1987 CADILLAC ALLANTE Service Brakes, Hydraulic Problems

THIS PAST WEEKEND THE BRAKES ON MY 1987 ALLANTE COMPLETELY FAILED LEAVING ME WITH ONLY THE PARKING BRAKE AND DOWN SHIFTING. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVELED THAT THE HIGH PRESSURE HOSE FROM THE PUMP TO THE BRAKE UNIT ON THE FIREWALL DEVELOPED A PIN-HOLE; THIS ALLOWED THE SYSTEM TO PUMP ALL OF THE BRAKE FLUID OVERBOARD IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. FROM THE TIME THE BRAKE LIGHT ILLUMINATED UNTIL I LOST ALL BRAKES WAS A MATTER OF A FEW SECONDS. HAD I BEEN ON A DIFFERENT ROAD OR HAD MY DAUGHTER BEEN DRIVING THE CAR THERE IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT. *NM

Mileage: 130,000

BOSCH ABS FAILURES ARE A CHRONIC PROBLEM WITH THE MODEL CADILLAC. *AK

I HAVE COMMUNICATED WITH OTHER ALLANTE OWNERS WHO HAVE REPORTED BRAKE FAILURES WITH THE BOSCH III ABS SYSTEM INSTALLED ON THESE CARS. THIS FAILURE IS CATASTROPHIC BECAUSE THE EMERGENCY BRAKE SYSTEM REQUIRES AT LEAST 3 1/2 PUMPS OF THE ACTUATOR, BUT CANNOT BE ENGAGED WITH THE CAR IN GEAR. ALTHOUGH THE DRIVER INFORMATION CENTER WILL WARN OF COMPONENT PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM USING A SERIES OF COMPLICATED CODES, IT IMPLIES THAT THAT ABS SYSTEM CAN BE DEACTIVATED AND THE BRAKES WILL STILL FUNCTION. THAT MAY BE CORRECT OR MAY NOT. IN SOME CASES, PEOPLE HAVE DRIVEN FOR A YEAR WITH THESE WARNINGS APPEARING INTERMITTENTLY, ONLY TO HAVE COMPLETE FAILURE OCCUR WITHOUT WARNING. IN OTHERS, THE BRAKES FAILED ALMOST AS SOON AS THE WARNINGS APPEARED. WORSE YET, THE WARNINGS SEEM TO IMPLY THAT THE BRAKES WILL FUNCTION WITH THE "ABS SYSTEM DISABLED". IN SOME CASES THEY DO, BUT COMPLETE AND CATASTROPHIC FAILURE WILL OCCUR AT SOME COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE TIME IN THE FUTURE. THIS CIRCUMSTANCE IS ABSOLUTELY INTOLERABLE AND CONSTITUTES A MAJOR SAFETY THREAT TO THE OWNER AND THE PUBLIC. THE COST OF REPAIRING THIS SYSTEM WILL RUN FROM $1500-4000, AND NEITHER CADILLAC NOR BOSCH HAS MADE ANY EFFORT TO "PATCH" OR UPDATE THE DESIGN, PROVIDE A MORE FAILSAFE SYSTEM, OR SUBSIDIZE IN ANY WAY THE COST OF THESE REPAIRS. I AM AWARE OF NO OTHER CAR WHOSE ESSENTIAL BRAKING SYSTEM WILL REQUIRE THOUSANDS TO MAINTAIN OR ABSOLUTELY WILL EITHER COST THOUSANDS THAVE COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE WILL SUFFER CATASTROPHIC FAILURE WITHIN 140,000 MILES. *AK

NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK

AT 65MPH APPLIED BRAKES WHEN VEHICLE AHEAD VEERED INTO MY LANE. BRAKE PEDAL SLAMMED TO THE FLOOR. RELEASED BRAKES AND SMOOTHLY REAPPLIED PRESSURE. PEDAL JUMPED UP APPROX HALF WAY. RELEASED PRESSURE AGAIN AND EASED PEDAL DOWN AGAIN. NORMAL BRAKING WAS REGAINED. HAD BRAKES REBUILT IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER. NO APPARENT PROBLEMS.*AK

THE PROBLEM IS MY ANTI LOCK BRAKES FAIL AT TIMES AND THEN RETURN TO NORMAL, I HAVE BEEN A MECHANIC FOR 25 YEARS AND I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND THE PROBLEM . I HAVE READ OF MANY OTHER ALLANTE OWNERS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM.

THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES MALFUNCTIONED. YH

THE BRAKE SYSTEM ON THE ALLANTE IS OBVIOUSLY DEFECTIVE. IT IS A DANGER TO THOSE OF US WHO DRIVE THE CAR AS WELL AS OTHERS ON THE ROAD. I NARROWLY AVOIDED REAR ENDING ANOTHER CAR AT A TRAFFIC SIGNAL WHEN COMLETE BRAKE FAILURE OCCURRED BY PULLING ON THE SHOULDER AND SLOWLY ROLLING TO A STOP. I HAVE RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND HAVE FOUND THAT NEARLY ALL ALLANTE OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED NUMEROUS BREM FAILURES. THIS CAR NEEDS TO BE RECALLED BEFORE SERIOUS ACCIDENT AND INJURY OCCURS. *AK

WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES IN A NORMAL FASHION, THE ANTI-LOCK MESSAGE IS LIT AND THE BRAKE PEDAL HAS A 'CLICK' FEEL TO IT AS PRESSURE IS APPLIED. THE BRAKES DO LOCK UP IN A PANIC STOP. SOMETIMES WHEN THE CAR IS STARTED, THE ANTI-LOCK MESSAGE WILL FLASH ON THE INFORMATION CENTER EVEN THOUGH THE CAR HAS NOT BEEN MOVED OR THE BRAKES APPLIED. WHEN THE CAR IS DRIVEN, IF THE PEDAL IS GENTLY PUSHED THE LIGHT DOES NOT COME ON AND WARN OF ANTI-LOCK DISABLING. THEY WORK FINE THEN.

MULTIPLE REPAIRS TO BRAKING SYSTEM. NOT QUALITY COMPONENTS

I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE ALLANTE. THE ABS DISABLES AND THEN FULL BRAKE FAILURE HAPPENS. *AK

ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM DISABLES WHENEVER BRAKES ARE APPLIED FIRMLY. *AK

THIS IS THE SECOND FAILURE OF THE THE MASTER CYLINDER UNIT PART #3636719. I ALSO REPORTED THE PREVIOUS FAILURE TO NHTSA. *AK

THIS HAS BEEN MY THIRD TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE....I HAVE REPORTED ONE OTHER TO YOUR ORGANIZATION.......I'M 52 YEARS OLD.I DON'T DRIVE HARD OR FAST.THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.PLEASE BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED. PLEASE DO YOUR JOB. *AK

TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE HAPPENED WITHOUT WARNING. PART NUMBERS REPLACED INCLUDE: ACCUMULATOR 3520224, MASTER CYLINDER 3636719 AND THE F-MODULE AS (ECM) 1638548. FORTUNATELY, AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE I WAS SLOWING TO MAKE A TURN. PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, I DOWN SHIFTED THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TO LOW, KEPT GOING STRAIGHT AND STOPPED BY APPLYING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE. DEALERSHIP INVOICE REPAIR ORDER # 173761 AND 172562. *AK

TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE HAPPENED WITHOUT WARNING. PART NUMBERS REPLACED INCLUDE: ACCUMULATOR 3520224, MASTER CYLINDER 3636719 AND THE F-MODULE AS (ECM) 1638548. FORTUNATELY, AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE I WAS SLOWING TO MAKE A TURN. PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, I DOWN SHIFTED THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TO LOW, KEPT GOING STRAIGHT AND STOPPED BY APPLYING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE. DEALERSHIP INVOICE REPAIR ORDER # 173761 AND 172562. *AK

ABS BRAKES WENT OUT ABOUT 10 MONTHS AGO. REGULAR BRAKS WORK FINE, BUT ABS BRAKE LIGHTS MESSAGE, THAT THE ABS IS OUT, KEEPS COMING ON MY MESSAGE CENTER. I HAVE TRIED TO HAVE THE ABS DISCONNECTED TWICE, BUT HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THEY ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SYSTEM, AND CANNOT BE DISCONNECTED. ESTIMATES HAVE RANGED FROM $1000 TO $ 1800 TO REPAIR. I FEEL THAT I HAVE BEEN SHORT CHANGED BECAUSE I DRIVE LESS THAN 5000 MILES [ RETIRED] ANNUALLY, AND FEEL THAT I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DISCONNECT THE ABS, AND I CAN'T. I ALSO KNOW THAT MY BRAKING SYSTEM CAN GO OUT AT ANY TIME, SO I EITHER PAY FOR SOMETHING I DON'T NEED, OR CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. *AK

I HAD TO GUESS ON DATES BECAUSE SINCE LAST YEAR AT AROUND 90,000 MILES THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES ARE DISABLED ALMOST EVERY TIME I HIT THE BRAKES. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR IN AND THE MECHANICS DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. I'VE READ ABOUT IT ON THE WEB (THAT'S HOW I FOUND THIS PAGE TO COMPLAIN) AND APPARENTLY IT'S COMMON TO HAVE THIS VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM WITH THIS PARTICULAR CAR. I AM EXREMELY SCARED AND HAVE RECENTLY STOPPED DRIVING IT. THERE ARE NOT VERY MANY ALLANTE'S OUT THERE, BUT SINCE SO MANY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, I THINK THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD DO SOMETHING TO FIX IT. COULD YOU PLEASE INFORM ME OF ANY PROGRESS IN THE MATTER. THANK YOU

ANTI-LOCK BRAKES FAILED AND COMPLETE SYSTEM WAS REPLACED AT MY EXPENSE. I RECENTLY LEARNED THAT OTHER ALLANTE OWNERS HAD REPORTED IT TO YOU, AND I WANTED TO ADD MY EXPERIENCE TO THEIRS. AS THIS WAS FAR FROM BEING AN ISOLATED INCIDENT AS I WAS INFORMED BY BOTH CADILLAC'S 800, AS WELL AS BY THE DEALER, I BELIEVE THAT CADILLAC MOTOR CAR DIVISION SHOULD ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS COMPONENT FAILURE. *AK

ABS READS DISABLED ON INFO CENTER IN CAR

WE HAVE HAD MULTIPLE FAILURE OF THIS BRAKE SYSTEM SINCE 1990. AT ONE POINT THE BRAKES FAILED COMPLETELY. THIS MAY BE A BOSCHE PROBLEM AND NOT A CADILLAC PROBLEM BUT SOMEONE SHOULD FIX IT. *MJS

WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES THERE IS A CLUNKING NOISE AND THE PEDAL HESITATES AND THEN IT STOPS. DEALER SYAS THAT THE ABS IS COMPLETELY GONE. *AK

WHEN BRAKING, ESPECIALLY IN COLD WEATHER, I GET A WARNING LIGHT THAT SAYS ANTILOCK DISABLED AND A SKIPPING FEELING IN THE BRAKE PEDAL. ON OCCASION, A RED WARNING LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON FOR THE ENTIRE IGNITION CYCLE. THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT A MAJOR ABS COMPONENT HAS FAILED THAT COSTS APPROXIMATELY $4000.00 TO REPLACE. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM ON THESE CARS WHICH WERE EQUIPPED WITH THE BOSCH III ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM.

NO SUMMARY PROVIDED BY CONSUMER

ANTI LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK OFTEN. TT

ABS INDICATOR LIGHT TURNED ON, PROBLEM HAS BEEN REPAIRED TWICE. TT