I've seen this complaint on other forums about this vehicle. Brakes will come on and eventually force the driver to pull off the road. Trying to continue to drive will most likely burn-up the transmission. This has happened a few times on our 2010 Equinox. Did the "fixes" many (including the Chevrolet Dealer) suggested, replaced brake hoses, etc. Even had the car towed to dealer on one occasion, but by the time they looked at it, brakes were fine. The brakes will release after the car sits for a few hours. One one of the recent events (it's happened about 10 times), I was close enough to home that I got it into my garage.
I quickly jacked up the car and determined ALL FOUR wheels were locked/locking. Got to thinking about that. What could apply brakes to all four wheels? A leaking power brake booster (google for a video of how a power brake booster works) can allow vacuum to pull the booster to activate brakes. Typical booster failures are on the master cylinder side of the diaphragm, causing a hard pedal and increased effort required to stop the car. A failure on the brake pedal side of the diaphragm can cause vacuum to APPLY the brakes. On the last occurrence, I pulled the vacuum line (with check valve) out of the booster. I then depressed the pedal to release the brakes. Reinstalled the hose and all was well. I've ordered new booster. I will be shocked if it doesn't fix this problem.
I've seen this complaint on other forums about this vehicle. Brakes will come on and eventually force the driver to pull off the road. Trying to continue to drive will most likely burn-up the transmission. This has happened a few times on our 2010 Equinox. Did the "fixes" many (including the Chevrolet Dealer) suggested, replaced brake hoses, etc. Even had the car towed to dealer on one occasion, but by the time they looked at it, brakes were fine. The brakes will release after the car sits for a few hours. One one of the recent events (it's happened about 10 times), I was close enough to home that I got it into my garage.
I quickly jacked up the car and determined ALL FOUR wheels were locked/locking. Got to thinking about that. What could apply brakes to all four wheels? A leaking power brake booster (google for a video of how a power brake booster works) can allow vacuum to pull the booster to activate brakes. Typical booster failures are on the master cylinder side of the diaphragm, causing a hard pedal and increased effort required to stop the car. A failure on the brake pedal side of the diaphragm can cause vacuum to APPLY the brakes. On the last occurrence, I pulled the vacuum line (with check valve) out of the booster. I then depressed the pedal to release the brakes. Reinstalled the hose and all was well. I've ordered new booster. I will be shocked if it doesn't fix this problem.
- Wayne H., Alvaton, US