Brake Fluid Leak and failure
 

This happened to me on the way home from work this morning. I was approaching an intersection where the light was green but the timer was counting down and the driver in front of me came to a full halt on a green light. So I had to jam on my brakes and turn into the left turning lane to avoid this idiot. But afterwards, I noticed my brake pedal was soft and sinking almost to the floor. I had a mile drive and the pedal was getting worse and smoke was coming from underneath the hood. I figured I must have ruptured a brake line and it was spewing fluid onto the hot engine, not good. I arrived home and sure enough, I saw flames under the hood. I grabbed a water hose and quickly put it out. I checked for damage and it just looks like the outer harness plastic was melted but no wires. But now I have no brakes. Anyone have the same experience or knows where the leak might be?

It could be the rubber hose on the front caliper, or one of the metal brake lines could have rusted out. A close visual inspection should reveal the source of your leak. If you can't find the leak easily, you might fill up the brake fluid reservoir and have someone depress the brake pedal while you watch for fluid escaping.

My wife had the same issue happen in her Escalade. The brake lines underneath had rusted. It seems to be a common issue with GM because of the way water settles on top of them.

I had some wheel bearing work done a few weeks ago. I wonder was a brake line dislodged or not clamped back properly? I will check out all the suggestions you guys listed tomorrow. Thanks

Had exactly the same problem a couple of months ago, in my case the left-fron brake-line had completely ruptured in-half.

On my to-do list is to replace all the lines with SS ones.

How much did it cost you to repair?

The brake lines rusting out on the H2's is a common problem. Many of us have replaced the lines with with either Stainless steel lines or NiCopp lines. I have felt the spongy pedal and that is not a good feeling. I'm glad you are ok and the damage was minor. Good Luck!

UPDATE: I checked the brake lines on Saturday and there is a hole on the left driver's side brake line. Looks to be rusted out so I guess the added pressure from my sudden stop earlier in the week made it fail. I gotta make a couple of calls tomorrow to get some estimates.

Thanks.
The spongy pedal was minor compared to the fire that started when I got home. It could've been much much worse.