2017 GMC Sierra 1500: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Feb 5, 2026 · Visibility · MD · 1 injury

While using the rear defrost my daughter smelled burning. Moments after the smell the rear window exploded. This is a sliding three part window and it shattered on the passenger side. My daughter was hit by the exploding glass.

Filed Nov 17, 2025 · Visibility · 109,000 miles · NH

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that after remote starting the vehicle, upon entering the vehicle, the contact became aware of a burning odor in the interior of the vehicle. In addition, the contact noticed smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle, and the back glass was fractured. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a failed defrost resistor. The contact was informed that the defrost resistor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact stated that five years prior, a recall repair was performed, and the defrost resistor was replaced under the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 109,000.

Filed Sep 3, 2025 · Electrical · TN

Reverse lights stay on. Causing the battery to drain. The fuse box under the hood is prone to go bad. Even with no corrosion. GM knows this and has not fixed the issue. Its a common problem going back many years. The need to upgrade the fuse box under the hood & the wiring harnesses. My taillight harnesses were completely burned up. The truck could of caught fire. This should be a recall. Instead GM wants to take the money they are making off all the fuse boxes they are selling.

Filed Feb 25, 2025 · Electrical · PA

Approximately 3 miles into my trip i smelled something burning, thought it was a tractor trailer in front of me. Then my cab filled with smoke, I pulled over on the side of the road and examined the truck. The rear sliding window on the passenger side was cherry red and smoldering. I shut off the rear defrost, the cherry went out then the window shattered. No warning or beeps. My passenger and my safety were at risk to smoke inhalation, the possibility of a wreck, or burning. Gm claims there is no recall on this. But Canada has 159k recalls on this. Vehicle has 120444 miles on it. Temperature was 45 degrees out today at time of incident

Filed Nov 28, 2024 · Electrical · PA

I remote started my truck and entered the vehicle with my girlfriend approximately 3mins after remote starting. We immediately smelled smoke that smelled like an electrical fire. I heard sizzling/static-like/electrical short sounds coming from back seat and when I looked back, I saw thick white smoke pouring out of the the small black plastic trim piece on the rear power sliding window that covers the electrical connections between the sliding pane of the power sliding window and the solid, non-moving pane of glass on the passenger side of the rear window assembly. I immediately shut the truck off and climbed into the back seat with a flashlight to investigate. While looking at the rear window, the passenger side non-moving pane of glass in the rear window EXPLODED very loudly, which actually hurt my ears. The glass stayed intact but spider webbed the entire pane. I immediately pulled the fuse for the rear defroster and cleared the tremendous about of smoke that had filled my cab. The window continued to make sizzling and static like noises for the 20min ride home. Upon investigating this issue online, I discovered that GM has issued a recall on this defect for all of Canada and only certain US states that are above a certain longitude, which doesn’t include my state of PA. I am terrified to use my remote starter on the vehicle now or even preheat the truck manually for fear of burning mu truck down. I contacted a GM dealership who told me my truck didn’t have any active recalls on it and to file an insurance claim. I have since filed a complaint to GM customer service who is investigating my claim to determine if they will cover the repair. They said up to 30days to make determination! This is a huge safety hazard that is known and acknowledged to be in every Silverado and Sierra with a power sliding rear window within the model years 2014-1017

Filed May 2, 2024 · Electrical · OH · fire

In January 2024, I parked my truck in my garage and shortly after I smelled an electrical burning smell in our house. When I opened the garage, it had smoke throughout the garage and a very strong odor of electrical burning smell. I moved my vehicle outside and tried to find the source, but it was too strong to narrow it down, and the garage smelled like burnt electrical for days. I took the truck to a service shop and they could not find anything wrong at the time. Today, May 2024, I was having trouble getting my trailer lights working. Upon further inspection, I discovered the 7-way interface wiring harness on my vehicle had electrically shorted out and melted a hole in the plastic housing and left melted plastic on the truck frame. The tag on the wiring harness states TAG #138359 7-WAY INTERFACE HARNESS W/O 134971. I believe this electrical short/fire should be part of the NHSTA Recall 18E-014. That recall states those are aftermarket harnesses, but the harness on the vehicle in this complaint is original to the vehicle and was installed by the manufacturer. I plan to take the vehicle back to the dealer to have the harness replaced, but I am expecting pushback since the NHSTA recall states this is only aftermarket harnesses.

Filed Jul 17, 2017 · 3,605 miles · NY · fire

I was towing a trailer for approx: 5 miles when I notice a strange odor and I pulled over and realized the truck had caught on fire by it self and police and good samaritin tried to put it out but was not successful . Hence the truck and trailer were a total loss along with $ 750 worth hand tools. ( trailer worth approx: $12,500) I was on a two lane road speed 40 (it was a rental truck)