Brake line, hose or caliper failure on the 2002 GMC Sierra 1500
1 crash 1 of the 20 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When brake line, hose or caliper failure gets reported
Owners of the 2002 GMC Sierra 1500 report brake line, hose or caliper failure at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 115,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 60,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 135,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 77,032 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
5% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59,010 miles | 66,131 miles | 100,000 miles | 110,892 miles | 136,042 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 55,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 26; the 2002 has 20. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 gmc sierra 1500. The contact began experiencing failures with the vehicle while driving 20 MPH. He took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that there was a leak coming from the brake line, which caused difficulty when braking. The dealer also stated that the fuel line was rusted and needed to be replaced. Through research, the contact found numerous complaints on this very same failure for hir year, make, and model vehicle. He believed it was due to a manufacturer defect. The vehicle has been repaired; however, the contact believes a recall should be issued. The current and failure mileages were 50,100. Updated 09/29/08. *lj updated 09/29/08. *jb
2002 gmc sierra, 84,000 miles. Driver's side rear metal brake line blew when leaving a garage and I had to use the emergency brake to stop. If it would have happened a minute later, I would have been going down a steep hill into rush hour traffic, potentially hurting or killing others or myself. This happened without warning. Mechanic says all lines should be replaced due to excessive rust. I do live in pa, but I have never had a brake line rupture due to rust in a not so old car or truck. Regardless of the cost to fix, this is unacceptable and completely unsafe. There are many others that have the same problem, and many more who are not even aware of the time-bomb they are driving. *tr
Events leading up to failure: none, all was normal and no problems were experienced.. The failure: brake line ruptured due to rusting causing loss of all braking ability. Vehicle only 8 years old. Barely avoided an accident by steering around the vehicle in front of me. Corrective procedure: all brake lines replaced by a professional mechanic. . Old brake lines not available. I have the receipt of all work performed. *tr
Also reported on the 2002 GMC Sierra 1500
Other brake problem
Loss of braking
ABS module or sensor failure
Parking brake failure
Rust or structural corrosion
Differential or transfer case failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does brake line, hose or caliper failure happen on the 2002 GMC Sierra 1500?
Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is brake line, hose or caliper failure on the 2002 GMC Sierra 1500?
20 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 20 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed