Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (service brakes, ABS, rotors and pads, parking brake).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2002 Chevrolet Astro owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
On March 26, 2008, I took my 2002 Chevy Astro van to be serviced. Mileage 93,829,I had no brakes. The master cylinder was determined to be the cause of the failure and was replaced. On April 12, 2008, once again I had no brakes, this time it resulted in me getting into and accident. I took the van back to the same repair shop. When they put it on the lift they said the whole braking system was melted until the point of the hose bursting. He said he never saw anything like this in his 20 years of service. They did not want to touch it stating it was now a liability to them and directed me to Chevy. Chevy concurred, four different people said they have never seen or have a clue at what caused this. They called in GM, who also never had seen this, but bounced the blame on a questionably installed master cylinder. …
While driving at 5 MPH consumer attempted to park in the driveway and without warning lost steering ability. Also, brakes were inoperable, and would not stop the vehicle. The vehicle collided with the outside wall of the garage. There was considerable damage to the garage and the vehicle. Consumer sustained no bodily injuries. Sliding door doesn't unlock to open. Dealer replaced ps pump because pump drive shaft was broken, and reinstalled side door.
Tl. Contact owns a 2002 Chevy Astro van. Current mileage was 97,000 and failure mileage were 50,000. Contact stated upon purchasing the vehicle from enterprise car rental the brakes have been bad. Contact stated that the vehicle has been in the shop over 20 time most of the time for the brakes. Contact has crash the due to the brakes on the vehicle. Contact feels thatthe vehicle was a lemon upon purchase and does not feel this vehicle should be on the road. Jo
I got in my van to drive to a store and the brake pedal went right to the floor. There was brake fluid leaking from near the rear tire. The steel hard brake line running from the ABS unit to the rear axle is rusted through and is leaking. This was a sudden event. Also the fuel lines look to be just as bad. I'm sure stainless steel lines would not have added much to the vehicles cost and would have prevented this hazard and expense.
The brakes made a squealing noise, and was replaced. After they were replaced, the brakes locked up which resulted in an accident. When the brakes locked, the vehicle ran into a snowbank. On the second occasion, the brakes locked and slid into the person in front. The vehicle was rear ended and the air bags did not deploy and the seat belts were inoperative. The consumer requested money back.
I began having a situation where my anti-lock brake system would activate at slow speeds <10 MPH such as when pulling into a parking space - this results in the vehicle going forward farther than it normally would - please note that I did not have any accidents. I took it to the dealer which indicated that it was a common problem and they May be able to clean the sensors of corrosion (they did note that the sensors are lightly built and could break requiring replacement during the cleaning process - which they did). I voiced my concern to GM via there customer service system that this failure occurred at 42000 miles on a safety related system (3 years from in service date - 6000 miles out of warrant). I clearly indicated that I felt this was a flaw on what I consider to be a critical component. …
Operated the van for 30 minutes. Parked it in a garage and shutoff engine. Ten minutes later the garage smoke alarm sounded. The van had filled the garage full of smoke. Opened the door and attempted to restart the engine to remove from garage. Display reported an assortment of warnings and engine starter failed to activate. Opened hood to discover flames coming from the underside on the engine. Called for fire department and made first attempt to use a fire extinguisher to stop flames from the engine compartment, was unsuccessful. Went under the van's driver-side and could now see the source of fire. Extinguished the fire, then it shortly erupted again. Extinguished again. Placed the key into the steering column to move transmission to neutral, so that I could push the vehicle out of the garage. Sparks immediately flew from the driver-side underside and re-ignited the fire. …
Vehicle lost all electrical power to every system that is controlled by the ignition being turned on. Driver was in the process of making a u-turn around a curbing island in the divided traffic road when all electrical was interrupted while the steering wheel was turned all the way to the left. Condition caused steering to become difficult, brake pedal went clear to the floor, air conditioning and radio and headlights all went off. Condition was repeatable with exception of brake pedal, each time steering was turned to the left. Inspection under vehicle found that main power cable is routed across front side of main frame motor mount member. There was a slight curve in the way the wire was routed and each time the steering was turned to the left, the inner tie rod end for the right wheel came in contact with the wire harness. …
When the vehicle was started in the morning, the brakes made a grinding noise when depressed. The vehicle was serviced by the dealership twice and they replaced the brake disc, rotors and shoes. While driving down a hill with the brake pedal depressed, the brake system overheated, and a burning odor filled the cabin of the vehicle. The brakes started to pulsate again while going down a mountain, a noise was heard coming from the driveline between shifts and was unable to be duplicated, the transmission slipped and shifted erratically, the engine would break up on a slight acceleration due to the distributor cap and the rotor being corroded.
The consumer's anti-lock brakes don't work properly when pulling into a parking space or under 10 MPH. The consumer had to pump the brakes in order to get vehicle to stop or for warning before slowing down. The vehicle has all wheel drive. The consumer pulled fuse for anti-lock brake many times, and it worked fine without the fuse. Pulling the anti-lock brake fuse deactivated the anti-lock brakes capability. With the anti-lock brake fuse in, the consumer nearly runs into the back of vehicles when stopping. The consumer stated that the incidents happens only when the fuse is in and occured three times at low speed for no reason.
Brake complaints in other Astro years
Frequently asked questions
How common are brake problems on the 2002 Chevrolet Astro?
NHTSA has 23 complaints about the brakes of the 2002 Chevrolet Astro, 33% of the model year's 70 complaints. The component named most often is antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip (8 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2002 Chevrolet Astro brake problems?
No. NHTSA lists no brakes recall for the 2002 Chevrolet Astro, though it has 1 recall for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2002 Chevrolet Astro brake problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 50,000 miles, and 21% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 4 crashes, 1 fire and 3 injuries to brakes problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.