Hi everyone! When I got my 2012 Captiva I had the same electrical problems that so many of us have experienced. My solution was to replace the battery harness. It was a simple fix but caused grief to lots of folks. But here's a real scary issue I've been encountering within the last 1-3 months: When I'm driving my Captiva, all is well. But anytime I put the car in PARK and leave it idling, about 3 minutes later I can smell burning insulation. I have found that when I put the car in NEUTRAL and let it idle, I do not get that burning smell. I have even seen white wisps of smoke over by the turn signal stalk! To me, something about putting the car in Park and allowing it to idle (like at a drive-thru) will cause some stinky burning smells. Has anyone experienced this, or can anyone figure out where I should start looking? Even though there's quite a bit of high current running to the ignition switch, I don't think that's it, based solely on area of smoke I observed. But I am hoping some brilliant owner can shed some light. All my thanks to anything helpful.

 

Maybe in park a wire gets pinched and leads to a short. Pro Tip: NEVER let the smoke out!!
Can you take shroud off collumn so you can better see what's going on?
AND welcome to Chevy!

 

Hi there, Rednucleus! Thanks for the quick response! And I hold the smoke in as long as possible! Actually, I did take off the covering over the steering column. No wires appear melted. BUT when I started the car, sure as anything the smell returned. And to my surprise, it's a little square thingy that's attached to the ignition switch housing that is BOILING hot. I will attach a pic. Now that I know, I'm TRYING to order a new ignition switch (which is nearly impossible due to the UAW strike).

Thank you again for getting back so fast and I hope this helps someone else down the road!

This is the smelly bugger! It's attached to the steering column.

 

So, the white arrow in the above image is pointing to a "shift interlock solenoid" (GM 95931073) and it attaches with 2 phillips screws onto the ignition housing. It's duty cycle starts when: you turn the key on, then apply the brake and finally, the transmission is shifted into gear. The longer the vehicle idles in Park, or even sits with the key on, the hotter it will get. However, it should NOT get so hot as to start smoking and stinking! Since the solenoid seems to be more available (and cheaper!) than the entire ignition housing, I'm gonna try replacing it first. FWIW, I'll document my progress until complete. Thank you.

 

Well, Red, guess it's just you an' me looking at these posts, huh? Mebbe not even you!! Anyway, on the off-chance that someone might benefit from my experience, I replaced the shift interlock solenoid (Amazon-$21.90 [OEM!]). Needed two new shear bolts (22722469) as well to allow for the ignition housing to clamp onto the steering column. This was what the OLD part looked like:


Hence, the stink.
Unfortunately, the new part is getting hot as well, albeit not as fast as the old one. We can idle in park for about 10 minutes before it gets hot, as opposed to 3 minutes. Will have to continue the work-around until something else pops into mind....sad.

 

Does it get to hot to touch??

 

Not scalding hot, but you can't hold yer finger on it for more than a split second.

 

That seems very wrong and a fire hazard in the enclosed column. I'll bet something else is wrong causing the overheat.

 

We have the same issue w/o the smoke - solenoid is busted and the key is getting stuck. Tiring of the manual operating workaround. Time to fix this once and for all.

How did you wind up removing the solenoid? There's so little space I can't see how you could access it w/o disassembling everything on the steering column.

 

Well, well...someone FINALLY has this issue! Nice to meet you! To answer your question, I had to remove the clamps that go around the steering column itself. They are bolted on with these things called "shear bolts". There are two of them (GM OEM Part #22722469) and their heads are designed to break off after it's tightened all the way (supposedly to deter thieves). Make darn sure you're 100% finished with the job before you finally break them off, 'cause it's a real bummer to unloosen them! To unloosen the originals, you have to use a sharp chisel and hammer to etch a notch on either side of the bolt and just patiently tap-tap-tap counterclockwise until they twist all the way off. The clamps are like half-moons on either side of the column. Once all this comes off you can unhook a couple of wires and you can get to EVERYTHING! And FYI, I still have not busted off my shear bolt heads yet--knowing everything fits back into place, I suppose I'll never break 'em off--Ain't worried! Cheers!!