# 15 CTD and brakes locking up



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Happens to me too even with 2 disc/2 drum setup. If you have the same LRR tires as me then that's why. I can take a 45 mph onramp at 60 and get the stabilitrac light to flicker. More stickier tires and it should be less of an issue but you may lose some MPG.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Sounds like you activated your ABS.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Tomko said:


> Sounds like you activated your ABS.


Yeah the car does weird things when you reach that point. My rear gets squirrely in the snow.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I've had a handful of panic stops and I have found the EBD (electronic brake force distribution or something like that) and ABS to work quite well. Never any lockup.


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## plasticplant (Mar 26, 2013)

I know the feeling. I posted about this back in late 2013 about my 14 CTD. The ABS on these cars is odd in my opinion. Odd meaning you don't get the break pedal modulation (pulsating) that most are accustom to. The wheels just seem to "lock" (more like mush) and you get some tire squeal. I too find it rather unpleasant and unsettling.


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## Cruze2.0TD (Feb 12, 2014)

I have had this happen to me a few times, but figured I was just crazy. Glad I'm not the only one who has had it happen. I'm used to the pedal pulsating on ABS systems. I find on the Cruze, the pedal drops further than expected and it stops incredibly quickly with a bit of a squeal when this happens. It does stop really quickly though when it does this, and I guess that is what is truly important.


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## Cruz15 (Mar 17, 2016)

I have stopped a couple times hard no problems. I do modulate my braking myself though.


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

It just didn't feel what I was expecting, kinda a pulsing squeal, the main thing is the brakes slowed me down quickly.


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

The Cruze's ABS system works very well, although it feels a bit different than others. The first thing you have going for you is brake force distribution working out where to send braking force from front to back. Secondly, you have panic brake assist which, when the computer detects a panic stop, it automatically increases the braking force to the point of lockup at which point it realizes the boundaries. Third, you have the ABS computer constantly reading wheel speed sensors and determining what the max braking force can be without completely locking the wheel up. This can be a different pressure at each wheel to ensure maximum grip and stopping power while still having steering control. The Cruze seems to almost be able to threshold brake each wheel independently. The screeching you hear is not a complete lock up, but rather the tire on the very edge of grip, going slower than the car is moving but still not locking completely. All of this culminates into what you all have said, it stops VERY quickly, all things considered. GM has some very advanced safety tech. 

TL;DR: basically when you slam on brakes, the ABS computer takes over and sorts everything out for you. 


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Yep, quickly jumping on the brake pedal will treat it as a panic stop. 

The LRR tires probably don't help not make noise either - they'll squeal pretty easily.

I've had to do a panic stop a few times, and the little thing stops quicker than my 4 wheel disc Volvo, which was already excellent.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

i await for the days i need new tires on my CTD to swap rims and go to a sports tire. curios how well it will stop then


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

diesel said:


> I've had a handful of panic stops and I have found the EBD (electronic brake force distribution or something like that) and ABS to work quite well. Never any lockup.


What tires are you running? Maybe the difference is I am on Oem tires? My tires are in great shape since low miles. I was very happy with the car slowing down quickly just surprised me by the squeal.


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

IndyDiesel said:


> What tires are you running? Maybe the difference is I am on Oem tires? My tires are in great shape since low miles. I was very happy with the car slowing down quickly just surprised me by the squeal.


If the ABS is working correctly, you should hear squealing. That is a product of the system. If you don't, you're not getting full braking potential. Squealing does not = locking up. It's the tire on the edge of grip, where it should be. Here's a video of a Toyota Camry doing an emergency ABS stop on dry road, note the squealing here too...
https://youtu.be/Eb7GAWs4Xgk


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## Cruz15 (Mar 17, 2016)

Its been shown several times slamming on the brakes and letting the system do it all takes a little longer to stop than if you stop manually. I would rather take control than give control away to be honest.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Cruz15 said:


> Its been shown several times slamming on the brakes and letting the system do it all takes a little longer to stop than if you stop manually. I would rather take control than give control away to be honest.


??????

It's been shown multiple times that a car with ABS can out-stop the same car with ABS disabled.

Unless it's in snow/icy conditions.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Merc6 said:


> Yeah the car does weird things when you reach that point. My rear gets squirrely in the snow.


This is a sign your rear brakes aren't doing their job of forcing the rear end down. Have you had your rear drums adjusted. My ECO has been incredibly stable in the few emergency braking situations I've dealt with.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Cruz15 said:


> Its been shown several times slamming on the brakes and letting the system do it all takes a little longer to stop than if you stop manually. I would rather take control than give control away to be honest.


Only if you are 100% accurate on your threshold braking. Most people aren't that much in tune with their vehicles.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

obermd said:


> This is a sign your rear brakes aren't doing their job of forcing the rear end down. Have you had your rear drums adjusted. My ECO has been incredibly stable in the few emergency braking situations I've dealt with.


That's next on the list since the brake bleeding.



Cruz15 said:


> I have stopped a couple times hard no problems. I do modulate my braking myself though.


I only do this in the snow, stabilitrac works wonders but the abs setup is meh. I used to turn it all off but at (not gonna tell exact speed for people to try and reenact) it kicked in at freeway speeds in the snow. There is certain cities where they have dry pasty freeway then the plow lifts and exits stage right leaving you with a drastic introduction to the poor city next doors non existent plows.


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## Cruz15 (Mar 17, 2016)

jblackburn said:


> ??????
> 
> It's been shown multiple times that a car with ABS can out-stop the same car with ABS disabled.
> 
> Unless it's in snow/icy conditions.



For the average driver that cant brake properly ABS will help them. For people that can it does not. Cheers.

When the weather gets bad all the junk gets turned off when I drive, I like to feel whats going on under me.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

abs like a automatic trans are consistent. 90% of drivers are not enthusiast and of the small enthusiast % a even smaller % can threshold brake perfectly on the track let alone in a street scenario that is always changing. abs does save lives and provides nearly same brake distance and characteristics each and every time. give an F1 or lemans driver a street car no abs in a emergency stop they will do well but not as well as on a track


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## jmlo96 (May 2, 2015)

Merc6 said:


> Happens to me too even with 2 disc/2 drum setup. If you have the same LRR tires as me then that's why. I can take a 45 mph onramp at 60 and get the stabilitrac light to flicker. More stickier tires and it should be less of an issue but you may lose some MPG.


I can confirm this. When I had the stock FR710s it would lock up for a brief moment. This problem went away with the stickier tires I have now.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

pandrad61 said:


> i await for the days i need new tires on my CTD to swap rims and go to a sports tire. curios how well it will stop then


I already have 18 X 8 wheels and Bridgestone Potenza tyres on my CTD and it stops very quickly without any drama.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

obermd said:


> This is a sign your rear brakes aren't doing their job of forcing the rear end down. Have you had your rear drums adjusted. My ECO has been incredibly stable in the few emergency braking situations I've dealt with.


Random bump got me back here. Ended up brake cleaning and re greasing the caliper pins. Same time air if it was in the system worked it's way out so pedal went back to normal. Car stops better than it did brand new.



Cruz15 said:


> For the average driver that cant brake properly ABS will help them. For people that can it does not. Cheers.
> 
> When the weather gets bad all the junk gets turned off when I drive, I like to feel whats going on under me.


All the junk as in as much as you possibly can holding down the traction control button or you pulling fuses?


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Pulse rate on a good ABS system should be 10 pulses per second, my now "old" Cruze was more like one pulse per second, and if the brakes were applied hard enough to activate the ABS, sounded like the front end was going to fall off.

Talked to my dealer about this, was told dey all do dis. Just allowed more time to stop so I wouldn't have to use the ABS.

My 88 Supra Turbo has ABS, ABS pump is huge and separate from the module, can even hot wire it for proper bleeding and uses proportioning valves for the rear brakes. Cruze looks like a toy, can fit about a half a dozen of these things in the space my Supra uses, and that pump looks like what you would find on a toy slot car. Also pulsing the two rear brakes to save a couple of bucks on proportioning valves. Never learned what would happen if you lost ABS, one bad connection to a wheel sensor kills these systems. Are they apply full pressure to the rears? This can cause a skid. 

No way to hot wire that pump for proper bleeding, need a GM Tech II scanner for this. And my dealer can't even read the shop manual as the only proper way to bleed the brakes. Insists on using the pressure method that spills fluid all over the place, what a mess he made, and the pedal still went clear to the floor.

Could only vacuum bleed, but had to drive the car several times to activate the pump for a second, did this five times, than vacuum again, another five times in a roll, to finally get a full pedal. 

Dey don't make-em like dey use to.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

Cruz15 said:


> For the average driver that cant brake properly ABS will help them. For people that can it does not. Cheers.
> 
> When the weather gets bad all the junk gets turned off when I drive, I like to feel whats going on under me.


As much as I am a car person and enjoy feeling what the car is doing, that whole anti-abs argument can stay at the track honestly. When someone pulls out in front of you and you have less than a second to react, the last thing you need to be doing is worrying about braking technique. Jam the **** pedal to the floor and forget about it. And concentrate on possibly avoiding an accident instead of trying to listen/feel for what the tires are doing. Just my .02. 

Personally, I've driven a lot of vehicles in my time, many of them being considered sports cars, and the Cruze is probably the best braking thing I've ever driven.


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