98 Century Classic Steering Wheel Radio Controls

[misfitt006]

I just bought a 98 Buick Century today and so far I love it. Drives and rides like a luxury car!! It has radio controls on the steering wheel but they don't seem to work. I've searched all over for some trouble shooting steps to figure out the problem but I'm coming up empty. Can someone give me some guidance on where to start, what to check, etc? Is there a simple fuse that runs just these controls that I can look at or is this going to be an involved wire chasing issue?

Aside that those controls the only other issues with the car are the AC doesn't blow cold. Previous owner says he thinks the condenser was leaking so I'll toss a new one in there ($30-100 online) and have the system vacated and recharged and hopefully that'll fix it. The driver rear power window needs a new regulator ($35 online) and I'd like a new key fob (the one he gave me didn't work so I swapped out the battery, cleaned up the contacts inside, and tried to reprogram it but it just doesn't work). Other than that I think I can easily get 200-300k more miles out of this car with routine maintenance and upkeep.

[Tech II]

98 Century that rides like a luxury car? Must have got one of the good ones...

As far as the SW switches go, they are just a series of resistances that vary according to the switch that is pressed....

There is a fuse...I think it is called the STR WHL CTRL fuse(2A).....this input goes to your radio, via the SIR coil assembly....Air Bag/SIR light on?

So check the fuse, and then you need a schematic to check the resistance values as you press each switch....also, is the "original" radio in the vehicle?

It doesn't make sense that you guess on a condenser.....unless you see actual damage to the condenser, like a stone hit it, or there is an oily residue in the fins, it could be something else....like a seal on the compressor....

Have the system evacuated....see if it holds a vac...if it does, you add refrigerant and dye, and then recheck for a leak with a black light.......the leak may be so small, your A/C may last a season......or if large, only last a day to less than a week....black light will pinpoint the leak...

As for the key fob, you can take it to any GM shop, and they can test the output of the fob...

Also, do you know how to reprogram a fob? Is the procedure in the owner's manual, or can it only be programmed by a scan tool?

[misfitt006]

There is a fuse...I think it is called the STR WHL CTRL fuse(2A).....this input goes to your radio, via the SIR coil assembly....Air Bag/SIR light on?

No the only light on currently is the ABS light (solid) so I need to get that scanned and see what it is, but as I understand it from this forum and others, as long as it's not blinking it's not a terminal failure...yet. I'll look for that fuse and check it. Yes the stock radio is in it and the previous owner said the switches worked but "he didn't listen to the radio much so didn't use them".

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It doesn't make sense that you guess on a condenser.....unless you see actual damage to the condenser, like a stone hit it, or there is an oily residue in the fins, it could be something else....like a seal on the compressor....

Yes he said he knew the condenser had a hole in it from a small accident so he claimed to have closed off the valves leading to the condenser to shut the system down.

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As for the Fob, I was able to find the programing process online and followed it. I got the indication from the car that is was in "program mode" but setting the program on the fob worked sometimes, but not others (after successful programming of the fob the car should beep twice and it beeped 3 times a couple of times so not sure what that meant), and the fob never successfully unlocked any of the doors. They can be bought online for between $15-30 each so I'm not too worried about it, but I might take it to get checked anyway.