Swedish Buick PA owner here needs some help

Hi there!

Last year I bought my father in laws 1994 Buick Park Avenue Ultra. Fabulous car, I love it! So kind, so comfortable, so likable! It has gone 135k miles yet it's in very good shape because the former owner only used it as a summer car and put his Volvo to endure the ugly times. Not a stain of rust.

He bought it from someone who shipped it from the states to Sweden. Since there are no Buick resellers over here it is actually unique in this country as far as I can tell. I have met a few standard Park Avenus on the road though.

Well, my father in law who is a rather strange fellow moved to Brazil and is almost impossible to reach nowadays. Not that I think he ever knew that much about the Buick in the first place, but he is thus also absent.

So I have a few questions I would like to ask you:

1 - Sometimes when I sit in the car, put the key in and turn on electricity, there is a bell that pings everything from one to like 5-6 times. Half the times it does not. What is it? I have no clue as to what the pings mean, but it seems to be intentional.

2 - Various lamps have started to come on and off more or less randomly - reporting that the antispin is off or that the engine needs service or that the coolant level is too low - but I don't believe them. The coolant level is fine, the engine was serviced not that long ago at a GM authorised shop, and the antispin is very much working. Is that some known error with this model? Is my car trying to tell me something? Is there a short-circuit somewhere? Aside from that, the machinery and electric system is in fine condition as far as I know.

3 - The temperature on the climate control panel is in Fahrenheit. But I can see an unlit "C" sign beneath the "F", so it seems it should be possible to make it show Celsius instead, which I would very much prefer. Is there a way to change it?

Any help is appreciated.

/Michail

Sounds like your car has an assortment of electrical problems - could be the computer. You can get them used at junkyards for really cheap here in the states.

Hi Michail,

To answer your questions:
1. The "ping" sound you hear is either the warning chime to let you know one of 2 things. The first one is that your key is in the ignition, and your door is open (just a feature to remind you so that you don't lock your key in the car!). The other thing it could be is to remind you to fasten your seat belt. It comes on right when you turn on the ignition, and stays on for 5-6 seconds normally, or until you fasten your seat belt.

2. I'm not quite sure what you mean by anti-spin (I'm sure it's called something else here in the US)... That is something that you probably want to have a GM dealer diagnose. The Coolant Level light probably means that your coolant level sensor needs to be replaced. Again, most any GM dealer can check that out. The Service Engine Soon light is easy to figure out though. All you need is a paper clip and some patience. This website will show you how to do it: http://www.geocities.com/dann8785/serviceenginesoon.html

3. I'm not sure about the climate control panel though. I'm not sure how you might change that. I'm sure it can be done, though... the Park Avenues were sold in Canada as well, and they use the Metric system there.

Good luck with the car! 135k miles is nothing for a Park Avenue. It has plenty of life left in it.

Hope this helps
Jonathan

To 3:

Switching between Fahrenheit and Celsius is indeed possible, but unfortunately not thru the AC control panel. It's hardwired at the HVAC programmer, the brain of the AC system which is located behind the glovebox. If terminal E6 of the HVAC programmer is open, the temperature display is english. If E6 is connected to ground, the display is metric. This is how Canadian cars as well as European cars are wired. So if you simply put a ground wire to terminal E6, you should be fine.
I myself have been thinking about this issue too and planned to install a switch to easily change the display when needed, but I haven't done it yet.

Thank you for your replies!

I suppose it is the seatbelt warning chime I'm thinking of. Thing is that it seem to work rather randomly. I'm going to see if I can learn when it chimes and when it doesn't. =/

Antispin is probably a local term. I think it says "TRACTION OFF", actually. And it seems to me that those warning lights go on and off randomly as well. Not all the time, but like for a few minutes every half hour or so. And I don't think they are serious, because when I look into it I find nothing wrong.

My fuel meter is kind of waving up and down a little too. With a cycle of like ten seconds it wavers like one tenth of the fuel level back and forth. Either that is normal, or I may have a grounding error somewhere.

That "Service Engine Soon" page was VERY interesting! Thanks a ton!

As for Celsius, I suppose I could go on a canadian forum and ask. Thanks for that tip as well!

Cheers!

/Michail

FYI -
If your ALDL connector (used to access the computer codes) doesn't look like the one shown on that page, but instead has 16 pins, then you have a hybrid system, and it can only be accessed using a scan tool.

Check Your fluids, replace as necissary, the chimes are normal. The Celcious is hard prgrammed, not worth the hassle to change at all.

Okay =/

Thanks!