formula271

I received my letter announcing the special coverage for the "increased brake pedal effort" yesterday. Has anyone else received this notice? Coincidentally, on April 19th, I experienced a very severe "hard brake pedal" while going thru a drive-thru. In ~51,000 miles, this is the 2nd time this problem has occurred. This last instance was quite memorable. i am a large guy and had to use a lot of force on the pedal to keep the vehicle from rolling forward while idling in drive. I honestly don't believe my 120 lb wife could have applied enough force to keep the vehicle stationary. The April 19th "hard pedal" lasted several minutes thru many brake applications while idling in drive. With cars ahead and people walking in-front of vehicle in the drive-thru, I wasn't about to troubleshoot and experiment with different engine RPM to see if vacuum could be restored. Shutting vehicle off and turning back on did not restore the braking. A quick internet search quickly yielded volumes of info regarding this issue. I reported the safety problem thru NHTSA's website on 4/20/19. Kind of interesting that less then 2 weeks later the special coverage notice is received by mail. Does anyone know if dealer can identify faulty vacuum pump with so few occurrences of failure over 3.5 years? I dread being charged for something that very clearly matches the described hard brake pedal condition though would unlikely be able to be duplicated. My vehicle did not throw a DTC code or "Service brake assist" alert as mentioned in the Notice. Also, the Notice mentioning "failing to follow recommended oil change intervals" contributing to this issue seems like a "deny service card" and a bit of distraction from a known defect. My vehicle has been pampered with ~5000mile OCI's since new with the recommended oil. I do understand how the vacuum pump is lubricated with engine oil. Vehicle is a 2015 Suburban LTZ with ~51,000miles.

2015 Suburban LTZ w/42,000 purchased new in Dec 2015 (~2.5 years in service) In May 2018, my Sharkin antenna failed (antenna was completely filled with water). I'd bet this is also your issue (GPS showed me in middle-of-nowhere, and normally green OnStar Light glowed red). It is a well-know issue for which GM offers a customer satisfaction program to repair at no cost. Though, despite my year and model of vehicle being included in program, GM insisted (based on VIN) that my vehicle is not covered, and this was an out-of-pocket repair for which GM offered zero assistance. Dealer quote $600 to repair but finally agreed to do repair "at dealer cost" for $400. When antenna failed, prior to dealership replacing, water flowed from gasket between antenna housing and roof when pushing slightly on antenna cover. Despite obvious water issue (I kept antenna, and it is still filled with water over 2 months later), GM refused to acknowledge that is it related to GM customer satisfaction campaign issue. Maybe you are lucky, and your VIN will be included. I would recommend pushing slightly on antenna cover as I did while recording video with your phone. Maybe if your VIN is also not included, GM will have harder time saying it is not same water intrusion issue. Good luck.