Brakes stiff and car will not accelerate

CRISSY81

MEMBER
2009 CHEVROLET EQUINOX
3.4L
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
170,000 MILES

When I'm driving car starts to bog down fast and it is hard to keep accelerating. My car starts to shake and my brakes get real stiff. If I pull over and turn the car off and pump the brakes, start driving again and it's fine but can start doing it again right away or be okay for a while.I put new break pads and rotors all the way around. I have also replaced two calipers. The new caliper on front drivers side has brake fluid or something on it that reminds me of rust but it's a new caliper. I thought maybe it was the brake hose that runs to the caliper, so I replaced the hose and the problem is still there. My ABS light is also on and stays on. The problem was already there before the ABS light came on. My check engine light was on but when I got the new rotors and brakes and caliper put on I had it reset and it hasn't come back on yet.

3 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Hi Crissy,

We need to start with getting the codes pulled for this. If the ABS light is on, this would account for what is happening. It sounds like you are having an ABS event triggered. The DTC's will tell us why. The most common cause of this, is a wheel speed sensor issue. The ABS basically thinks one or more of the wheels is spinning at a different speed then the others and the ABS applies the brakes in order to try and gain control back. However, without the DTC's we are just guessing at the cause but it definitely sounds like an ABS event. Especially, because when it does this the brake pedal get hard. This is typically of an ABS event.

Let's get the DTC's from a scan tool. If you don't have one, most any parts store will be able to pull them for you and provide them to you. Let me know and we can go from there. Thanks

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Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 AT 8:53 PM

CRISSY81

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Hello, I have the codes, there are three of them, C0131/C0899/C0045. They told me the meaning of each code and I was wondering if these would match the symptoms of what is going on with my car? My car was acting this way well before the ABS light came on, so I wasn't sure if it could be one of these issues with ABS and something completely different from the ABS. Thank you for your time.

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Thursday, April 25th, 2019 AT 7:49 AM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Yes. These are a direct match to what you are describing and confirm that you most likely

C0131 - ABS Pressure Circuit
C0899 - Device voltage low EBCM
C0045 - Left rear wheel speed sensor Circuit erratic

I would start with the left rear speed sensor DTC first. This is pointing to a wiring issue or a sensor itself. If you see where I said above that the ABS thinks one or more of the wheels are spinning at a different rate, then this supports this exactly. If the ABS thinks one wheel (Left rear in this case) is going a different speed it is going to activate the ABS and you will experience what you described. This will usually happen without the ABS light staying on. Now that your ABS light is on, this has to do with the other DTCs that point to a circuit issue. They could be related but I suspect you have two issues. I would correct the speed sensor issue and my guess would be the hard brake pedal and it preventing you from accelerating will be resoled. Then you will be left with the ABS light on. However, there is a chance that when you fix the speed senor the others will go away as well which is why I would start with it but it is unlikely.

Let me know if you have other questions and I will be happy to help.

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