AtWhatMileage
Brakes · 4 owner reports

ABS module or sensor failure on the 2004 GMC Sierra 2500

Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.

Reports of this failure 4
With an odometer reading 4
Reports per 1,000 built 7.1 per 1,000
Filed below 36,000 miles 25%
Mention a crash, fire or injury 0
Typical repair $500–$2,400
What it means when it happens High
Rank among this year's problems 12th

When abs module or sensor failure gets reported

There are 4 reports of ABS module or sensor failure on the 2004 GMC Sierra 2500, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.

A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 12th most-reported problem on this model year.

The whole distribution

Percentiles of the 4 odometer readings owners gave.
10th25thMedian 75th90th
— — 45,000 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

Putting it right typically runs $500–$2,400 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.

The same failure on other years

The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2016, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 100,000 miles.

By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 19; the 2004 has 4. 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.

What owners wrote

Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra 2500 hd. While driving 30 MPH, the brake pedal extended to the floorboard when depressed. The dealer stated that there was rust on the bolt that attached the wheel sensor. As of september 12, 2007, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. The failure mileage was 40,000 and current mileage was 58,800.

40,000 miles NHTSA complaint 638332 filed 2007-09-12

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 gmc sierra k2500 hd. The contact stated that the anti lock brake system failure was similar to NHTSA campaign id number: 05v379000 (service brakes, hydraulic:antilock). The dealer replaced the brakes in 2008; however, the failure continued to occur. The manufacturer advised the contact that his vehicle was not included in the previous recall and offered no additional assistance. The current mileage was 29,000 and the failure mileage was 24,000. Updated 09/21/2011 *ln *tr

24,000 miles NHTSA complaint 848399 filed 2011-03-23

Brake lines all rotted away near ABS module mounted in frame. I had to take to a shop to get all line replace from ABS module forward. This truck has never been near salt ever. 100,000 miles and already relining the truck! Fuel lines look like they only have a few months left. This is a danger and a huge waste of money for a buyer I have had other gm cars that are 30 years old with 350,000 miles with factory brake and fuel lines. *tr

102,000 miles NHTSA complaint 943249 filed 2012-10-08

Also reported on the 2004 GMC Sierra 2500

Instrument cluster or gauge failure

29 reports median 64k

Loss of braking

19 reports median 78k

Other electrical problem

14 reports median 62k

Brake line, hose or caliper failure

10 reports median 45k

Other brake problem

10 reports median 85k

Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin

7 reports median 65k

How far this goes

This page is kept out of search results because 4 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.

Complaints are voluntary, so 4 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 abs module or sensor failure happen on the 2004 GMC Sierra 2500?

Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.

How common is abs module or sensor failure on the 2004 GMC Sierra 2500?

4 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 7.1 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