ICULookN

iTrader: (3)

Coming home from the barbershop on Saturday I had the worst experience in my driving life. When I pushed on the brakes to slow down at the stop sign, the brake pedal would only go down about halfway, the car continued to roll for about another 100-200 feet through the stop sign. No matter how hard I pushed it would only go down halfway, I heard these clicking noise coming from the engine bay and then the brakes started working again, the ABS light came on a couple of seconds later. All I can think about is that I could have killed myself or someone else. Has anyone encountered this before with their brakes. Is this maintenance related, or could this be covered by warranty? Thanks for anyones advice. Pray for a brother.

MacAlert

iTrader: (1)

That should be covered under warranty.

jjs

Damn right!!!

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought ABS systems were designed so if they fail, the brakes behave like 'normal' brakes, not stop functioning completely.

Skier

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a break system failure. There was probably no back up for the ABS. Dude... Know where youe emergency break is. It could save your life next time.

ABS

Sounds like you lost vacuum to the brake booster. If you had really stomped down on the brakes, I bet the car would have stopped. Not to mention, in an emergency, you should always be able to use the mechanical "emergency brake".

None of these comments really excuse what happened though. With a 2K2, you shouldn't be having problems like this. Let us know what the dealer says so we know what to look for on our cars . . .

ICULookN

iTrader: (3)

I take it in for service tomorrow, believe me I had my hand on the E-brake the whole time going back home. ABS, I pushed on the brakes real hard and nothing happened. Per the manual it stated we have 2 brake systems: regular and ABS, when the car starts up it runs a self-test on the ABS, if their is problem the light will come on. In this case neither system worked. I will give you guys an update tomorrow.

mdeal

iTrader: (2)

This happened to me when my brake line go severed (part rubbing on it) and all fluid was pushing out of the cut in the line. Check your fluid level to ensure you have some in there.

spta97

iTrader: (1)

On an older car I had the master cylinder go at 70MPH when I was getting off an exit that was 20MPH and had a curve that went 180 degrees. All I can say is

But with my problem, the pedal just went all the way to the floor. I'm curious to see what you 1/2 way problem was caused by, please keep us updated.

ICULookN

iTrader: (3)

Believe me, it scared the S**t out me.

ICULookN

iTrader: (3)

Okay here is an update, I got the car back yesterday. I was told by the manager and the service tech that the ABS sensor in the rear drivers side blew or went bad. If I'm using wrong technical terms here forgive me, basically the "actutator/computer" which our brake pedal is connected to lost it's mind. When the sensor blew it was trying to calibrate its self to 3 sensors and it didn't work, there is no backup. The service was covered under warranty. I suggest to you guys when you take your car in for tire rotation, they offer a free brake inspection, specifically request them to check all 4 ABS sensors. The head manager at Nissan West drove my car to insure me the problem was fixed. So far, so good.

Galo

If I interpret what the Service Manager told you, this failure of this component could induce total brake failure in any and all cars where the failure mode would be the same...this sound to me like real, no **** NHTS stuff, and seriously so. This could be big-time serious recall stuff....anyone agree?

And BTW, NHTS is the National Highway & Traffic Safety board...who owns investigating all safety issues, accidents, etc.

Polar2K2

Wow, I had the same thing happen to me, even the same noises. It sounded like some one was breaking the strings off a guitar.
I took mine in and they could not dup the problem so they sent me home. Next thing I know my ABS light came on also and they ended up replacing my rear drivers side sensor also. But here is where it get sick, after all this and having this happen to me a few times, the cut the wire harness and hard wire a new sensor in, bypassing the connectors. Now I am having them replace the whole Wire harness.

I let you know how everything foes.

NT2SHBBY

dealers are dumba$$es i tell you....Nissan Corp ain't gonna pay them for twice the labor on the same job...they fuked up once and got paid for it...the second time around its out of their pocket....you think they'd do it right the first time

ICULookN

iTrader: (3)

That's why I let you guys know about my problem. This is life threating defect. God was with me everytime I lost my brakes, either the car was far in front of me, or the car was turning in the opposite direction. Have those ABS sensors checked!!!

maxcosity

No ****, this is really freaky this almost makes me afraid to drive!! ****!!

What should/can we do? We should really get Nissan to look into this and maybe issue a TSB/Recall!!

This is FREAKY!

TimW

iTrader: (6)

the only thing you can to is report the problem to NHTS. They will probably not respond to our paint issues and such, but if you guys are losing your brakes, they will be on that you can bet.

NHTS can force a recall. That way Nissan doesnt get to just replace them until/when you almost die.. Dealers/NNA are not proactive it seems.

foodmanry

iTrader: (15)

So basically NNA needs a body count before they will do anything huh? I can see the headlines now...

"In an oddity of mechanical failure 5 Nissan Maxima 2002 owners died last night due to an ABS brake failure. Nissan of North America takes a proactive stand and issues major recall."

maxiiiboy

Please, report this problem to Nissan corporate and also to NHTSA. Second, we should all back you up and push for a recall and proper repair. By "proper repair" I mean a permament fix that eliminates this failure properly and for good.

Having the ABS sensor checked is not a good solution. Based on what you are saying, the problem can happen anytime. It looks like there is a single point of failure, and we need to fight for a proper fix. (I have beeen always scared of ABS's, the added cmplexity, and the higher probability of failure resulting from that complexity. This is my worst dreams come true).

sascuderi

You must report this to the NHTSA! They depend on the consumer to make them aware of safetly issues with cars so they can force a recall. Do you think Nissan is going to tell them?? This is not like the paint chip issue. Brake failure is SERIOUS and can lead to death! It is crazy to think that a failure of one ABS sensor can make the entire braking system fail!

Please, fill out a report for the safety of others! Go here to file a complaint:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/


STEVE

ABS

I tend to agree that this IS a very serious issue. The ABS computer should not fail no matter how many sensors go bad. Having said that, this is the first time I have heard of this issue on any Maxima. Without other incidents, it may be too early for Nissan North America to issue a recall or TSB.

ICULookN

iTrader: (3)

I will report this to NHTSA. This weekend I will be talking to a few mechanincs to learn how ABS actually works. I want to make sure that there is no wiggle room for Nissan on this issue, I don't want them to use the excuse that its related to maintenance, that I did something wrong. After driving your call for awhile, you can feel when something is wrong. After the repair, the brake pedal seems alot softer than it was before, I personally believe(no proof) that they did more to the brakes than just replacing the sensor. I don't know all you guys here, but please take your car in and have the tires rotated even if you don't need it so that you can have your brakes inspected, specifically the sensors. The last thing I want to hear is that someone on the ORG got hurt or hurt someone else because of brake failure.

Polar2K2

Hey All, this is a serious problem, this could be a real bad situation. This had happened to me a few times and each time I took it in they could not duplicate the problem. Then one day it happened and the ABS light stayed on and would come back on when I restarted the car. So I drove around a week with out ABS until the dealership was able to order a new sensor. I will also report this problem to NHTS!