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Multiple issues - 2000 Bonneville

nessanoel2008nessanoel2008 Member Posts: 1
edited July 2021 in Pontiac

I have read through a couple of these forums but havent quite found anyone experiencing the same problems I'm having. My husband bought this second hand, it sat for a couple years and in the last year we have replaced a ton of parts. My dash cluster has random issues. My gas gauge is not accurate, oil pressure gauge pegged out, temp gauge appears to be working as well as voltage. My speedometer usually works, but every once in a while will stick and after being stuck for a few minutes, my entire gauge cluster acts like you had just started the car and the speedometer works again. Runs perfectly fine when it does it, just like the gauges reset. I did look up VIN to make sure there wasnt any active recalls, didnt find anything. My radio station will also change randomly when I havent touched it. My heater/ac randomly turned on the other day and I also didnt touch it. We are pretty sure there is a leak in the ac system, as my husband has recharged it twice and it works for a couple of days then stops. However, my daughter and i discovered that when it is almost out, the drivers side will blow warm air, and passenger will blow cold air even if both driver and passenger controls are set at the same temperature. We are at a loss at this point. Darn car runs and drives like a champ, but I'm concerned about these other issues. Any input or where to start would be much appreciated!

Comments

  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,394
    edited July 2021
    The gas gauges had a wear problem on the sliding potentiometer that is in the tank. It's called the
    sender. It can be replaced separately from the pump. However the pump replaced at the same time with a quality replacement brand, AC Delco, would be a good idea since it includes the sender. The sender is the float and arm and the potentiometer.

    The access to the tank is inside the trunk, up on the raised part slightly off center toward the passenger side. A plate is removed with a seal and 7-8 screws. The top of the tank is accessible under that. If you are doing the work, I recommend a good fan blowing air into the trunk to remove gasoline fumes and I recommend removing the trunk mat and everything down to bare paint to avoid a spark from clothing and static electricity.

    The oil sender is above the oil filter under the engine. It can be replaced with a pair of side pliers, channel locks. The wire to it may be the problem. But the oil senders going to show full pressure of 129 or something like that is a common failure. Some show 0 but with no engine signs of low pressure.

    The whole dash gauge unit may need rebuilding. There are folks who do that on the internet advertising. You may have a problem with the connectors on the gauge housing having slight corrosion (fretting) that causes them to have poor contacts. Removing and replacing the connectors after pulling the cluster housing out toward the driver might fix the problem, or at least temporarily to help diagnosis.

    The loss of freon affects the drivers side of the evaporator first since the fresh freon under pressure comes in on the passenger side and is warmed up by the time it gets to the driver side air flow.
    Cause of leak needs diagnosis.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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