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At that point we parked the car and have been trying to tackle the issues for the past year. The issue grew into a more serious situation when the turn signal started to kill the engine.
Then we started to hear a loud electrical growl from under the dash. The noise was coming from a white control box/circuit board mounted to the drivers side foot well. Not sure what it does, but may need to replace. Along with the noise, the dash goes haywire, flipping from imperial to metric units and gauges going back and fourth.
From what I have read on here the problem may be the Ignition switch. One more question I have is about a chip mounted under the dash, does anyone else have this. It looks like a non-factory modification. The chip is spliced into the main wire harness. A thick yellow wire and some others. What may this be?
I need to sell the car for $$ on another project, but would like to address as many issues as I can before selling. I also can't seam to keep air in the tires due to the chrome plating flaking off of the rims and not allowing the tire to seal.
GREAT CAR, but some issues after 100k miles (I have 186k)
:sick:
I have seen damage to the ignition too but you seem to be diagnoising the turn signal switch issue....If you want I can give you step by step instructions...Get the old one out of a junk yard and bam for 25$ you will be fixed
I was wondering, have you ever figured out what's wrong? I have the same problem with my 99 buick regal.
Has ANYONE found the solution to this problem?
Here you go!
Have you figured out what is wrong yet? My son was on the highway and used his signal to change lanes and the car just shut down.
My Century has some issues that you may know how to resolve. The twin cooling fans will not kick on, I checked the battery because of the low voltage safety feature, had a dead cell in a <2 yr old battery, replaced, but still no fans. I can jump straight off the positive to the white fan on the right side, the second fan will not kick on even with a hot feed.
See next posting for the rest.
My wife’s car did that and they had to put a new engine in. Fortunately it was still under warranty.
What happens over time when coolant leaks in the cylinders it causes the wrist pins to bind up which in turn causes the cylinders to egg shape. Other nasty things occur also. The end result equates to new engine.
I assume by now you flushed out the original GM stuff. I don’t understand why when a car company knows they have a faulty product they still stick with it until they don’t have any more customers or a class action law suit is brought about.
After they replaced the engine in the wife's car and I wanted to check to see if I had an internal leak of the head gasket I would:
a)Take a cue tip and tape it to a drinking straw. Make up as many as needed.
b)After engine has cooled down overnight take out some of the spark plugs, preferably ones that are easy to get to.
c)Using your cue tip and a flashlight gently swab top of piston being careful not to drop anything in the cylinder. If any metal or gravel get into the cylinders it will cause major damage.
You have to do this after it sits overnight because even if it is leaking, when the engine has been running, it will burn off any trace of coolant. After it sits overnight any coolant vapor will condense in the cylinder.
You don’t have to be a master mechanic to be pro-active in your cars well being. White collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter. Tell Santa you want a few tools and a droplight.
I know this is a long answer to a short question but you asked.
Good luck and happy motoring.
I had a problem with my Buick where the starter wouldn't do anything but I did have lights. Come to find out the chip in the key was bad. Unfortunately, I replaced a good starter at $175. before I discovered the key was bad.
good luck.
The original dealer contents that his work on the converter and battery was not a factor in the wire shortage.
Does anybody out there agree that these issues are not related or am I being fleeced ??
Most of the time when I weld on an exhaust system I disconnect the battery to help prevent electrical damage. I haven't heard of welding causing a short in the fuse box but I have heard of it sometimes blowing out the diodes in the alternator. At any rate it would be very hard trying to prove that the welding on your car caused the damage. Maybe it did and maybe it didn’t.
That fifteen hundred could have helped out with Christmas for sure. Sorry for the bad luck. Hope your holidays get better.
:shades:
switch and the bulbs and checked the fuse located under the glove box on the
passenger side. If it is a simple ground where is it for the back up everything else
all lights work great. I do have a issue with oil pressure light and a gas gauge
but that is a display issue. Any ideas?
The problem is in the connector to the headlamp switch, which has weak terminals. I resolved the problem by removing the IP trim panel, removed the headlight switch, removed each terminal in the connector and tightened the spring tension on the terminal before reinstalling the terminal in the connector. I then sprayed the headlight switch and connector with CRC 5-56 including the potentiometer in the switch, and cycled the switch and dimmer potentiometer several times before reinstalling the connector.
The process involves removing the black trim that covers the entire center section of the Instrument panel (IP) and trims the center stack (radio and HVAC controls). This trim panel also includes the HVAC vents. Remove the headlight switch. remove the connector from the headlight switch. remove the terminals one-by-one and tighten the spring tension in the terminals.
I will try to identify each step in the process for others who Undoubtedly have the same issue as I had.
1. Start at the right side of the Instrument panel and remove the cap covering the fuse panel. It snaps out and you will need to be careful that you remove the clips from the holes without breaking the clips.
2. The black trim panel has a 7mm head screw on the right side of the IP end cap under the fuse panel cover. Remove that screw.
3. Remove the similar trim panel from the left end cap of the IP (adjacent to the headlight switch) exposing the headlight switch attachment screws.
4. Snap the black trim panel off, beginning at the right side The panel will snap out and will need to be rolled down from the top, because the lower edge of the panel has a lip that fits behind the lower IP trim panels. Gently pull the top right side of the panel out, and then work your way toward the center stack and to the left side where the headlight switch is.
4. Remove the two screws securing the headlight switch bracket to the IP end cap. Slide the headlight switch left, releasing the knob area from the the IP structure. The switch will now roll out of the side cavity of the IP structure.
5. Once the switch is exposed, remove the connector from the back of the switch.
6. Note the color and location of each wire in the female connector, to be sure that you locate each terminal in the correct position during reassembly.
7. Starting at one side of the connector, remove the blue lock tab and carefully release one terminal from the connector cavity using a small flat blade screwdriver and gently pulling the terminal out of the cavity by the wire.
8. Once the terminal is free from the connector, you can now "GENTLY" bend the half-moon spring area of the terminal closing the gap where the male blade fits into the female terminal.
9. Reinsert the terminal into the correct cavity of the connector and move to the next terminal.
10. Once the terminals are all tightened and the connector is reassembled, spray CRC 5-56 or electrical contact cleaner into the headlight switch and cycle the switch on and off a few times. Also cycle the dimmer potentiometer a few times.
11. Spray the female harness connector terminals with CRC before making the connection to the headlight switch.
12. Carefully reconnect the connector to the headlight switch, paying attention to insert the connector straight into the switch so that the terminals are not forced open as the connector is inserted.
13. Test the switch to insure that all lighting functions are present, including manually cycling the headlights and checking the dimmer potentiometer.
14. Reassemble the switch to the IP,reinstall the trim panel along with the IP side covers.
15. DONE!!!
I also have a floating fuel gage and low temp position that I will tackle and post here in the near future.
E-mail me at norton08@comcast.net if you have any questions. Good Luck.
I have bought my 2000 Regal 2 years ago. Early last summer I noticed that my key would not unlock after I turned my engine off. Having to wait for a "click" or starting my car up and hopeing it unlocks during my next attempt. This issue I ignored.. occured off and on.
Then sometime in October I was driving and made a right hand turn shortly after that turn my car died. Everything "flickered" and lost power. Started it up, sweated a bit. This issue I ignored.. occured very few times.. maybe 5 since than.
Then early last week. My car started going through the "wont unlock" after shuting down phase, but something else occured when I went to start the car again... the car started freakin out, all the dash lights started flickering again and by than i had the key turned to turn over the car but it didnt start. Quickly nervously i shut the car off (yes the key unlock). Thinking this was my imagination... i tried again... It started, phew!. Then on Friday I was parked at the bank and went to start my car up again same freak out it had earlier last week. Im too stubborn after about 1/2 hour of persistance, the car started like nothing happend.
Than I looked up known issues with buick regals and found this site. Getting my ignition cylinder swapped out. Lesson learned? Dont buy cars with ghey anti theft chips embedded in the key that wear out and screw with your power. Before doing this expensive fix clean your key off, might tide you over till it absolutely fails.