identified at this time.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will monitor t

ODI'S REVIEW OF COMPLAINT DATA RECEIVED SINCE THE CLOSE OF EA04-011 REVEALED NO INDICATION THAT THE INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE RE-OPENED.MORE DETAILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE ENCLOSED IN THE DP05-009 PUBLIC FILE.ODI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REOPEN THE INVESTIGATION IN THE FUTURE SHOULD CONDITIONS WARRANT.

IN A LETTER DATED AUGUST 29, 2005, GM NOTIFIED ODI THAT IT WAS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 1999 THROUGH 2002 C/K PICKUP TRUCKS AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES TO CORRECT A PROBLEM WITH ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM (ABS) WHEEL SPEED SENSOR CORROSION THAT MAY RESULT IN UNWANTED ABS ACTIVATION AND EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCES DURING LOW-SPEED BRAKING (RECALL 05V-379).GM'S RECALL COVERS APPROXIMATELY 804,000 VEHICLES CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN THE FOLLOWING 14 SALT-BELT STATES:CONNECTICUT, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, MASSACHUSETTS, MAINE, MICHIGAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, VERMONT, AND WEST VIRGINIA.THE RECALL PROCEDURE WILL INVOLVE REMOVING THE SENSOR, CLEANING THE MOUNTING SURFACE, APPLYING A RUST INHIBITOR (ZINC-X) TO THE SURFACE, AND REINSTALLING THE SENSOR.IF NECESSARY, THE SENSOR WILL BE REPLACED. THE POPULATION AND FAILURE REPORT DATA GIVEN IN THIS RESUME ARE FOR THE FULL REGION THAT HAS BEEN CONSIDERED BY ODI AS THE SALT-BELT.THAT INCLUDES DELAWARE, IOWA, MARYLAND, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, WISCONSIN AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IN ADDITION TO THE 14 STATES INCLUDED IN 05V-379.THE STATES COVERED BY GM'S RECALL HAVE THE HIGHEST INCIDENT RATES FOR THE SUBJECT CONDITION, ACCOUNTING FOR 91% OF THE INCIDENTS, BUT ONLY 24% OF SUBJECT VEHICLE SALES IN THE UNITED STATES.ODI'S ANALYSIS DETERMINED THAT 840 OF THE COMPLAINTS, 244 OF THE CRASHES, AND 16 OF THE INJURIES IDENTIFIED IN THIS INVESTIGATION OCCURRED IN THOSE STATES.THE RESULTING INCIDENT AND CRASH RATES ARE 96.2 AND 28.0 PER 100,000 VEHICLES RESPECTIVELY (NOTE:RATES ARE BASED ON VEHICLE SALES, NOT REGISTERED VEHICLES). THE CORRESPONDING NUMBERS IN THE EXCLUDED PORTIONS OF THE SALT-BELT ARE 399,000 VEHICLES, 81 INCIDENTS (20.3 PER 100,000 VEHICLES), 3 CRASHES, AND NO INJURIES.THE STATISTICS IN THE REMAINING 30 STATES ARE 2,406,000 VEHICLES, 168 INCIDENTS (7.0 PER 100,000 VEHICLES), 31 CRASHES, AND ONE INJURY.GM AND ODI ARE CONTINUING TO MONITOR THE PROBLEM EXPERIENCE IN STATES THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL.GM WILL PROVIDE ODI WITH UPDATED COMPLAINT, FIELD REPORT, AND WARRANTY DATA IN NOVEMBER 2005.ODI AND GM WILL REVIEW THAT DATA AND ASSESS THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE CURRENT SCOPE OF THE RECALL AT THAT TIME.

GENERAL MOTORS IS CONDUCTING A SAFETY RECALL TO REMOVE AND REPLACE THE TAILGATE SUPPORT CABLES INSTALLED IN 805,368 MODEL YEAR 1999 AND 2000 GMT 800 MODEL VEHICLES.THE MODEL YEAR 1999 AND 2000 GMT-800 SERIES VEHICLES THAT WILL BE CAMPAIGNED HAD CONTRIBUTED A SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY OF THE TOTAL COMPLAINTS (87%) AND INJURIES (79%) ASSOCIATED WITH THE TAILGATE SUPPORT CABLE BREAKAGE IN THE MODEL YEAR 1998 - 2000 C/K SERIES VEHICLES ADDRESSED BY THIS INVESTIGATION.

I HAVE OWNED THIS TRUCK SINCE MAY, 2001 (USE WITH APPROX 10K MILES). I TOOK IT TO HAVE IT SERVICED BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS LOSING BRAKE FLUID AND I COULD NOT FIND A LEAK AT ANY OF THE WHEELS OR THE FLEXIBLE LINES TO THE CALIPERS. THE SHOP I TOOK IT TO CALLED ME TO TELL ME THAT ONE OF THE BRAKE LINES HAD CRACKED WHERE IT HAD RUSTED JUST BELOW THE MASTER CYLINDER NEXT TO THE FIREWALL AND THAT HE HAD REPAIRED THAT SECTION OF THE BRAKE LINE. HE FURTHER INDICATED THAT I WOULD LIKELY HAVE FUTURE PROBLEMS WITH THE SAME ISSUE BECAUSE THE BRAKE LINES ALL APPEARED TO BE VERY RUSTY. I JUST RECENTLY HAD AN ISSUE WHERE THE CALIPERS ON THE FRONT AND REAR OF THE TRUCK LOCKED UP DUE TO EXCESSIVE RUST. THE VEHICLE HAS NEVER BEEN DRIVEN IN SALT WATER OR ON THE BEACH, NOR OUTSIDE OF NC WHERE THE ROADS ARE HEAVILY SALTED OR THE BRINE SOLUTION USED. THE BRAKE LINES ARE VERY CORRODED AND I KEEP THE VEHICLE INSPECTED AT LEAST TWICE A YEAR FOR FURTHER LEAKS OR RUPTURES. *TR

NHTSA ID

10493522

Incident

Jan 2, 2010

Mileage

85,000 mi

CONSUMER RECEIVED RECALL 04E022000 IN APRIL 2003. DEALERSHIP PUT ON A TEMPORARY TAILGATE UNTIL PARTS CAME IN. CONSUMER RECEIVED ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE MANUFACTURER STATING THAT THE TAILGATE PARTS WERE IN . CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER FOR RECALL REPAIRS, AND DEALER TOLD CONSUMER THEY HAD NO PARTS.*AK

NHTSA ID

10094585

Incident

Sep 24, 2004

AT 30,000 AND 90,000 MILES THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP, AT THE CONSUMERS EXPENSE OF $3.000. EACH TIME. ALSO THE VEHICLE HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE WATER PUMP. *JB

NHTSA ID

10089244

Incident

Aug 19, 2004

WHILE DRIVING AT 50 MPH AND APPLYING THE BRAKES BRAKE PEDAL WENT DOWN TO THE FLOOR. AS RESULT, THE VEHICLE DID NOT STOP UNTIL HITTING A BUNCH OF BUSHES. PREVIOUS TO THE COLLISION BRAKE LIGHT APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD.*AK

NHTSA ID

10081730

Incident

Jun 28, 2004

VEHICLE WINDSHIELD WIPER BREAKS WHEN THEY ARE USED TO REMOVE SNOW.

NHTSA ID

10018157

Mileage

3,989 mi

THE RIGHT REAR TIRE TREAD SEPARATED. *NLM

NHTSA ID

10017459

CONSUMER NOTICE WHEN DEPRESSING THE BREAK PEDALS THE PEDAL TRAVELS TO FLOOR BOARD. DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION. TS

NHTSA ID

8022021

CONSUMER CLAIMED THAT REAR END WAS BUILT A QUARTER INCH OUT, AND VEHICLE WAS HAVING ALIGNMENT PROBLEMS. HAS CONTACTED DEALER, AND DEALER WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING.*AK THE DEALER CHECKED THE VEHICLE AND DID NOT FOLLOW UP AS THEY SAID THEY WOULD DO, THE CONSUMER HAS HAD MANY ALIGNMENT DONE ON THE CAR BUT THE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. NLM

NHTSA ID

894382

Incident

Feb 1, 2001

GENERAL MOTORS: INFORMATION PROVIDED BY BULLETIN FOR ALL 2012 AND PRIOR GENERAL MOTOR TRUCKS AND PASSENGER VEHICLES REGARDING THE ADJUSTABLE COMFORT AND CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY OF THE DRIVER AND THE PASSENGER HEAD RESTRAINT. *PE

CLUNKING NOISE UNDER HOOD AND CAN BE FELT IN STEERING WHEEL. *EH UPDATED *EH UPDATED. *KB

LOW EFFORT PARKING BRAKE APPLY SYSTEM. *TT

EXHAUST VIBRATION RESONANCE OR MOAN 99-05 FULL SIZE TRUCKS AND UTILITY VEHICLES WITH GEN 3 V-8 ENGINES. *TC

REVISED STEERING WHEEL POSITION SENSOR OR STEERING SHAFT LOWER BEARING REPLACEMENT PROCEDURE AND STEERING WHEEL POSITION SENSOR CENTERING PROCEDURE. *EH

INFORMATION REGARDING FRONT AND REAR SIDE ACCESS DOOR NOISE. *YH