CT Drivers Urged to Wash Vehicles After Brake-Line Rust Probe

If you live where salt is used to clear the roads of snow and ice, like here in Connecticut, U.S. safety regulators have a message for you: Wash the underside of your car.

The message came on Wednesday from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which closed a five-year investigation into rusting pipes that carry brake fluid in about 5 million older Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC pickups and SUVs, without seeking a recall.

Instead, the agency blamed the problem on rust caused by road salt and a lack of washing. It determined that it was not the result of a manufacturing or design defect.

The agency urged people in 20 cold-weather states, including Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., to get their car and truck undercarriages washed several times during and after the winter, and to get their brake lines inspected for rust and replace them if necessary. The warning underscores the importance of washing highly corrosive salt from beneath a car because over time, it can cause suspension parts, the frame, or other components to corrode and fail.

Michael McNamara, of Megill's Autobody in New Haven, said he didn't need a government study to prove that chemicals used to treat the roads can do damage to cars. 

In the last few years, the amount of work he receives to repair brake lines has doubled because of destruction from chemicals.

"It eats away at all the brake lines, all the metal parts.  It makes them rot and then you lose your brakes," he said.

NHTSA's finding that the GM trucks weren't defective came even though it received 3,645 complaints of brake pipe rust in the General Motors vehicles from the 1999 to 2007 model years, including 107 crash reports and 40 reports of injuries. Seventy-five percent of the complaints came from trucks in the first four model years covered by the investigation, 1999-2003, the agency said.

Investigators checked similar vehicles in Pennsylvania, surveyed owners in Ohio, and did random checks in other salt-belt states to determine that the same problem exists in just about every other vehicle from the same era because brake lines were all made of the same steel materials with aluminum coatings. The industry gradually switched to nylon or plastic-coated steel lines in the mid-2000s, NHTSA said.

The investigation started after NHTSA received a complaint from a Middletown, Ohio, man in March of 2010, who said the pipes that carry brake fluid on his 2003 Chevy Silverado rusted and leaked, causing a sudden reduction in braking power.

Yet it took until Wednesday for the agency to resolve the matter. The agency acknowledged that the probe took too long and said its Office of Defects Investigation is understaffed. Additional staffing and funding are in the Obama administration's proposed budget, NHTSA said. The agency said that in recent years it also has concentrated on more serious recall issues that involved multiple crash deaths.

NHTSA's car-wash advisory applies mainly to owners of vehicles from the 2007 model year or older in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Mechanics said it's better to spend a few extra dollars to wash the undercarriage of your car a few times during the winter rather than possibly spending thousands for a repair.

"If you get the undercarriage wash, it'll add another $2 or $3. It'll save you a lot of money at the end," McNamara said. 

He recommends washing the salt and the chemicals off at least a couple times at the end of the winter so it does not sit on top of the brake lines and rot them.

What you need to know, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

How do I know if my car has a problem?

Have your vehicle’s brake system inspected for corrosion. Replace the brake pipe assembly if there is evidence of scaling corrosion in any portion of the lines. Every time you drive, keep an eye out for leaking brake fluid and other signs of a compromised brake pipe, including your brake warning lamp or changes in feel (for example, if the pedal feels soft or spongy) or if it feels like you have to press the pedal closer to the floor than normal before braking begins.

What should I do if my brake pipes fail?

If you experience a brake pipe failure while driving, press and hold the brake pedal with constant pressure to get the best braking performance. In most cases you will hear the antilock brakes activate; this is a normal part of the system’s operation and lets you know that the remaining brake circuit is functioning. Allow yourself more time to stop and additional space between you and vehicles you are following. Don’t pump the brakes – this will increase the distance it takes to stop your vehicle.

If you notice that your brake pipe is leaking, do not drive your vehicle. Inspect the brake pipes for corrosion or other potential causes of leaks. If the pipes are corroded the best thing to do is replace all of them at the same time. Partial repairs frequently result in multiple failures, often within a year of the initial failure, and can be more dangerous and more costly over the life of the vehicle. Check with your manufacturer to see if it offers a prefabricated brake pipe assembly kit, which can reduce the time and cost of repairs.

For more information, or to report a possible safety defect, you can call NHTSA’s Safety Hotline at 1-800-424-9153

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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