Burning smell, white smoke

[skarekrow]

So this is the first brand new truck Ive ever owned. On three occasions now I could smell something burning, it did not smell like rubber, coolant or electronics. So Im not sure what it was, but there was white smoke coming out of the front end. This has now happened 3 times. I called a cousin of mine who seems to buy a new truck every 2 years and he said "that's bad" and then laughed a little. He then said it could be a hose hitting something hot but not to be too concerned yet. But now Im wondering if this is why these are going through a recall, or if its something else. The display never did any of the things GM mentioned would happen when these smoke events occurred. Anyone else had these bouts of smell and white smoke?

Edited January 11, 2014 by skarekrow

[mike-z71]

I've seen others suggesting it could be the undercoating on the frame that is causing the smell. As far as the smoke goes, no idea. That is a new one. Good luck.

[skarekrow]

Yeah the problem with the smoke is that its cold up here and these events have only happened at night, so its easy to confuse smoke with steam or just the cold air mixing with the heat under the hood, but it seemed at the time to be much more than the usual amount of "steam".

[mike-z71]

Silly questions but any way it could have been mistaken for the wind blowing the exhaust to the front of the truck? Was it just the way you were looking at it? I had a similar incident leaving work yesterday but i could easily see it was just the way the exhaust was being taken into the wind.

[anthony2558]

Id say that its just residue that is burning off from the factory. If you start to see smoke any other color then white, id be a little more concerned. I doubt its a hose, but always double check for peace of mind. Mine, for the first 2 days had white smoke coming directly out of the front grill. After a long drive and the engine up to temp. I got home and parked I could see it coming out.

[skarekrow]

Nah Im sure it wasn't, It started as I was leaving a parking lot, and continued for about 4 miles on my ride home, and I noticed it yesterday briefly right when I got home.

[skarekrow]

yeah anthony, thats exactly what it was, white smoke coming out from the grille once i stopped

[anthony2558]

its gotta be stuff burning off from the factory. I have a little of 2000 miles on the truck and it no longer smokes.

[PhilB]

Has anyone thought about looking to see the source of where the white smoke is coming from?

[mike94silverado]

my 11 had all sorts of smells like that.... went away after a few weeks

[GMCustomerService]

Hey skarekrow,

 

Have you reached out to your dealership regarding this concern? If this is something you would like us to assist in setting up please reach out via PM including your full name and contact information, VIN, current mileage, and involved dealership.

Sincerely,

Jonathan A. (Assisting Jennifer)
GM Customer Care

[CBGB]

This is happening on my 2014 Silverado LTZ as well. Almost 2000 miles. I'm in Wisconsin, so it goes without saying that it's cold here. I notice it when I take the truck through a car wash. I'm almost positive it's coming from the parking sensor nodes on the bumper and possibly the starter.

 

The truck has been in for two recalls: catching on fire (makes me feel great when I smell buring still) and an actuator in the rear power window. None too pleased lately. Third truck I've owned ... second GM.

 

Bumper Sensor:

 

It happened to me today, again, after a car wash. The Parking Assist nodes freeze and then the system shuts them off. When I got out of the truck in my parking garage at work, I could smell it and see the smoke rising from one of the parking sensors on the front bumper as I walked around the front of the truck. I smelled burning right out of the car wash too. This may be a good way to test to see if it's still happening and/or when it's cold out ? Maybe when road spray gets them wet ?

 

Starter:

 

Background: When I tried to remote start when it was really cold, it didn't after a few attempts. The check engine light came on. After I remote started it in the garage at work where it was 65 degrees that same day ... the check engine light went off. I assumed it came on since it couldn't auto start ... But, I smelled it again when it took a really long time to turn over and it was cold out.

 

So maybe it's the starter too ? After the recall work, it takes a very long time to turn over ... too many cranks before the engine fires. Not so much slow as in drained battery or really cold, just long crank times. Not sure what to do about that one.

 

 

[migtin688]

Just picked up a Sierra 1500 on 14 October 2014. It was raining on and off all day and road spray was present from cars in front. About 5 miles driving away from the dealership, I had white smoke appear out of the right side of the grill from my prospective driving. I was able to see it while stopped at two red lights. This started as soon as I turned the heat on set to 70 with A/C Defrost. A mild smell came into the cab and after seeing it the second time, never saw it again. A light smell was noticeable at home when I went to the front of the grill at home. Dealership suggested it was burning off cleaner used prior to delivery to me and told me on a few occasions while demonstrating the vehicle to the new owner inside the garage, this can happen and of course freaks out the new owner. If this is reoccurring, this is a problem. The smell was lighter than smoldering paper, but enough to stare at your grill awaiting black smoke and flames which never happened.

 

Weather: 60 degrees and Rain.

Truck: 2015 GMC 1500 Sierra Denali.

Milage at occurrence: 08 and 012.

Where: At a red light both times. (No one in front of me and not my exhaust)

 

Incident has not reoccurred and I have 75 miles on it now.

[Silverado-Hareek]

While I haven't seen any smoke, my engine compartment smelled like burnt rubber or burnt lubricant for about the first 6-8 weeks of ownership, and then it went away. I just assumed it was factory residue on the engine burning off. I haven't had any engine troubles or anything knock on wood. Just frame rust, shifting driver seat, flickering mylink display, and an on-again/off-again relationship with a vibration at 65+ mph. But no smoke in the engine haha

[Silverado-Hareek]

Noticed this front end "smoke" today but I'm pretty sure it's just steam from the hot engine air mixing with the outside cold air. I popped my hood to check out my catch can install and I could see the steam forming and rising when I did that while the engine was off. No burning plastic/oil smell so I'm pretty certain it was just steam. Next, I noticed it when I parked at the bank and idled for a few minutes and I wasn't too concerned knowing what I just saw when I popped the hood.