96 OLDS Ninety Eight A/C doesn't work

[Flplaydoh]

My car is a cab and it started having a/c problems, the a/c then worked intermittently. So I had to take it to a shop, well the shop said that they thought that the Programmer was bad ($950.00) then when I got the programmer they said that that wasn't the problem and that they didn't know what the problem was. So I got mad and took it to the dealership "thinking they would be able to at least tell me what was wrong" well the dealership said that they believe that it is the heater/ ac crontrol head, because there were only three things that it could be. 1. the programmer 2. the control head 3. the wirring

The dealership said that I sould get a control head ($400.00) and try it and if that doesn't work then it was the wirring and that because the car is so old that there is no way to hook it up to a machine! They said the only way was by trial of the different parts!


Does anybody know any information that may help me? I am loosing money FAST because thecar can't be used as a cab because it is cold out!

[HotZ28]

Does this car have Auto Climate Control (ACC) with digital display? When you say the AC is not working, what is not working; the fan, the display, the compressor, air flow direction? We need more precise details on this.

The dealership said that I sould get a control head ($400.00) and try it and if that doesn't work then it was the wirring and that because the car is so old that there is no way to hook it up to a machine! They said the only way was by trial of the different parts!

BTW, your dealer is FOS! Your car is OBDII, and the Tech1 & Tech11 can both display system parameters.

[Flplaydoh]

It is the one with digital display CVC-15-72201 CONTROL ASSEMBLY, HTR & A/C by ACdelco
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The ac doesn't blow at all now! before it was really weak and the air only came for the defrost vents the first place changed out the programmer with the new one that I got and then they put the old one back in and the ac started blowing for a little bit then it just stopped, then the shop said that the "new" one that I got them was bad! Thats when I took it to the dealership to see if the shop knew what they were talking about but then they did the same thing but this time nothing happened at all, so they said that it was probably the control head and if it was not the control head then it was wire and that would take alot of hours to troubleshoot.

[HotZ28]

If the fan is blowing (motor running) and it is only coming out of the defrost vent, you could have a vacuum problem, or restriction in the vacuum connector at the programmer. Worst case scenario, would be the air mix actuator. First thing you need to do is, verify that the blower fan is running on all speed settings.

Troubleshooting the vacuum lines & actuators is covered in more detail in the Buick LeSabre or PA forums. Do a search in the Buick forums for more info, if that has not been previously discussed here. (Buick & Olds has basically the same system) If you have any problem finding those threads, let us know and we can help

[Flplaydoh]

There is no air coming out period. If I was to take it somewhere else what would I have them check? Or is there something I can check and try to fix myself?

[HotZ28]

Raise the hood and look on the firewall behind the engine and you should see the blower motor. The motor will have a two wire connector, one purple (12v) and the other black (ground). Remove this terminal and use a (20 amp) fused jumper wire from the battery positive to the motor terminal where the purple wire was connected. You will also need to supply ground to the other terminal. If the motor runs, you can assume your motor is OK and you have a bad blower control module.

The blower control module (BCM) supplies variable voltage to the blower motor. When this module fails, it will either supply 12v all the time (even with ignition switch off) or, fail to provide any voltage. Sometimes, they begin to fail with intermittent and random fan operation.


BTW, the BCM is located on top of the blower box mounted to the firewall, under the fuse/relay panel. If this is the problem, you will need the correct module for your system. GM made many different modules that look the same, however, they have different wiring pin-outs and operation varies with the type AC system installed in the vehicle. Best way to identify your system is on the RPO code list on the spare tire cover.


If you find that the BCM is not providing power to the blower fan motor, send me a PM and I will point you in the right direction for an ACDELCO replacement at half the dealer price!

[BNaylor]

NOTE: This thread has been moved from Olds 88 to the 98 forum.

[Flplaydoh]

I used this this scanner on the vehicle and the code I got was:

P1441 I believe it is an Evaporative System Flow During Non-Purge.But I could be wrong, my brother is going through the steps that you sugested rite now.

What do you think this code means? or does it mean anything?

[HotZ28]

First, you need to check the gas fill cap....make sure it is tight and then reset the code. If the DTC does not come back, you fixed the problem. If it does, Click Here for more details.

[Flplaydoh]

Thank you, you are giving me hope that we can actually find out how to fix this problem without paying so garage $400 to do basically nothing!

[Flplaydoh]

I ran the test like you suggested and the blower motor didn't come on at all when I by past the control module. So could this be a bad motor or something else?

[HotZ28]

Let's try one more thing. Turn the A/C fan control to high with ignition switch on and use a hammer to firmly tap (several times) on the blower motor to see if it tries to come on. Of course, you need the two wire connector hooked up.

[Flplaydoh]

I'm going to try what you said we found a blower motor at a salvage yard for 25 bucks is that a good deal?

[Flplaydoh]

i'm the brother. the blower fan didn't come on when I Turned the A/C fan control to high with ignition switch on and used a hammer to wack the blower motor several time with the two wire connector hooked up. It didn't turn.
replaced the blower fan w/a used on from salvage yard that turn when i tested it, and when the A/C was turned on the fan still didn't blow.
Any ideas on what next. thank you very much.

[HotZ28]

You jumped the gun and replaced the motor before we finished diagnosing the problem. Anyway, your problem is the blower control module. You need to remove it to see if it is a 3-pin + 1-pin or 4-pin + 2-pin module. Let me know (PM) if you want a new one with big savings.