1998 Buick Lesabre climate display blinking

[englishman]

After fitting a new battery the climate control display is now blinking. OK when first started but blinks after about 30 secs then OK after another 30 secs. but heater blows cold. I have to press heat down button to lowest position then the heat up button to max. to get any heat. Does this system have to be reset somehow? Did work good before battery change.

[brcidd]

Blinking display means there is a clilmate control code set. Display blinks for 2 minutes after every key on- then defaults to outside temp. There are about 10 error codes that it could be- most common is low a/c refrigerant code. Has your a/c been working fine? A scan tool will show your code- but you can reset it again by unhooking battery for ten seconds.

Leave it in econ mode- and if display doesn't start flashing again, then you'll know it is probably the a/c code.

Can't set an a/c low refrig code, if a/c is not requested.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by englishman

After fitting a new battery the climate control display is now blinking. OK when first started but blinks after about 30 secs then OK after another 30 secs. but heater blows cold. I have to press heat down button to lowest position then the heat up button to max. to get any heat. Does this system have to be reset somehow? Did work good before battery change.

Many people have trouble after a battery disconnect with the electric actuator motor on top of the heater box. It ends up with the gear inside which had cracked with age slipping on the hub since the gear is not as tight due to the crack.

I verified I could move the rod attached to the actuator with minimal effort. I removed the two screws carefully and then took apart the actuator. Note the position of the shaft on the top with a prong that sits in a groove with radius of 240 deg or so to limit the movement of the actuator. Inside I glued the cracked gear to the shaft with superglue. let it dry overnight and put her back in. So far it's doing fine.

Or you can spend $40 for a new one.

To get to this take off the hush panel under the dash on the passenger side. Take of the 6 screws holding the glovebox door to the bottom of the dash. You'll have great access to watch the movement as you turn the heat up and down. If you have dual control system, the bottom link coming out of the programmer box moves the bottom door for the passenger temperature.