91 Olds Silhouette electrical issues

[Les938]

Major issues: Blower motor works, but sounds like a wood chipper. Driver and passenger windows go down, but only go up about an inch at a time. Sometime the fan stays on, regardless of the vehicle being on or the key being in the ignition. Finally, the cruise control stopped working. Is it time to get rid of it?

[merc81]

Only you can answer that question, but from the tone of your post, I'd guess its close to that time. . .

The blower motor can be removed with 5 screws from the engine compartment--its in the center of the firewall behind the engine; can't recall, but you may need to remove a wiper bracket to get the blower out to service it. Minor repair issue, sounds like debris got into the fan blades--or replacement blowers can be had from a junk yard for $20 each.

The window motors are normal failures for ALL gm cars. Every one of them. You can get new motors on ebay cheap, or even buy the entire assembly-winder gears & motor. The main hassle here beside removing and installing the door trim panel is the mechanism is rivoted to the inside of the door and must be drilled out & removed to get at it. Then the glass will tend to fall on your hands so you need to secure that out of the way--its a pain, literally but very much a home repair item.

Cruise control? Could be lots of things fail on that; vacuum line problems, brake problems, cable failure--none of them are hard to fix, you just need to determine what the issue is. The module itself rarely fails.

You could upgrade to say, a '99 or 2000 for around $3k, but then you have to deal with intake manifold gaskets, tranny shudders, etc. Its all in what you want to pay- either with your time, or your money. Oh, by the way, I own three of these now, a 92 pontiac, and two 99's. You can't buy a van that handles better or gets better milage, but they do require work. . .


John

[Les938]

Got at the blower this past weekend. Once the air filter was out of the way, I was able to pull it out without any problem. Turns out that the bearing was shot. Waiting for a new A/C control switch as we speak. Found one online for half what I would have paid locally.

[merc81]

Sounds good so far. I still have my 92 pontiac transport. Put 230k miles on it with only these kinds of issues that you are dealing with now.

I've parked it now and would like to sell it as I got a '99 silo, but it was a great van.
John