1991 Buick Park Avenue Heater A/C Control Problem

[qduece42]

Hello all. I have a 1991 Buick Park Avenue. I have a problem with the heater a/c control (ACDelco Part #16148154). For a while the heat, A/C, and defrost would periodically go on and off, not by itself but when I was using one of them. I figured there was a short somewhere because everything worked, just not all the time. Several mechanics have looked at this and have been unable to fix the problem or find the short or see if there were problems with the contacts to the buttons. Next I tried to replace the heater control and was unable to find one. Why is this part so hard to find? A Buick Lesabre 95-05 has come with a very simliar heater control, is it possible to use one of those in a Park Avenue? Has anyone encountered a problem with the heater control similar to this? Please let me know. Thanks everyone.

[HotZ28]

Could you elaborate a little more, on what goes “on/off”? Is it the fan, compressor, AC Control Panel, or does everything go off/on at the same time? Do you have Auto Climate Control (Digital Display - ACC) or the manual system?

[qduece42]

I believe the problem is with the unit itself, the compressor and blower work, they just can't be triggered to turn on. I have the Manual system, and boy is it a hard replacement part to find. I may have found a replacement unit for about $55, hopefully the guy is for real. Have you had any experience with the manual system failure or trouble with the electrical contacts?

[dave1956]

This is an old post but did you ever resolve this problem? I have the same problem with a 91 park avenue.

[madmark67]

Same problem here. I removed the ashtray & got my hand up behind the unit & as soon as I squeeved it, the unit worked perfectly. Could not cause it to shut off by same method. If I shut car & re-started, It would work intermittently, but I could always get it to come on by the same method.
I pulled the dash apart, which was pretty easy, and removed the unit, also easy. Opened her up, got a GOOD light & a GOOD magnifying glass & went over the PC board. so far I am up to 6 obviously cracked solder joints on the board as well as the main grounding joint. Worked perfectly for about 2 - 3 weeks.
For the record I am not an electronics guy, just one that hates to be beat by a machine. I'd like to tell you it is fixed, but I re-installed it for the summer so the wife can have a/c but it's coming out again soon & I'm starting over as it is getting wonky again. Now I have to press on the face of the controls, right of the fan speed switch to get it to come on, but it works every time so... the hunt continues.
p.s. ZERO luck in finding replacement controls w/o climate cotrol to match my dash.

[dave1956]

Yeah I also took out the board and messed with it, I thought I fixed it, but when I reinstalled it, the buttons worked, but the ac still didn't kick on. I took it to the garage, they said the problem was in the control head (which is the unit with all of the buttons) I went to salvage yard, and found one on what I believe was a 93 lesabre. I plugged it in right there at the yard and it did the same thing. I found plenty of control heads on ebay, but not the manual type like I need. I think I will do what you did and take a closer look at he solder joints.....:}

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by dave1956

This is an old post but did you ever resolve this problem? I have the same problem with a 91 park avenue.

The originator of this thread (OP) has not signed in here in the past three years, so therefore, I would not expect a reply from him. It would be better to start a new thread with your problem, rather than resurrect an old thread that has been inactive for 3-yrs!