2001 Pontiac Grand Am: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jan 5, 2022 · Fuel system · WI · fire

When I was gassing up my car, a fuel leak occurred in the gas tank and my car caught on fire. The gas station attendant used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. I had 113,262 miles on my car. As you can see, the leak in the plastic gas tank caused the gas tank fuel pump to burn up and burn up its wiring harness. I don't want any money but I just thought the federal safety agency should know. I do not need money because my insurance company will be reimbursing me for my total loss of the car.

Filed Aug 26, 2010 · Electrical · 60,000 miles · TX

I have owned my 2001 pontiac grand am se for 2 years. It was given to me from my mother. Before owning the car, my mother complained of the turn signal noise constantly going at a sporadic rate at random times. It still makes this noise at a constant rate to this very day. At times, I even notice a very tiny amount of smoke coming from the steering column. I researched this online and this is a common problem among grand am owners. Since I have seen others are having the same problem, I called the dealership to see if there is a recall on the vehicle. I gave my VIN and I was told that there is no recall on the car although I do see a recall about the hazard light switch online. I believe this could possibly cause an electrical fire. It has not happened to me yet, but if it does any I am hurt as a result, there will be a lawsuit.

Filed Jun 2, 2008 · Electrical · 157,000 miles · MI

About a year after I got the car, which was around 3 years ago, I was in a parking lot & turned it off for a few minutes and then when I went to start it again it would not start. Also, the security light was flashing. That happened again 6 months later and then 3 months after that and then every month. Then about 2-3 weeks ago the interior chime and interior lights wouldn't shut off. It was exactly what it would do if I had just put my key in and the door was open. However, my key was not in and the doors were closed. We disconnected a fuse and that at least made the noise and lights go off and kept my battery from dying. My radio also didn't work but I could live with that. Then about a week and a half ago my car started locking itself every 30 seconds and the trunk opened every time the car locked. I opened the drivers side door and smoke came pouring out. I called a neighbor and he disconnected my battery and took my car to his house to work on it. He called me back the next day and said that a module underneath my passenger side dash was misfiring and if we had not disconnected the battery when we did the car would have caught fire. I saw the old computer module. Half of the plastic was melted away and the wires were burnt. He got a new one from a junk yard for $50 for me and reset it, with a machine from work, to my passlock. That seems to have fixed the problem but I've read complaints from other owners of pontiac grand ams and the same things are happening to them. I just listed a complaint and let them know what I did to fix it but if this is happening to that many people someone could get hurt if they don't know what to get fixed. My car almost caught fire and it wasn't even on!

Filed Apr 14, 2005 · Lights · 28,000 miles · WI

Our 2001 pontiac grand am was making a clicking noise by the switch for the hazard light for a couple months. Tonight it would not stop and the car started smoking. I went to your web site only to find out that the car was recalled and we were not notified. I am very disturbed by the fact that car manufacturers do not have to notify owners of failures to the vehicles. What if my car had started on fire and not just smoked. We had a similar incident with our ford explorer and the gas filter being faulty. We were not notified on that either and the vehicle would lurch when put in reverse. An accident could easily have occurred with that problem. I think you need to start making the car manufacturers notify owners of problems. If I didn't have access to the internet I wouldn't have known this was recalled.

Filed Jan 12, 2004 · Electrical, Engine · 34,000 miles · OK · fire

Water leaked into floorboard from air-conditioner. Grinding noise coming from the front and back wheels. Trim came loose from back bumper. Rearview mirror fell off. Had numerous times where the car would crank but not start (dealership could not duplicate problem) front driver window would not come down on occasion. Car caught fire under the dashboard while parked in our garage. The fire did extensive damage to the interior of the car. The inspector sent out to look at the car (by gm) said the fire was electrical and not caused by anything we did to the car. The car was repurchased by gm on january 7, 2004 after basically calling them on a daily basis to get something done about it.