Brake pedal fluttering

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Gossamer

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On my 2002 Tahoe I get this fluttering/pulsing feeling from my brake pedal. It doesn't do it all the time and some times it is worse than other times. Brakes seem to be working fine.
Could this be the anti lock brake sensors going bad?

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
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Big Mama

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Most likely but might just be a loose wire especially if there’s no dash lights on. Crawl under and look around
 

watuzi

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Probably a bad/warped rotors. I had the same issue before. The trick is to find out which side is bad.
 

Doubeleive

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could be the rotors need to be turned, or could be a bad wheel hub sensor one being slightly out of sync could possibly not throw a ABS code, generally if it is a wheel sensor you would get the pulsing in the pedal just before coming to a full stop, the pedal would be kind of kicking back at you and you would maybe hear the abs pump throwing a fit at the same time.
 
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Gossamer

Gossamer

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could be the rotors need to be turned, or could be a bad wheel hub sensor one being slightly out of sync could possibly not throw a ABS code, generally if it is a wheel sensor you would get the pulsing in the pedal just before coming to a full stop, the pedal would be kind of kicking back at you and you would maybe hear the abs pump throwing a fit at the same time.

The thing is, it's not consistent. I would think the rotors would be consistently the same.
Sometimes it is a very smooth stop, sometimes alittle pulsating, other times a lot of pulsating.
It's for sure the front because the steering wheel will shimmy when it does it.
Starting yesterday, the ABS/Brake light has come on, but then goes off.
 

RST Dana

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The thing is, it's not consistent. I would think the rotors would be consistently the same.
Sometimes it is a very smooth stop, sometimes alittle pulsating, other times a lot of pulsating.
It's for sure the front because the steering wheel will shimmy when it does it.
Starting yesterday, the ABS/Brake light has come on, but then goes off.
Get the rotors hot and see if the issue is more pronounced. Several hard stops should do the trick. They are an easy upgrade.
 
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Gossamer

Gossamer

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Get the rotors hot and see if the issue is more pronounced. Several hard stops should do the trick. They are an easy upgrade.


It happens when they are cold and when the brakes are applied a lot and hot. I could travel down the road and come to a stop then travel another mile and it smoothly stops. No consistent behavior at all. Very random.
 

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Wes
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It happens when they are cold and when the brakes are applied a lot and hot. I could travel down the road and come to a stop then travel another mile and it smoothly stops. No consistent behavior at all. Very random.
If you have a scanner or access to a scanner that does ABS there should be a historical code saved in the abs system even if the light is not currently on, since the abs light did come on and the pulsing is not consistent I would lean more towards a faulty sensor or possibly a failing wheel hub, what you can do without any special equipment is just jack up the front wheels or one wheel at a time and once it is off the ground grab the wheel at 12 & 6 and see if it has any play (wiggle there should be none) there will be slight play at 9 & 3 because of the steering, or if it makes any noise when you spin it (compare each side for noise). Even if the rotors were bad it still should not cause the abs light to come on.
 
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Gossamer

Gossamer

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If you have a scanner or access to a scanner that does ABS there should be a historical code saved in the abs system even if the light is not currently on, since the abs light did come on and the pulsing is not consistent I would lean more towards a faulty sensor or possibly a failing wheel hub, what you can do without any special equipment is just jack up the front wheels or one wheel at a time and once it is off the ground grab the wheel at 12 & 6 and see if it has any play (wiggle there should be none) there will be slight play at 9 & 3 because of the steering, or if it makes any noise when you spin it (compare each side for noise). Even if the rotors were bad it still should not cause the abs light to come on.


Ok, I will check that, thanks
 
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