1995 Buick Park Avenue heat issues

[Goldlexus]

Currently our PA kind of has heat and kinda doesn't. There is heat on the drivers side and thru' the vents that face that back seat. The ac seems to be on for the passenger side. For a while there wasn't even heat on the drivers side. Our PA has the 2 zone climate control with the automatic feature that adjusts according to the external temp reading.
Lately when starting the car the fan blower blows on high, we have to set it down manually. I think it is only suppose to do that when the ext. temp reads warm/hot temps outside. It is in the 50's here so the blower shouldn't be coming on, right?. Also the ext. temp gage will flash for a few minutes after starting. After a couple of minutes it doesn't flash. This is a 'new' car to us. We've had it for about 4 weeks. Any ideas what the problem is?

[Blue Bowtie]

When the outdoor air temperature display flashes, that is the HVAC control reporting a system error. On a '95, you would need a compatible scanner to read the error codes, like a Tech II.

After the flashing, does the display eventually indicate the correct (or reasonably close) outdoor temperature? If not, the likely problem is the circuit to the outdoor air temperature sensor, or the sensor itself. A new sensor is about $15, but you can temporarily install about a 130 ohm resistor in place of the sensor to see if the display reads something close to 90-100ºF. That would indicate that the wiring is intact and the sensor is at fault. The system relies on an indication from the outdoor sensor to properly position the dampers.

Since the system is evidently reacting normally at all outlets except the passenger side control (and outlet), there may be a problem with the calibration of the passenger damper control. Since you've already replaced it, you know that all that is necessary is to lower the glove compartment to access the damper controls. mover the controls to full heat and make sure the passenger damper linkage is disconnected. Allow the main control to stabilize, set the passenger control for full heat, and reconnect the damper linkage with the damper door in the full heat position.

[Goldlexus]

Thanks for your response. The ext. temp control flashes for about a minute than it does give us a pretty accurate external temp reading. The heat the comes out on the driver's side is not 'hot' but warm in comparison to the COLD air coming out on the passenger side. When we put the front windshield defrost on it is cold air coming out, brrrrr.
We haven't replaced anything regarding the dampers or anything with the heat/ac so I have no clue how to get the glove box off. Do you have insturctions on how to do that?
Thanks again for your help.

[JESSICAR]

The glove box is held in place by two rubber tabs at the top. You have to finagle your fingers to pull them forward, then the glove box will drop down.

I wish I could help you with your heating problem, and I wish I could be helped as well.

I am finally giving up and spending money to have someone look at it on Monday. I am really frustrated and disapointed. I love the 3800, and the car itself, but I will never get a car with bells and whistles again. What a pain!

[Goldlexus]

Thanks! I will take a look at it and see if it is something I could manage. We really like our PA too but I agree all the bells and whistles are a huge pain. When it comes to a heater, you should be able to just turn it on and off. Simple. But with this car and it's 'climate' control it is not so simple when something goes wrong. During the Summer the passanger side was HOT all the time, No AC. Now that we want heat there is NO heat just AC on the passanger side and barely heat on the drivers side.

[JESSICAR]

I wanted to leave a response as to what I found out regarding what was wrong with my heater.

Mechanic got a code 41 on the HVAC. Turns out it was the Acctuator. (Which I should have figured, since I could move it by hand, the new one you can not move)
The mechanic was getting power spikes and thought the programmer could also be faulty, but after replacing the Acctuator the power spikes went away. It is interesting to note that when we first bought this car, the passanger control located in the passanger door, was dead, no power, it could be possible that the acctuator killed that too.

When I first got in the car back however it seemed that the driver side was much cooler than the passenger, so the mechanic came out, unscrewed part of the bottom dash, and moved what I assume was a door that positions how much heat comes out. Problem solved!

The acctuator only costed us $60 (because my husband is affliated with CarQuest). However labor and diagnostics <hard swallow> came to $250. We also bought a keypad because my husband has some misunderstanding at what a "programmer" was. The keypad was used from Auto Salvage for $120.00 (non returnable). But hey, better than the programmer which is only available at the dealer for $700.00 (or you could take out of salvage car and hope that it works)

I did find out something very interesting during all of our research. You can have the keypad that is in the dash re-built here in Minnesota. There is a place called TransAuto located in Brooklyn Park, MN that told us they send them to Southern Minnesota and the rebuild cost is $100.00. I hope that can somehow save someone money if your keypad goes caput! Check around, or maybe you can even call TransAuto.

I really hope that this helps you out.