3.8M Vehicles Recalled by GM Over Braking Issue

General Motors announced it is recalling 3.46 million pickup trucks and SUVs in the United States due to an issue with the vacuum pump that could be causing difficulties in braking. The problem is linked to a total of 113 accidents and 13 injuries.

The mass recall affects vehicles from the 2014 to 2018 model years, including units of the Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, and GMC Sierra.

GM initially recalled 310,000 vehicles in Canada in June for the same problem. But it did not say anything about why it took the company two months before announcing a similar recall in the United States.

According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall was prompted because of a potential decrease in the amount of vacuum created by the vacuum pump over time.

The NHTSA has previously launched a preliminary investigation of the problem in November 2018, where nine related crashes and two injuries were reported. In July of this year, the agency provided GM with additional field reports upon which then compelled the automaker to open its own investigation.

GM said the problem with the vacuum might affect braking in “rare circumstances.” The NHTSA also aid that “vehicles may experience brake boost failure, which would require increased brake pedal effort, leading to a hard brake pedal feel, and potentially increased stopping distance.”

To fix the issue, GM said dealers are instructed to reprogram the electronic brake module to improve the system’s hydraulic brake boost assist function when vacuum assist decreases.

Aside from the 3.8 million vehicles initially affected by the recall, GM also announced an additional recall of 270,000 more vehicles in the United States. This later batch will be divided into three smaller recalls and will include 177,000 units of the 2018 Chevrolet Malibu with 1.5-liter turbo engines due to an error in the engine control module software that could disable the car’s fuel injectors. 91,000 units of the 2019 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana are also being recalled over glitches with the seatbelt-unfastened warning light.