Officials Suspect Corrosion in Brake Failures
Federal safety officials suspect corrosion makes anti-lock brakes prone to failure in about 3.6 million sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks built by General Motors in the early 1990s.
GM said officials have told the company of their findings but are not at the point of ordering any action.
GM said that even if some brake valves are corroded, “these vehicles still have good braking capability.”
The agency has discussed where the investigation stands with the company but has stopped short of publicly announcing any findings.
GM spokesman Kyle Johnson said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating corrosion “as a possible performance condition that they think might be a cause of brake complaints.”
Patrick Fitzgerald, a spokesman in Livonia, Mich., for LucasVarity, which makes Kelsey-Hayes brakes, said the corrosion “hypothesis has been tested and refuted by our company and by General Motors.”
The anti-lock brake investigation is the longest probe still open at the highway safety agency. There have been 15,400 complaints about the Kelsey-Hayes brakes, the largest number of complaints for any current agency investigation.
Consumers have reported 2,728 crashes they claim were caused by faulty anti-lock brakes and 437 injuries, according to the NHTSA.
The vehicles under investigation are the 1991-94 Chevrolet Blazer, GMC Jimmy, Oldsmobile Bravada and Typhoon sport-utility vehicles; the Chevrolet S-10, Sonoma and Cyclone pickups; and the 1992-94 Chevrolet and GMC Suburban sport-utility vehicles.
The government has been testing the brakes since March 1995. Agency officials say it has been difficult to isolate any problem because brake failure has been intermittent and cannot be readily duplicated by the driver.
