Letter from GM on 2014 and up Sierra Vacuum pump failures

Ed S · May 2, 2019

Receive a notice letter from GM yesterday on failing vacuum pumps causing low speed hard brake pedal that could cause a problem in low speed braking. Their only offer in the letter is they will extend the warranty on them for 6 years from in service date the of truck or 72,000 miles in the interest of "customer satisfaction". NO recall however. They said for make sure and follow oil change intervals for this might be a contributing factor in the pumps premature failing. My thoughts on this is they should recall known safety issue parts period. Looks like GM is trying to save themselves some money on a due to fail early, weak link in their brake, vacuum system. No mention of the word "accident" in the letter anywhere of course. My truck went into service in December of 2013 and has just turned 50,000 miles so my extended warranty will be up in just 8 months or so on this obvious poorly designed pump. Thoughts anyone?

HeySkippyDog · May 2, 2019

From a cost standpoint, I don't think the pump is that expensive. It's not all that hard to get to either. Does not take away from the safety issue, though.

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Sierra Dan · May 2, 2019

Pump is about $135

You can do it yourself in about 2 hours but somewhat of a pain to get to accessing mounting bolts.

Yes, just now coming up with this "extended" protection for those 14 and 15 owners who are already beyond 72K is very sand and unfortunate, as most that

have this problem are the 14 and 15 owners. A few 16 and up here and there but they are already covered under factory warranty.

Welder2014 · May 2, 2019

I installed a new pump last winter after reading about possible problems. Bought the pump from Amazon $121.00 installed it in about 2 hours did remove the little steering shaft much easer access. Added heated steering wheel while I was working on the truck nice. I work very slow a good mechanic could do it in 1 hour. My truck is a14 SLE with 45000 miles very happy with it tow 21ft trailer perfect. Did get the letter yesterday applied for refund for the pump. Will be buying a new 2020 next year.

Paintor · May 8, 2019

Picture of GM letter please. Block out your name.

imiller1974 · May 8, 2019

I got my letter yesterday, threw it away. I don't have a vacuum pump anymore...

Paintor · May 9, 2019

10 hours ago, imiller1974 said:

I got my letter yesterday, threw it away. I don't have a vacuum pump anymore...

I have the GM block plugs for the oil lines. What belt did you use for the delete kit? Got a part number? I was waiting for warranty to run out to throw it on.

Not waiting.

ksiesel · May 9, 2019

7 hours ago, Paintor said:

I have the GM block plugs for the oil lines. What belt did you use for the delete kit? Got a part number? I was waiting for warranty to run out to throw it on.

Not waiting.

Belt for vac. Pump only goes between vac pump and crank as far as I know. Delete the pump, cut the belt off and it has no impact on any of the other driven accessories.

Sierra Dan · May 9, 2019

Is there a delete kit you can get online? If not can you post the individual components necessary?

I am curious about this mod.

imiller1974 · May 9, 2019

When I bolted the supercharger on, there is an extra 1/2" port on the side that's not used. It's original intent is for hooking up vacuum to the brake booster. Qwank, on this site, gave me the idea. I bought the threaded plugs for deleting the vacuum pump. Cut the belt off, unbolted the pump, screwed in the oil plugs. Ran a 1/2" vacuum hose from the 1/2" port on the supercharger to the brake booster. I also Tee'd a vacuum canister into the line as well, incase there wasn't enough volume from the supercharger port. Works perfect, can't tell a difference in brake pedal feel or pressure, from stock.

Sierra Dan · May 9, 2019

Well no super charger in my future so this mod is out for me! LOL

imiller1974 · May 9, 2019

I was planning on deleting the vacuum pump before I bolted on the supercharger. I was planning on drilling and tapping the intake manifold in the back. Screwing a NPT to barbed fitting and plumbing it to the brake booster. I just never got around to doing it. I think you should do it, I bet it'd work great...

Welder2014 · May 10, 2019

On 5/9/2019 at 3:53 AM, ksiesel said:

Belt for vac. Pump only goes between vac pump and crank as far as I know. Delete the pump, cut the belt off and it has no impact on any of the other driven accessories.

Wonder if it would affect your brakes. Wonder?

Ed S · May 10, 2019

7 minutes ago, Welder2014 said:

Wonder if it would affect your brakes. Wonder?

The extra vacuum the pump supplies is for the AFM. Active fuel management system along with the brake system. If you disable the AFM with like a Range afm delete device then pump shouldn't be needed for the brakes to have enough vacuum from what I have read. Problem is you can't have the best of both worlds.

GMMediumDutyMQ · May 10, 2019

Got the note, but pissed on the (lack of) coverage. I've had truck from Nov '14 and put on a lot of mileage. 72k was a looooong time ago, so won't be covered. Glad to see DIY replacement is theoretically simple/ cheap enough.