Driving vehicle on dirt road, road abruptly turned to soft sand. Vehicle was lagging in the sand. Able to get vehicle turned around to get back to solid road. Switching between automatic & manual mode on the transmission to keep moving forward. After vehicle was turned around, smelled something burning & saw smoke from under hood. Stopped vehicle to look under hood. Under hood smoke coming from down below engine area on front drivers side area. Smoke was thick white & chemical smelling. Engine area ignited to flames. Attempted to put fire out with water with no luck. Vehicle completely burned up. Vehicle was a rental car.
Chevrolet Caprice fire or smoke problems
13 of the 605 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Caprice describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 1994 model year.
- owner complaints
- 13
- worst model year
- 1994
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
- 20131
- 19971
- 19961
- 19952
- 19943
- 19932
- 19921
- 19912
Often reported together
What owners say
1991 chevrolet caprice vehicle caught fire in the engine compartment. *bf the consumer stated he had just purchased the vehicle and was driving it home. He further stated the vehicle had overheated and he stopped to let it cool down prior to the fire. (ohio traffic crash report # 10-0151-90) *jb updated 05/13/10
1993 chevrolet station wagon caught fire in the dashboard compartment. *kb ohio traffic crash report.
My caprice classic was in my driveway and had not been moved for about 1 hour. After an hour from my car being moved, my car caught on fire. The dash was engulfed in flames when I was made aware that my car was even on fire from a neighborhood kid. I quickly tried to put it out and did so. By the time it had died out and the smoke was gone, the entire middle and partial left side of the dash had melted to the floor of the car. My car did not have the keys in the ignition and nothing was left on. My car just caught on fire by itself. My mother had bought the car from the dealer new and I bought it from her. No modifications had been made to it and everything is original from the maker/dealer/cchevrolet. I noticed that a recall had been made regarding cars catching on fire freom a short. Why wasn't my mother made aware of this in order to correct your problem before something like this happened? Please respond asap. Sincerly, kathleen bagley kkb pending contact.... 07/08/05...
While driving,the consumer smelled a burnt odor coming from the front. The driver was able to pull over and lifted up the hood of the vehicle and discovered smoke coming from the engine. The vehicle caught fire. The driver was able to extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic informed the consumer that the electrical wires had shortened out from the alternator. Electrical wires and alternator needed replacement. Please fill in additional information. *jb *tc
Consumer states the fuel pump on the vehicle went out while the consumer was driving, causing the vehicle to shut off and not move any where. Also the consumer does not think that the fuel pump is in a proper place, because if there was a spark the vehicle could have caught on fire. Contacted dealer.
Windows were not working properly, also when taking a look at vehicle there was smoke coming from door. Contacted dealer. *ak
On numerous occasions consumer would experience total engine failure in which headlights, radio, horn, and the under hood convenience light would not work, and after about 45 minutes vehicle would start up as if there was never anything wrong, consumer took vehicle in to be inspected and it was determined that the fuse block that relays plug into has melted down and the main lug, buss bars and housing needed to be replaced. Consumer was advised by dealership that there is serious design problem with this vehicles mostly used in police and taxi application and in some cases vehicles have caught fire.
A couple of months ago consumer noticed a smell and saw smoke coming from the hood. While inspecting the problem consumer's finger was sufferely burned.
The dashboard had to be replaced because of toxic fumes. Later the instrument panel caught on fire while parked. Dealer has to replace whole dashboard.
Related recalls
Electrical system: ignition
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Chevrolet Caprice vehicles manufactured October 15, 2010, to December 6, 2013, and 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 vehicles manufactured July 25, 2007, to February 18, 2009. In the affected vehicles, the driver may accidentally hit the ignition key with their knee, unintentionally knocking the key out of the run position, turning off the engine.
- Risk
- If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position could cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will remove the key blade from the original flip key/RKE transmitter assemblies, and cut and fit a revised key blade and housing assembly, in which the blade has been indexed by 90 degrees, to the original RKE transmitter assembly. GM issued an interim notification to owners on December 31, 2014. The recall began on February 4, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020 and Pontiac customer service at 1‑800‑762‑2737. GM's number for this recall is 14445. Note: Until the recall has been performed, it is very important that drivers adjust their seat and steering column to allow clearance between their knee and the ignition key.
Recall number 14V540000 · Recall details
Electrical system: wiring: fuses and circuit breakers
- What is wrong
- System: electrical.vehicle description: seq 9c1 police cars in corrosion areas of the us and canada only. Note: vehicles originally sold or currently registered in the states of: connecticut, illinois, indiana, maine, massachusetts, michigan, new hampshire, newjersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, and wisconsin. A electrical ground-out condition may exist between the 12 volt junction block and the metal inner fender skirt.
- Risk
- This condition can cause a melted junction block, smoke,and burned underhood wiring resulting in a disabled vehicle or a vehicle fire.this condition can occur while the vehicle is in operation or while the vehicleis parked and the ignition is in the "off" position.
- Remedy
- Install a shielding insulator under the junction block.
Recall number 93V018000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chevrolet Caprice fire or smoke
Which Chevrolet Caprice years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1994 (3 complaints), 1991 (2 complaints) and 1993 (2 complaints).
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