2020 Chevy Corvette has brake boost sensor contamination issue, GM confirms
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2020 Chevy Corvette has brake boost sensor contamination issue, GM confirms
A number of other GM products are said to have the same problem
The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette and a number of other General Motors products are confirmed to have an issue with brake sensor contamination in its brake-by-wire system. The Corvette Action Center initially broke the news, and also says the Corvette and others are under a "stop-delivery" order because of it. GM confirmed the issue, but it did not confirm the “stop-delivery” order to us explicitly.
In total, the issue applies to the following GM vehicles:
Here’s how GM describes the problem:
“Material used in a sensor connection in the electronic brake boost system in these vehicles may have been contaminated during the material supplier’s production process. Contamination of this material may cause an interruption of communication between the sensor and the brake boost system under certain conditions.”
In addition to the reported stoppage of deliveries, GM is expected to issue a recall for this issue, but official recall information is not yet available on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
For context, the Corvette’s brake-by-wire system is significantly different from a traditional braking system. It combines the master cylinder, vacuum booster, vacuum pump and electronic brake control module into a single unit. If there’s “an interruption of communication” with the electronics, the electronic brake boost assist could be lost, in turn requiring more brake pedal force to bring it to a stop. The Corvette Action Center noted that GM says a warning light will come on in the instrument cluster if brake boost assist is lost.
As of today, GM has acknowledged the issue and appears to be taking steps to remedy it.
In total, the issue applies to the following GM vehicles:
- 2020 Chevy Corvette
- 2020 Cadillac CT4
- 2020 Cadillac CT5
- 2020 Cadillac XT4
- 2020-2021 Buick Encore GX
- 2021 Chevy Trailblazer
Here’s how GM describes the problem:
“Material used in a sensor connection in the electronic brake boost system in these vehicles may have been contaminated during the material supplier’s production process. Contamination of this material may cause an interruption of communication between the sensor and the brake boost system under certain conditions.”
In addition to the reported stoppage of deliveries, GM is expected to issue a recall for this issue, but official recall information is not yet available on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
For context, the Corvette’s brake-by-wire system is significantly different from a traditional braking system. It combines the master cylinder, vacuum booster, vacuum pump and electronic brake control module into a single unit. If there’s “an interruption of communication” with the electronics, the electronic brake boost assist could be lost, in turn requiring more brake pedal force to bring it to a stop. The Corvette Action Center noted that GM says a warning light will come on in the instrument cluster if brake boost assist is lost.
As of today, GM has acknowledged the issue and appears to be taking steps to remedy it.
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A couple of hundred Trailblazers and Encore GXs have already been recalled, earlier, for a missing seat-support bolt (something sorely needed with my size-frame LOL)
That only affected those few vehicles, though....apparantly it was caught very early at the factory. That particular factory, at Bupyeong, South Korea, generally has a good quality record....one factor in my ordering-decision.For the record (and I don't know why GM labelled them like this)
, all Trailblazers are classed as 2021 models, but the Encore GX gets a 2020/2021 split. The only reason I can possibly think of is that shipments and dealer-deliveries of the Encore GX started a couple of months before the Trailblazer. At my GM dealership, for instance, Encore GXs started arriving in March, Trailblazers not for a few months later, around the start of the summertime.I'm not surprised to hear about issues on the new mid-engined 'Vette...and I won't be surprised if more turn of them up in the near future. In the thread on the 2020 'Vette, I cautioned, a long time ago, that, for a GM design that radical and all-new (GM hasn't done a mid-engine car since the ill-fated Pontiac Fiero of the mid-1980s) one could bet the monthly rent on issues coming up.
Last edited by mmarshall; Sep 25, 2020 at 03:57 PM.
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I'm not surprised to hear about issues on the new mid-engined 'Vette...and I won't be surprised if more turn of them up in the near future. In the thread on the 2020 'Vette, I cautioned, a long time ago, that, for a GM design that radical and all-new (GM hasn't done a mid-engine car since the ill-fated Pontiac Fiero of the mid-1980s) one could bet the monthly rent on issues coming up.
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From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
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Racer
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I'm not surprised to hear about issues on the new mid-engined 'Vette...and I won't be surprised if more turn of them up in the near future. In the thread on the 2020 'Vette, I cautioned, a long time ago, that, for a GM design that radical and all-new (GM hasn't done a mid-engine car since the ill-fated Pontiac Fiero of the mid-1980s) one could bet the monthly rent on issues coming up.
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