general problems of the 1998 GMC Jimmy

I was driving a 1998gmc Jimmy from oklahoma city, ok to walters, ok. Everything was great and the car was driving perfectly. I was on the he bailey turnpike on highway marker 30 - I could see the sign and pull off for the faxon exit and the big sign for walters. A few wisps of white smoke appeared and then heavy grey smoke started to billow into my face through the right side vent of the driver's seat. I started to cough and couldn't see so I pulled over to the shoulder of the road. As I got out of the car, I pulled the hood release and ran to the front of the vehicles. Under the hood, half of the engine bay was already burned away - like the bottle for anti-freeze and hoses. . . . The whole engine bay was on fire. The car was gone at that point - there was no way to save it. I ran to the passenger front seat and grabbed a basket that had my census id and I threw it away from the car. I grabbed some cds then too, but they were on fire. The dash was on fire and was spreading into the front seat. I threw the cds in the dirt to extinguish the fire. I grabbed the passenger side door of the back seat and grabbed a hamper with presents for my daughter. I ran to the other side back seat and grabbed the legal papers of census applicants - they were on fire and I snuffed out the fire in the dirt. I grabbed my jean jacket with my military id and driver's license - the back seat and front seat were on fire and I ran away from the vehicle and it fireballed and exploded. Two men from the turnpike maintenance saw me driving - smoking pouring out front he vehicle; they saw me pull out on the shoulder and saw me running to salvage what I could from the burning vehicle. They came to help me and called the fire department and highway patrol. Minor injuries I had smoke inhalation, minor burns to face - soot on hands & feet. Unk mileage. . Read more...

The engine continually misfires. There is a TSB bulletin #00-06-04-003b. Deposit buildup on popped valve ball &/or seat, causing it to stick. There is a recall because of this but only in California. I live in alaska. I got an estimate of $1200 bucks to fix this problem. Because of this, I only get 5-7 mpg, and have little power. Also, my abs light turns on and the abs activates at low speeds on dry ground. My electrical system is totally messed up. My right clicker just the sound not light) goes off when driving. It is completely erratic and unpredictable. My speakers turn off and on sporadically. My driver side seat adjuster broke off with little pressure. My steering wheel continuously pulls to the right. This many problems in a vehicle is ridiculous. What a lemon. Especially since I have seen the same exact complaints all over this sight about this specific vehicle.

Turn signal and hazard light failure, electric window control failure off and on.

Consumer states that while driving at any speed on the highway whenever the windshield wipers are used they would stop working without warning. It was later discovered that a bad circuit broad and faulty soldering were the cause of the problem. A recall was issued for the 1997 vehicles but not the 1998. The manufacturer was notified.

Since owning this vehicle, two problems have been chronic. #1 the drivers side window does not fully open nor close without assistance. #2 the blinker sound comes on for no reason and stays on for random lengths of time. Tapping on the brake will turn off the blinker noise for a short time, but it comes back on often. Yes, I have replaced the fuses multiple times.