Owner-reported complaints naming the brake system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 1998 Pontiac Firebird submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 28 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 28, in the owner's own words
VEHICLE WOULD FAIL TO STOP WHEN APPLYING ABS BRAKES SUDDENLY TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT AT 45MPH. HAD HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE AT 90 DEGREE ANGLE. UPON IMPACT, AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. DRIVER WAS INJURED, BUT NOT TREATED AT EMERGENCY ROOM, WENT TO PRIVATE DOCTOR.*AK
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 60 MPH ENGINE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED UP TO 80 MPH. WHEN STEPPED ON BRAKE PEDAL TO REDUCE SPEED BRAKES DID NOT WORK.*AK
CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING 50MPH STEERING STARTED TO JERK VIOLENTLY WHILE BRAKING. THIS SECOND TIME AT 26,000 MILES THAT FRONT ROTORS NEEDED REPLACING. DEALER STATED IT WAS NATURAL WEAR AND TEAR.*AK
UNEVEN WEAR IN THE BRAKE ROTORS. GM HAS REDESIGNED THE ROTOR BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM AND THE CAR HAS BEEN IN FOR SERVICING TWICE REGARDING THIS PROBLEM. BECAUSE CAR IS NOW OUT OF WARRANTY, GM REFUSES TO FIX IT EVEN THOUGH THEY ACKNOWLEDGE IT WAS INCORRECTLY REPAIRED PREVIOUSLY AND IS A KNOWN PROBLEM. THE UNEVEN WEAR CAUSES A SHIMMY IN THE CAR AT FREEWAY SPEEDS. ACCORDING TO GM SERVICE BULLETINS, IT GENERALLY HAPPENS AFTER ABOUT 7000 MILES FROM LAST BRAKE SERVICING (AS IS THE CASE WITH MY CAR. *AK
ALL 4 BRAKE DISCS WERE WARPED. DEALER GROUND DOWN..STILL SLIGHT WARP!
HAVE HAD TO HAVE FRONT ROTORS TURNED TWICE WITHIN 23,300 MILES.STEERING WHEEL SHAKES WHEN BRAKES ARE APPLIED. *AK
WHEN CONSUMER APPLIES BRAKES THE FRONT OF THE VECHICLE VEERS TO THE RIGHT SIDE, AND BRAKES ARE SOFT. *AK
POWER STEERING PUMP FAILED. YH
ROTORS ARE CONSTANTLY WARPING,STEERING WHEEL VIBRATES DURING STOPS. I HAVE HAD THE ROTORS TURNED 3 TIMES AND IT IS DOING IT AGAIN. MY GROUND EFFECTS ARE ALSO CONSTANTLY COMING LOOSE HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM WORKED ON ALOT AND THEY ARE LOOSE AGAIN.
ABS BRAKES FAILED TO OPERATE PROPERLY. UPON APPLYING THE BRAKES PEDAL WENT TO THE FLLOR. *AK
BRAKES HAD BEEN REPLACED TWICE AT THIS TIME. WHEN CONSUMER APPLIED BRAKES THE FRONT STARTED TO SHAKE. *AK
HAVE HAD THE FRONT ROTORS TURNED TWICE. NOW THE RIGHT FRONT BRAKE PAD MATERIAL SEPARATED FROM THE METAL BACKING. HAD TO USE TRANSMISSION AND EMERGENCY BRAKE TO STOP THE CAR. THE BRAKING SYSTEM ON THESE CARS IS TOTAL CRAP. *AK
ROTORS WARPED PREMATURELY CAUSING THE STEERING WHEEL TO VIBRATE AND JERK VIOLENTLY WHILE BRAKING IN CURVES. NM
THE REAR ROTORS SQUEAK WHEN THE BRAKES ARE PUSHED, A GROVE HAS DEVELOPED IN ONE OF MY REAR ROTORS. ALSO, WHEN I FIRMLY APPLY THE BRAKES THE STEERING WHEEL VIBRATES. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND STATED THAT PADS AND ROTORS ARE ONLY WARRANTEED FOR 12K/12MONTHS. THE VEHICLE IS STILL OPERATIONAL, I AM HOWEVER CONCERNED THAT THE PROBLEM MAY WORSEN. *AK
ROTORS ARE WARPING IN LESS THAN 10K MILES UNDER NORMAL DRIVING. I HAVE HAD THIS FAILURE TWICE. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT MY SAFETY AND MY BRAKING SYSTEM. *AK
WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH AND WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING, VEHICLE ACCELERATED BETWEEN 120 MPH AND140 MPH, CAUSING THE CONSUMER TO APPLY THE BRAKES WHICH DIDN'T STOP THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER USED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE, AND THE VEHICLE CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. *AK
ROTORS LOOK LIKE CRAP AFTER ONLY A FEW THOUSAND MILES. *AK
ABS COMMINCED DURING NORMAL STOPPING CONDITIONS RESULTING IN THE CAR NOT EVEN SLOWING DOWN EVEN THOUGH I CONTINUED TO APPLY STEADY BREAKING PRESSURE. I PURCHASED MY CAR AT BECK AND MASTEN BUT ERNIE GUZMAN PONTIAC SERVICE DEPT IS EXAMING MY BRAKES, FOUND UNEVEN ROTOR ON ONE BREAK BUT DOES NOT BELEIVE THIS IS THE CAUSE OF ABS BREAK PROBLEM. MY GMC FILE # 99053279. THE SERVICE MGR. AT ERNIE GUZMAN PONTIAC (PHONE 281-493-1500) WHO IS LOOKING INTO THE DILEMA IS CRAIG ABBONDOLA. A COMPUTER CHECK AND TEST DRIVES HAS FAILED TO SHED LIGHT ON THE PROBLEM SO FAR. IT HAS ONLY HAPPENED TO ME TWICE IN SOME 27000 MILES OF DRIVING THIS CAR, BUT REALLY GETS YOUR ATTENION WHEN IT OCCURS, SO FAR NO DAMAGE HAS RESULTED BUT THAT IS ONLY DUE TO GOOD LUCK - SO FAR AT LEAST- BOTH OCCASSIONS AT ABOUT 30-40 MILES/HOUR IN APPROACH TO TRAFFIC SIGNAL.
WHEN THE CAR WAS STILL ONLY A FEW MONTHS OLD, I BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE BRAKE SHUDDER IN THE STREERING WHEEL WHEN SLOWING DOWN AND STOPPING. RETURNED CAR TO DEALER FOR BRAKE RELATED COMPLAINT. THEY TURNED ONLY FRONT ROTORS. REFUSED TO EVEN LOOK AT REARS. RETURNED AGAIN A FEW MONTHS LATER FOR SAME PROBLEM. SERVICE MANAGER SAID ROTORS WERE WITHIN FACTORY SPECS AND REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THRID TIME INTO DEALER, ROTORS WERE TURNED AGAIN. THIS IS THE 4TH TIME I HAVE THIS PROBLEM. CAR IS BEGINNING TO SHUDDER BADLY WHEN BRAKING. CALLS TO DEALERSHIP OWNER UNRETURNED. CALL TO PONTIAC CUSTOMER SERVICE LED TO ABSOLUTELY NO OFFER OF HELP OR RESOLUTION. MY PONTIAC CASE NO. IS 99050789. THERE IS ALREADY A TSB ON BRAKE PROBLEMS ON ALL 1998 F-BODIES, THAT IS CAMARO AND FIREBIRD MODELS. GM SHOULD BE FORCED TO REPLACE UNDER WARRANTY. IT IS NOT SAFE TO TURN THE ROTORS ANYMORE. I NEED SOME HELP HERE.
FRONT BRAKE OUT OF ROUND. YH
NONE
THE FRONT BRAKE ROTORS ON MY '98 PONTIAC FIREBIRD STARTED WARPING AT 10,000 MILES, THEY GOT TO A POINT WHERE I CAME CLOSE TO LOSING CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE ON RAIN SLICKED ROADS. THE EXTREME PULSATING OF THE BRAKES MAKES THE CAR VERY HARD TO CONTROL ON WET ROADS. THE WARPING OF THE ROTORS GETS WORSE AS THE BRAKES GET HOT. WHEN STARTING OUT IN THE MORNING THE WARPING ISN'T VERY NOTICABLE, BUT GETS MUCH WORSE AS THEY HEAT UP. WHICH MAKES IT DIFFCULT FOR THE SERVICE DEPT. THEY CHECK THE BRAKES COLD. AFTER MUCH COMPLAINING THE DEALER REPLACED THE ROTORS AT 13,417 MILES. THEY STARTED TO WARP AGAIN AT ABOUT 16,000 MILES. THE DEALER TOLD ME IT WAS NORMAL WEAR, AND THAT IT MUST BE MY BREAKING HABITS. LATER THE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT BREAK PROBLEMS ARE A VERY COMMON COMPLAINT WITH GM. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT AND I HATE TO TOUCH THE BRAKE PEDAL AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS DUE TO ALL OF THE SHAKING OF THE CAR. I REALLY FEEL THAT THIS IS A MAJOR SAFTEY ISSUE. THE COMBINATION OF THE ANTILOCK BRAKES AND THE SEVERE PULSATING MAKES FOR A DANGEROUS SITUATION. YOUR HELP IN THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
EVERY EIGHT THOUSAND MILES THE VEHICLE PULSATES OR VIBRATES WHEN BRAKES ARE APPLIED, SPEED LIMIT BETWEEN 55-60, DEALER CONTACTED AND REPLACED THE BRAKES THREE TIMES FOR INCIDENT REOCCURRING, THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. *AK
IN A HARD BRAKING SITUATION, NO INCLEMENT WEATHER, WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES, THERE IS A GRINDING NOISE AND THE VEHICLE WILL PULL TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT. IN A NORMAL BRAKING SITUATION THE STEERING WHEEL SHIMMIES. THE ROTORS WERE REPLACED AT 7,000 MILES. 4,000 MILES LATER, THE ROTORS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AGAIN.*AK
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
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