2001 Chevrolet Tahoe: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jul 5, 2025 · Electrical · MI · fire · 1 injury

Passenger side rear air conditioning blower motor caught on fire and burned vehicle out completely. Fire trucks called to put out fire but is completely burned out. My safety was at risk flames in back by the time I got stopped on highway. Thankful no one was riding in back seat. First issue I had with it and it torched the vehicle. No warnings on dash. Vehicle is waiting to be inspected by insurance adjuster.

Filed Dec 17, 2017 · Electrical, Seat belts · TX · fire

My passenger seat cot on fire. My truck was parked in the mall parking lot as my self husband and two children came out from shopping to my the car I opened my passanger door I got in and adjusted my passanger seat for comfort and my husband was getting the gift and kids in the truck and then all of a sudden I smelled smoke.I got out of the car and I started to look where the smell was coming from and looked under my passenger seat and there was sparks coming from under the seat there was a black box under the seat that was sparking I called 911 and the fire department came and put the fire out my whole passanger side burned and the fire department said it was the motor box under the seat that cot fire bad electrical wiring he said. The car was parked and we had not started it the only thing I did was adjust my seat and as I was waiting for my husband to get in and kids tho get buckled I smelt something burning and my set got hot. I can't believe this happened

Filed Jun 30, 2011 · Brakes · 146,000 miles · VA

The emergency brake on my 2001 chevy tahoe was diagnosed as having bad parking brake / e brake. I was unaware of this situation since I rarely need to use the parking brake. I will have to replace this item at a cost of approx. $575. Many other 2001 tahoes have experienced the same problem.. I have replaced the parking e brakes twice since I purchased the tahoe and now they have failed a third time. I never use the parking brake!! Virginia safety inspection has failed and I have already been pulled over for not having a safety sticker for the parking e brake. There is also a strong burning smell from the rear tire / brake area, I am sure the vehicle will catch fire from the friction the bad design has caused. Parking brake pedal goes to the floor and will not hold the vehicle in drive, neutral, or reverse. Also discovered that the passenger side parking e brake actuator lever is missing and the parking e brake cable is not connected to the passenger side, this same lever is reported online as mysteriously missing from other chevy trucks as well, it is bad when the same part on various vehicles is missing on the same side, coincidence or bad assembly line process, maybe defective part that breaks. Repair is over 1000 dollars. Parking e brake fails to hold the vehicle safely and is endangering lives. Virginia law and safety inspections are not being met due to a serious design flaw of missing parts and a safety device not working properly on a vehicle. Missing safety parts from the assembly is hazardous, if parts were not missing, then they fell off and is still dangerous.

Filed Oct 29, 2008 · Electrical · 57,000 miles · CA · fire

Attempted to turn vehicle off, car making a loud noise after I took key out of ignition. Loud noise would not go away until I disconnected the battery from the car. I attempted several days later to turn vehicle back on. Successful without any noise. Turned off after driven that day. Battery did not need to be disconnected this time. Left car in garage for 2 day (48 hours) untouched and not driven. Sitting in my house eating a sandwich and I smell smoke coming from my garage. I look underneath the car and flames have appeared. I grabbed anything I could to put fire out and successfully did. Car has not been driven since. There is damage underneath the car. The quote to fix is $1800 but have not fixed yet until insurance company approves. If I had not been home to put the fire out it would have burned down my home and killed my dogs. It also would have burned down my neighbors home too because we are attached.

Filed Oct 22, 2008 · Brakes · 62,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 chevrolet tahoe. While the vehicle was parked in the garage for two days, it caught fire. The contact extinguished the flames. A mechanic inspected the vehicle and stated that the fire was caused by the brake relay system. The current and failure mileages were 62,000.

Filed Nov 15, 2005 · Seats · WA

Consumer 2001 chevy tahoe passenger seat was burning . *ts while the vehicle was in motion the consumer smelled burning. There was a blown burn mark in the leather seat where there was melting. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they simply disconnected the seat warmer. The consumer requested that the vehicle be placed back in it's original condition and be reimbursed for the car rental.

Filed Oct 8, 2005 · Seats · 110,000 miles · WA · fire

I own a 2001 chevy tahoe. On october 5th, 2005 I smelled something burning. When I parked my car and pulled a file folder off the seat, it was singed and there was smoke coming from the passenger seat. There was also a brown burn mark and the leather seat was melted. I went to an appointment, making sure there were no indicator lights on. Two hours later I started the car and the smoke began again, this time much worse. I went to sandberg cadillac; they were going to charge me $110 to disconnect the seat. The service manager had gotten into the car to move it and said the seat was still smoldering. They tore the seat out of the car and there was a fire under the leather. At that time the $110 discussion was dropped. I made a comment to the 5 gentleman that this is under warranty, but isn't this safety issue all agreed. Steve and I went back inside and he arranged for a loaner car, through enterprise. Sergio said that he would be putting a call into his gm rep and that he would talk to them about covering the expense of the seat and getting my car back to the original condition of before the fire. There was chemical smoke damage on the interior which dan; the technician assured me they had a machine that would be able to get rid of that smell. October 6th, I speak with sergio and after speaking with the gm rep he is not willing to cover the damage and the extended warranty will cover the hardware, but not the actual seat cushion or cover. At this time we are looking at $1000 worth of damage not including the any rental car expense. I at that time requested a corporate number and reached a bruce mitchell. I gave him the details of the incident and he assured me that someone would be in contact with me between 24 and 48 hours. I am now at the 48 hour mark and have heard nothing.

Filed Nov 29, 2004 · Electrical · 31,000 miles · CA · fire

While driving passenger in the rear seat adjusted the passenger seat and noticed sparks coming from under the seat. Later, the sparks turned into flames. The fire department extinguished the fire because the wires kept igniting.

Filed Jul 14, 2003 · Seat belts, Steering · 48,000 miles · KS · fire

I have had my tahoe in the the dealer several times. Where to begin. We have had middle seat latches catch and need to be replaced, the front dash and radio bubbled up and peeled...that was replaced. A component in the steering column was replaced when the car would just up and die everytime you turned left. That was replaced. The back window latch broke while on vacation. It too was replaced. All the seat/seatbelt recalls were repaired. Then on 5/18/03 our power steering went out without any warning. They replaced it on 5/19/03 at the dealer. We took it back in on 5/30 with the complaint of it still not "feeling" right. It was hard to turn to the left. They found no problem. Then on 7/13/03 while driving with a car full of boys, then the car died and started on fire. The 2 men, both whom have backgrounds as mechanics that help me said that it the universal joint on the power steering box was rubbing against the positive battery cable. Once it rubbed thru the insulation the car caught fire. They had to disconnect the battery before they were able to tow the car because everytime the wheel moved a little it began sparking again. Also, they had to end up towing it from the front because the steering column wouldn't lock up when the ignition was off, so, they couldn't tow it from the back.

Filed May 3, 2001 · Engine · MD

I feel that I stopped the vehicle just seconds before it would have burst into flames, because when I opened the hood to see where the smoke and smell of burning metal and plastic was coming from the catalytic converter was completly red and glowing from the engine malfunction.