EVENTS THAT LEAD TO FAILURE: 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT RANDOMLY SHUT OFF, INSTRUMENT GAUGE NEEDLES RANDOMLY FLICKER/TWITCH, BAD SMELL THAT IN MY OPINION RESEMBLED A BURNT FOOD/SULFUR COMBINATION. IT STARTED OUT LIGHTLY AND RANDOMLY FOR A FEW WEEKS, BUT BECAME HEAVIER AND CONSTANT OVER A WEEK. A KNOCKING NOISE CAME FROM THE REAR OF THE CAR, IDLE SURGED, AND CRUISE CONTROL FAILED TO DISENGAGE. FAILURE & CONSEQUENCES: FIRE! COMPONENT THAT FAILED WAS A CANISTER/SENDING UNIT REAR OF THE GAS TANK WITH THE CONSEQUENCE OF A FIRE AND THE TOTAL LOSS OF MY 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT. THE EVENING PRIOR I CONTACTED MY LOCAL DEALER ABOUT THE SMELL AND I TOLD THEM I HAVE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON. THE NEXT DAY DRIVING TO THE DEALERSHIP THE SMELL/ODDER INTENSIFIED. MY THOUGHTS WERE, WE'LL AT LEAST THEY CAN'T SAY THEY DON'T SMELL IT OR GIVE ME THE "CAN'T DUPLICATE IT" DECISION. I ONLY MADE IT HALFWAY WHEN MY CAR HAD A MAJOR ELECTRICAL/MECHANICAL FAILURE. I WAS ASSISTED BY CARS TRAVELING BEHIND ME AS ONE POINTED OUT MY CAR WAS ON FIRE AND THE CAR SHUT DOWN, ALL WITHOUT ANY WARNING LIGHTS! THE FIRE SEVERELY BURNED THE ENTIRE BACK HALF OF THE CAR. AFTER BEING INSPECTED BY A VERY WELL SEASONED FIRE INSPECTOR THE FIRE WAS DIAGNOSED TO COME FROM A CANISTER/SENDING UNIT MALFUNCTION. AGAIN NO WARNING LIGHTS GM! IN MY OPINION THE RANDOM SHUTTING DOWN OF THE CAR, THE GAUGES TWITCHING/FLICKERING, THE STRANGE KNOCKING NOISE AND THE SMELL/ODDER WAS ALL PART OF THE SAME PROBLEM. CORRECTED FAILURES: IN REFERENCE TO