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Nearly Fatal Brake Failure

194K views 348 replies 113 participants last post by  marctronixx 
#1 ·
I found this forum over the weekend while recovering from a pretty bad wreck I had in my 06 Armada LE on Friday 9/12/08. A little Background first. A few weeks ago, my wife and daughter were driving the Armada. They came home, told me the brake light came on and they had a lot of front end "Shuddering" and a very difficult time bringing this behemoth to a stop. I went out, started the car....No Light. Drove around...No problems at ALL!!! checked the Brake Fluid, it was right at "Minimum so I topped it off. Now remember this was I think over a month ago. I am the primary driver, and this never happened to me........Until Friday 9/12/08. I was traveling on a back road at the posted 45mph. Very clear, sunny, dry conditions. As I approached a 2 way stop, I applied the brakes.........NOTHING! I careened through the intersection, hit the curb, plowed through an emergency barrier, and tore through some new sewer lines that had yet to be buried. my car almost rolled!!! To make matters even more interesting, I threw my Cigarette out the window, while trying to locate my cell phone to dial 911.....and SMELLED GAS!! the wreck had punctured my gas tank!! Any one with similar experiences I would LOVE to hear from you.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
All I have to say is. holy cr*p! that's crazy. I've heard of people having some brake issues, but they were all fixed by the 06 model.
 
#3 · (Edited)
By brake light do you mean the parking brake light? I had an issue with my 2006 Off Road SE where the parking brake would not disconnect and the vehicle would shake and shimmy when trying to stop. It also generally drove very hesitantly probably because it was working against the parking brake. I would have to cut the vehicle completely off for it to reset and "release" the parking brake. The crazy thing is that it would sometimes cut itself on when I first started the vehicle or even when I would start driving, even when I had not applied the parking brake. The Nissan dealership in Hawaii where I bought it said this was impossible, but it would happen from time to time. They tried a few fixes that never worked. It was an intermittent problem so when I got orders to move, I shipped the vehicle. A dealership here in Alabama finally fixed it with an ECU programming update that seems to have worked.
 
#4 ·
Well i got a 05 Se. I have that issues sometimes, well twice actually. Last month it did it again. The first time I was coming right off the highway about three months ago, and it almost sounded like the noise the abs would make, but the brake lights came on it was like a cliking grindin noise at less than 15mph. Since I was close to home I took the chance and drive it home. When I turn the car off and restarted it the light was off and the problem went away. Last month it happen soon as I was driving out of my driveway, so I turn the car off, and of course the problem corrected itself. But im concern now if that happen to u, so I gonna take mines to the dealership and get it checked out.
 
#5 ·
Welcome to CA almost toast!

First of all, I am glad that you are Ok and well enough to writ this and thank God that your family was safe.

Of all of the brake issues I have heard since I have been here, that is the worst. No one has reported an accident or complete brake failure from the brake issue. Most of us have had the ABS module problem (even though the brakes still worked) and just turned off the vehicle and turned it back on. Like a reset. Others have had the BCM flashed/reset at the dealer.
 
#6 ·
sorry to hear about your misfortune, but glad no one was seriously injured. Our Armada has been experiencing the same issues as some of the stories above. These personal experiences have me worried, but know im concerned since its the Mrs's daily driver.
 
#9 ·
Glad to hear you're ok. I haven't had any problem but that's not to say I won't. I'm glad that you have found this website and I hope that you will find information here that may prevent any future issues.

I imagine an experience like that might cause some one to stop smoking cold turkey. I hope your recovery is quick. Out of curiosity, did you sustain any injuries from the crash? How did the mada fair?
 
#10 ·
lurker said:
Mine's diong it again (just as the original poster described (minus the wreck))... even after having the ECU reprogrammed...

The dealer wants yet another $100 to fix what they fixed about 366 days ago... Yep, just over one year. Can't say I'm real pleased about it. The only other option is to turn off the ignition and restart it - the problem them goes away (until next time...)

For anyone wondering what it sounds like, I had my little camera w/ me today - here ya go: :thumbdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAYu1NOgQ_0
They need to flash/reset yous ABS module. That was the same thing that happened to mine.
 
#12 ·
Me too

It's funny how it's always the wife driving scenario. My wife primarily drives our 04 Armada too. We did the brake recall/upgrade when we got it used in 06 as the third owner.

The brake failure has also occurred to my wife 3 times now and all very scare situations too...fortunately nothing near fatal...yet. I couldn't reproduce it the first time, was able to witness it the second time...some how it went away, and this third time it wouldn't go away until I pulled the battery cable for several minutes.

I'm having the dealer look at it tomorrow. It's over warranty, so I'm going to try to push a "good will" repair from Nissan. Dam these cars are nice, but I'm scared of letting my wife drive it...let alone myself especially with my family in it.
 
#17 ·
Hi,

Just want to report I now have the same issue with my truck. Started last week and has occurred twice. Same issue: brake vibrates and makes a noise when applied and takes a while to stop. Each time restarting resets it and it is fine.

So do the dealers know about this or should I go ahead and "recommend" them to 1). flash/reset the ABS rather than charging me to diagnose the problem. I have also noted that some have had their 2). ECU reprogrammed and others have had the 3). BCM flashed/reset.

What do you guys recommend? By the way do you know the cost associated with each one? Does anyone see a problem with getting all three done at the same time?

Thanks.
 
#18 · (Edited)
The flash/reseting of the ABS module only takes a few minutes, but they will probably charge you at leats a half hour local labor cost. The reprogramming of the ECM takes at least an hour.

Below is what I posted earlier.
  • Check the brake fluid level and fill it if it isn't at the "Full" mark.
  • Restart your vehicle and see if the lights turn off.
  • If that does not work you may need your ABS module reset. You probably need you ECM reprogrammed.
The ABS module shouldn't take but a couple of minutes, but there is a TSB on the ECM and that may take about an hour or more to program.

EDIT: Something I posted in an earlier thread. You may require your ABS module to be reset. It does nees to be done at the dealer though. Check this thread.
http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12495

And one I posted back n February still holds true for the ECM not the BCM.
I have not had the brake problem since they performed a reprogram of the ECM based on the TSB.
http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase/links/200
TSB # NTB06-040 is for 2004–2006 NISSAN TITAN AND ARMADA; ABS AND/OR BRAKE WARNING LIGHT ON WITH DTC C1179

TSB # NTB06-009a is for VARIOUS NISSAN MODELS; MIL “ON” WITH DTC U1000 OR U1010 STORED IN ENGINE CONTROL UNIT

TSB # NTB00-052c is for VARIOUS NISSAN MODELS; ECM REPLACEMENT PROCEDURES

TSB # NTB09-VARIOUS NISSAN MODELS; DIAGNOSIS PROCEDURE FOR MIL “ON” DTC P0603 ECM POWER SUPPLY
 
#21 ·
The flash/reseting of the ABS module only takes a few minutes, but they will probably charge you at leats a half hour local labor cost. The reprogramming of the ECM takes at least an hour.

....
Thanks for the info Spyda I guess I will take it in and see what happens probably have them reset the ABS, and bring the TSB printout of it.
 
#19 ·
The brakes are a closed hydraulic system...actually two independent hydraulic systems. When you press a pedal you displace fluid, no electronic is going to cause that to change. If there wasn't a catastrophic failure, that is fluid is still there, you have a problem with the ABS module. I've had this with a BMW 5-series in the past. Nearly impossible to diagnose (never fixed on the BMW after maybe one dozen service visits), although I it didn't seem like the original poster was going to have to have the car repaired anymore.

The repair is expensive and both time and labor. Since it intermittent and the electronics thinks it is performing correctly, there are no tell tales it is hard for the dealer to get reimbursed as a warranty claim. The part alone is $1200.
 
#22 ·
Same Problem Today...

glad i found this forum and thread. this front end shuddering issue happen to me twice this week and i'm not about to take any chances just to ignore it after what happen to one of the guys here. it all started when i was pulling out from a parking lot, i noticed that the parking brake light remain on while the brake pedal was at OFF position. tried to re apply the parking brake then OFF again but to no avail. then as soon as i drove off and applied the brake the first time, i thought the whole front end was about to collapse due to the vibration/shudder. having a family with 2 young kids i thought it would be a good idea to take it to the dealership. moments later i got a call saying that they have to RE PROGRAM the VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control). now i don't know if that has anything to do with but it cost $220 to do that. i'd love to hear from anyone who had this experience and what caused it. thanks in advance.


05 ARMADA LE
 
#23 ·
I've had this happen once. Scared the crap out of me! It sounds like the abs was freaking out and i had the parking brake light come on. luckily i caught it in a residential because i would have hit someone if i was driving on the main road or freeway.
 
#24 ·
I'm surprised to only see 2004-2006 Armada experiencing this. I have an 07 Armada LE and this has happened twice this year. The Armada is about 51,000 miles and after seeing this thread here, I called and spoke with Nissan and they said that there's no recall on this problem and I would have to take it to an authorized dealership, pay for the diagnose and pay for the fix out of pocket. Then called them up and report what the problem was, since a log has been created for me with them....?!

I told him, I don't mind paying for it if it's wear and tear, but this is a mal-function on their end and they should cover it; especially if it's something that is of a safety concern. Yeah, Nissan don't care. If it ain't on the to-do-list of recall... they're not covering it no matter if it meant someone's life or not.

Nissan said that they weren't able to pull up any recall under my VIN. Maybe lucky for the 04-06 that enough people are reporting, but I guess maybe another year or 2 and God knows how many accidents later, my VIN may just show up on their list.

The first time this happened, I was going down a slanted hill and ran through a red light. Pumped the heck out of the brake, but the pedal had full resistance with the brakes hardly biting. Tried the e-brake too and even that didn't help much. Luckily, no other car was going through the intersection. Really scared the ba-geezus out of me, to have to feel and be in such a helpless situation with kids in the back.

I can't believe Nissan dare say that they understand and are concern about my safety, yet do nothing about the situation.
 
#26 ·
Same brake problem - 04 Armada SE, 52000mi

Had happened twice so far with my 04 Armada. The exact symptoms as the original post, minus the wrack. Armada's brake system is duplicate by a vacuumed booster which is kicking in when main system fails, not as effective as main one. Can someone please provide summaries of the repairs that needed to be done? I saw some suggestion on BCM, ECU, ECM????? Any help will be greatly appreciated! I love my Armada, but too many issues so far and Nissan is not helping at all. Thanks. Gary.
 
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