1989 Cadillac Allante

AFTER APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES OF DRIVING, I WAS BRAKING FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND THE BRAKE PEDAL DEPRESSED AS NORMAL AND THEN I HEARD A METTALIC "CLUNK" SOUND AND THE PEDAL WENT FURTHER TO THE FLOOR AND STOPPED. THE "ABS DISABLED" MESSAGE FLASHED ON THE DRIVERS CONSOLE DISPLAY. IT WAS IMMEDIATELY CANCELLED BY THE "ABS OK" MESSAGE. THE CAR STOPPED WITHOUT INCIDENT. I DROVE IT CAUTIOUSLY FOR ANOTHER 10 MILES WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT.

BOTH ABS SYSTEM AND BRAKE SYSTEM FAILED AT THE SAME TIME. I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO BRAKES. DEALER REPLACED ABS PUMP AS REPAIR. ONE WEEK LATER, BOTH SYSTEMS FAILED AGAIN AT SPEED. ABSOLUTELY NO BRAKES AGAIN. DEALER REPLACED ABS PUMP AND ACCUMULATOR. THE OWNERS' MANUAL SAYS THAT CONVENTIONAL BRAKES WILL REMAIN IF THERE IS AN ABS FAILURE. THAT WAS NOT MY EXPERIENCE.

AFTER LEAVING A PARKING LOT AND TURNING ON TO A BOULEVARD, ACCELLERATED TO ABOUT 15 MPH AND THEN APPLIED BRAKES BECAUSE OF HEAVY TRAFFIC AHEAD. ABS WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, PEDAL WAS VERY FIRM AND I HAD TO PRESS ON THE PEDAL VERY HARD TO STOP THE VEHICLE. IT TOOK ABOUT 6 CAR LENGTHS TO STOP. NO POWER BRAKES AT ALL, AND WITH OUT POWER ASSIST, THE BRAKES ARE NOT AS GOOD AS OTHER CARS WITH OUT POWER DISK BRAKES! THE 1989 ALLANTE ABS BRAKE SYSTEM IS INTEGRAL WITH THE POWER BRAKES; WHEN THE ABS FAILS SO DO THE POWER BRAKES EVEN THOUGH IN THIS CASE THE HYDRAULIC PUMP WOULD WORK IF THE CONTROL RELAY WAS JUMPERED. DEALER CHARGED OVER $3,000. TO REPLACE THE BOSCH ABS SYSTEM WITH A GM REMANUFACTURED BOSCH UNIT, HAVING A ONE YEAR WARRANTY. OTHER MODELS OF CADILLAC CARS INCLUDING THE 1993 ALLANTE HAVE THE ABS UNIT SEPARATE FROM THE POWER BRAKES AND THE COST OF REPLACING EITHER OF THOSE UNITS IS MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE. THIS IS A VERY POOR DESIGN AND MANY MEMBERS OF THE ALLANTE APPRECIATION GROUP HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SAME PROBLEM. FORTUNATELY, I WAS NOT ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE SPEEDS OF THE TRAFFIC FLOW AND HAD ENOUGH CLEAR SPACE AHEAD TO STOP. THESE BRAKES ARE UNSAFE.

THE 1987 - 1992 CADILLAC ALLANTE BOSCH III ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM IS PRONE TO TOTAL FAILURE WITHOUT WARNING. THIS LEAVES THE DRIVER WITH NO ABILITY TO STOP THE CAR IN A REASONABLE DISTANCE. I OWN SUCH A CAR, AND AS A MEMBER OF AN ALLANTE CAR CLUB I HAVE DOCUMENTATION OF AT LEAST 26 DIFFERENT ALLANTE CARS WITHIN OUR GROUP THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED BRAKE FAILURE. THIS TREND IS VERY DANGEROUS TO THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER. CADILLAC REPLACED THE SYSTEM ON THE 1993 MODEL, BUT THE EARLIER MODELS ARE ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN. PLEASE CONTACT ME AT 202-874-7697 AS I CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION THAT VERIFIES THIS TREND. I CANNOT OVEREMPHASIZE THE CRITICAL NATURE OF THIS PROBLEM. THANK YOU.