97 Buick PA ultra AC problems

I installed a rebuilt supercharger and disconnected the battery apparently with the ac on.

After the supercharger was replaced, I connected everything and when I started the car the AC contols don't work.

I have to turn it on manually even though I turned it to AUTO. It only works in the defrost and floor position even though I manually move the mode swith through all positions, mid, mid-floor, floor, windshield-floor. I have to manually move the fan speed also.

I then turned the AC controls to off, disconnected the positive side of the batteryand let it set awhile. I reconnected everything, turned the key to on for awhile and started the car. I then heard actuators working when I turned the AC controls to on but the AC still works but still doesn't respond to the AC controls.

The AC worked well in all positions B4 I disconnected the battery while in the On position. to replace the supercharger.

I'm really frustrated and need some expert advice.
Thx

Not real sure on this one. You can try disconnecting both battery cables and touch both cable ends to each other, hold them togther for about 30 sec. this will completely drain all capacitors in the vehicle and maybe "reset" the a/c module. I've had this work on some oddball stuff before. I have also read on some other posts to turn the ignition key to the on/run position for 3 minuites (car not running). This allows the actuators to relearn their positions. Good luck!

Not real sure on this one. You can try disconnecting both battery cables and touch both cable ends to each other, hold them togther for about 30 sec. this will completely drain all capacitors in the vehicle and maybe "reset" the a/c module. I've had this work on some oddball stuff before. I have also read on some other posts to turn the ignition key to the on/run position for 3 minuites (car not running). This allows the actuators to relearn their positions. Good luck!

I'll give it a try later today, thanks!

Well I made some progress.
I disconnected both battery terminals and connected the with a battery cable for 15 minutes.

After re-connecting them, I had the AC unit OFF and put my ignition key into the run position for 15 minutes. When I started the car, I hit AUTO on th AC main control and I started ti get cold air from the main dashboard vents, all 4 of them. However, this last for two minutes and without doing anything, the auto went off and the cold air started back through the windshield and floor vent.

A good start but what should I do now? Disconnect all the actuators behind the dash board panels while disconnecting again both battery terminals and starting over again?

What should I do next?

Well I made some progress.
I disconnected both battery terminals and connected the with a battery cable for 15 minutes.

After re-connecting them, I had the AC unit OFF and put my ignition key into the run position for 15 minutes. When I started the car, I hit AUTO on th AC main control and I started ti get cold air from the main dashboard vents, all 4 of them. However, this last for two minutes and without doing anything, the auto went off and the cold air started back through the windshield and floor vent.

A good start but what should I do now? Disconnect all the actuators behind the dash board panels while disconnecting again both battery terminals and starting over again?

What should I do next?

You obviously have a vacuum leak- underhood from when you disturbed the vacuum source when you replaced the supercharger- Your issue is NOT electronic- it is vacuum....look for cracked/broken deteriated vacuum hose connections- trace it back from vacuum reservoir on firewall to engine intake source....replace hoses, lines as necessary.

Whenever there is not enough vacuum supplied to climate controller- the spring loaded air mode doors default to defrost for safety reasons...this is your first clue. Also a second clue is that the air flow will divert to floor and defrost while under massive acceleration maneuvers---because there is less vacuum available from your engine under these conditions.

I had this problem once and it was due to disconnecting the battery by taking off the positive cable first instead of the ground cable first, as is the proper way to do it. If you do it backwards the right side actuator arm that directs flow to the proper places breaks and you end up with A/C like you have it. There are some good posts and pics on how to replace the actuator in the database if you search for them. Good luck. I have had numerous small problems like this with my 96 PA since I bought it in 2004. If it wasn't for this board it would have cost me a fortune to have them repaired. I like the car but it sure has a lot of high dollar electronic gadgets that wear out or fail sooner or easier than I think they should. I also forgot about the vacuum line problem I had too that is similar to this. The plug behind the glove box that all the vacuum hoses go into will become soft and collapse and cause flow direction problems. There are also some good threads about the repair options for this poor design also you can find by doing a search of this forum.

I used some propane torch gas to go around all the hoses and fittings while the motor was running and the idle didn't increase. I guess I didn't have a leak with hoses in the engine compartment after the supercharger job,

I'll need to find where the vacuum line goes inside the dash and check it out that way.
Thanks,

Tonite, I replaced each vacuum hose I could see on the engine but to NO avail. The AC still blow on the windshield and floor no matter what setting you move to. I want under the car, firewal area and didn't see where any vacuum on the 97 PA goes into the cabin,

On another post their was a vacuum block behind the glove box,, Does anyone know it it's there on the 97 PA?

Thanks for all the input as I'm trying everything.

Tonite, I replaced each vacuum hose I could see on the engine but to NO avail. The AC still blow on the windshield and floor no matter what setting you move to. I want under the car, firewal area and didn't see where any vacuum on the 97 PA goes into the cabin,

On another post their was a vacuum block behind the glove box,, Does anyone know it it's there on the 97 PA?

Thanks for all the input as I'm trying everything.
in the bottom right casing below the glove box there is a place where all of the vacuum lines connect to a plastic piece which has rubber that collaspes after some some time you need to bypass the plastic piece where they all connect the same thing happened to my 96. search the forums there are more articles like this and some helpful pictures

one more thing the vacuum line going into the cabin is located on the passenger side towards the top

I went to the Buick dealer Parts department and looked at a microfiche of the AC controls.
I talked to a mechanic that came in asking for the location of the vacuum manifold beheind the glove box. He spent some time with me and when we looked at the fiche, there was no vacuum lines there. He told me to hook up a scanner and read the body module codes as everything on this model is electronic. ????

From the firewall, I don't see any lines going thru the firewall,

Maybe on the 97PA there's a vacuum resivor around the front wheel ?

Any more tips from the more experienced?
Thanks

I went to the Buick dealer Parts department and looked at a microfiche of the AC controls.
I talked to a mechanic that came in asking for the location of the vacuum manifold beheind the glove box. He spent some time with me and when we looked at the fiche, there was no vacuum lines there. He told me to hook up a scanner and read the body module codes as everything on this model is electronic. ????

From the firewall, I don't see any lines going thru the firewall,

Maybe on the 97PA there's a vacuum resivor around the front wheel ?

Any more tips from the more experienced?
Thanks

This article may help you. The exact location of the programmer may be different on the Park Ave to what's pictured in the article, but the basics are the same.

http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/fix_vacuum_line.htm

one more thing the vacuum line going into the cabin is located on the passenger side towards the top

Is it in the 1" thick bundle of wires etc. going through the firewall behind the AC accumulator?

I don't see any separate vacuum line?
Thanks

Check out this link for a fix to your possible vacuum connector issuehttp://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/fix_vacuum_line.php

Check out this link for a fix to your possible vacuum connector issuehttp://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/fix_vacuum_line.php :confused: Would this be the link?
http://www.imcool.com/articles/airco...acuum_line.htm (http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/fix_vacuum_line.htm)

This morning I took out the glove box and don't see anything like the picture posted on the imcool site. I can't find the vacuum source either going into the cabin.

This 97 PA buick has dual controls for the driver and passenger side but the contoller, with tubing and vacuum, is nowhere to be found. I even went by the AC contols and radio in the middle part as didn't see anything as well as by the drivers side.

I can see the acutators or the heater box for the right and left side as well as the "mode' control.

B4 I start disconnecting the electronic controls and going back towaard the firewall, it there someone that can tell me where this controller is in relation to the blower or X distance from the heater box thats in the middle or some reference point.

I'm willing to keeping going on this but could use more assistance from the experts.
Thx

Thids afternoon, I went to Pull a Part to find the cars mentioned in the imcool.com post by several people and here's what I found.

The information as noted in the imcool post are only for the cars mentioned. The controls have a vacuum port but only if the cars have the blower and controls on the outside firewall and between the engine. The cars also do not have a console between the seats separating both bucket seats. My 97 PA has a console and cod air to the rear cabin so I couldn't use the imcool information.

At Pull a part , I found a 2000 Bonneville that had all electronic controls like mine even though parts were in different places on the heater housing but had cold air to thge rear cabin like mine..

I fixed my problem by doing the following:
Manually setting the position in the blower housing so that air would be coming out the 4 outlets in the dash.
I then disconnected the mode actuator and turned the key to on for 5 minutes.

I started the car and had cold AC at the dashboard outlets and waited for another 5 minutes

I then reconnected the mode actuator and IT DIDN'T CHAGE TO WINDSHIELD AND FLOOR.

Apparently I had to manually re-clock everything as this 97 PA ultra has all electronic controls. Any car that has a center console which allows cold air to got othe rear cabin will have controls.

I want to thank all the experts that helped me get to this point. My vist to the junk yard helped me understand what differentialed my car from infromation posted.

So far after several restarts, everything is clocking like it should, so to that I say AMEN!
and I'm going to the house.
Again, thanks for everyone's advice.

Walt
Walt