Pontiac Aztek

conkycan

Any information on Blower Resistor Plugs would be appriciated. I have changed the resistor, and the head control. After taking apart "everything" and puttin in the new items it still wasn't working. We hot wired the blower and for some reason it all started working. After putting "everything" back 2gether, all the while heat blowing, it stopped working again and wont come back on. No blower speeds no rear defrost (and its been getting very cold) nothing. Any info? Please help.

ray80

Hhmm I think if you hot wired it and bypassed the resister assembly it may have overloaded the circuit and blew a fuse/relay or cooked the motor.

johnnyz

Has anyone come across... This morning I started up my 2001 Aztek and my presets on the radio (FM1) were not what I had set them to. Same with FM2. So I preset 3 of the stations figuring I would get to the other 3 later. I drove around that morning. Around lunchtime I started the car and ALL my original presets were there including those on FM2. Any ides? Ray80, you are good at this.

ray80

Ray80, you are good at this

Uh no, I have to have kids or wife change time on radio when its needed

One quick question, was the other key fob nearby first thing this morning and getting driver 1 mixed up with driver 2?

conkycan

For some reason I am not getting power to the control head due you know if this is fed independently or if it is fed thru the resistor..If i jump the red wire in the resistor plug to the orange wire in the resistor plug everything works ( is the orange wire the power from or to the control head???)

ray80

I don't know as I haven't had to mess with this myself. I do know of another owner that had similar troubles and found loose wires in splice pack which they corrected and sovled problem. (exactly where that is I don't know either :confuse: )

gefiehler

...I looked for the same fotocell device everywhere up front, because my 03 does the same thing...NO instrument lites. I chewed up a cat in the engine compartment one morning and thought some wires had been ripped loose during the event. A wiring schematic from Chiltons shows an "ambient light sensor" tied in with the BCM. I am going to tear into mine and see if it exists. I will post again if I can locate it. If these Aztek horrors are going to plague humanity forever, I may start hardwiring some of my problematic accessories, and bypass the BCM... or maybe someone else has already located the elusive "ambient light sensor"...good luck!

johnnyz

That could be. The only thing different was using the key that I keep only for a spare. I didn't think it would have any significance. But since using my old key it hasn't happen. I'll have to try again with the spare key and see if it happens again.
Thanks Ray80

ray80

The key fob is the thing that makes the differance, each potentialy can have different things programmed like radio pre-sets.

ray80

What exactly is the problem? No instrument panels lights at all, or you can't see them during the day?

twshafer

I bought my used 2004 Aztek with about 45K miles, in the ealry spring of 2007 while it was still cold

A few days later I noticed when I would reach over 65 MPH I would get a sound from the rear like a muffler going bad. My muffler is fine, I have new tires and I have rotated the tires. I noticed it went away when the weather got warmer, and not the the cold is back I hear it again.

Todd

ray80

Is it just loud and constant at speed, or does it vary when turning or speeding up/slowing down? FWD or AWD?

twshafer

I would say it is constant. No change with turning. Noise starts at about 65 MPH and gradual increase as I increase to 80 MPH.

I have had all of my wheel bearing checked. I have a AWD.

ray80

I may have something similar with ours, kind of a roar (exhaust sound) at higher RPMS (kinda sounds like something going thruogh tin can).. I believe I can har mine in lower gears also, but at higher revs when I step on it a little. I haven't really had the chance to look at it yet, so I don't really know what it might be.

twshafer

Thanks,

gefiehler

...at nite, there is no indicator or cluster illumination. In the day, the radio lamp is on, and heads up display. It seems to be exactly would would occur on a regular vehicle if the light sensing module was broken or disconnected...

ray80

I haven't found an real easy way to get to sensor, but I think it may be in center top front of dash (like where that little dark plastic bubble is). I hate to assume, but have you tried messing with the dimmer switch to see if it makes any differance? Also have you tried putting the headlight switch to on instead of auto at night (may override the sensor) to see if it makes any differance?

pops0955

I had the exact same problem. I had a small leak at the thermostat. I let it go for a while and ended up with an $800 repair bill. It's impossible to get to unless you are a mechanic. Problem has been solved.
Good Luck

nparsons

hmmmm. thanks for the info. I have put bar's leak into the radiator and it has (temporaily) fixed the problem. I say temporarily because I know if its leaking somewhere that isn't going to stop it forever. If the bar's leak seems to be helping, do you still think it could be the thermostat?-I mean would bar's leak stop a small leak in the thermostat for now?
Did you look and look and look and you couldn't find the leak like me? How did you come to the conclusion that it was the thermostat? On your own-or did you have to take it to a mechanic?
Thanks.
Nancy

richardgraham

Hello, I have a 2003 Pontiac Aztek all wheel drive. Currrently, I am experincing a loud noise from the rear. It gets louder, the faster I drive. I have rotated the tires, new brakes all around and changed the wheel bearings....still the noise. Help!

suzy47

At about 60K miles on my 2001 Red Aztek, I was on a trip to Illinois, I live in Indy and my service engine light came on. I got to Illinois took it to dealer they said I was loosing coolant. Said I could drive it back home ok but have it looked at. I put stop leak in and to make a long story short, I had to get the head gaskets replaced to a tune of 1300 dollars at the dealer in Indy. It is a known problem with that engine. I also had to replace my air conditioning for $1,000 which is another known problem. The placement of the ac is such that a rock can hit the area below and cause a crack which will cause it to leak. Apparently there is a casing to go over that which will fix the problem. Should not have had these kind of problems for a car that with financing cost me over $30 thousand dollars.

suzy47

Same thing happened with my 2001 Aztek. I was putting that stuff in and they told me I would have to have a acid flush to get it out, it apparently closes holes that should be closed. I eventually had to get the head gasket fixed and lower gasket to a tune of $1300 at the dealer in Indy. Also had to replace my ac to a tune of $900. Should not have had this kind of expense with a car that almost cost $30,00 with financing. Engine and AC are both known problems on this particular engine and no recall or help from the company. I love my Aztek though, the space and the way it drives. Too bad they gouged the consumer with these problems.

ray80

If the noise you hear could be described as moan/groan that perhaps is more noticable or enhanced on sharp turns is may be time to change the versatrak fluid (or maybe it had leak and is low on fluid).

ray80

I still don't know exactly where it is, but found a backwards way to get to it, this is the upper dash pad (on top of dash front most towards windshield)

Garnish molding removal procedure ( A pillar mouldings)
1) remove the windshield garnish molding from the windshield pillar by pulling the windshield garnish back to release the two push -in retainers.

upper trim pad replacement for dash
1) FYI ! remove the upper trim pad slowly, the retainer clips could possibly fall into the instrument panel.

2) lift the instrument panel, upper trim panel approximately 51 mm ( 2 in) and pull rearward to release the retainers.

3) remove the DRL ambient light sensor by twisting it 1/4 turn counterclockwise

gefiehler

...if you have located what you believe to be the sensor, is there a way to gain access to its workings?...it might be possible to shunt the sensor to remain on continually, only replacing a fuse if needed...how did you learn of it's location???...

ray80

I know your thinking it may be the sensor, but from what I have seen here and there it may be the lights (or wiring for lights) that may be the trouble. I know some have had their IPC replaced do to lights not working. I think you might be able to test whether or not sensor is working by having vehicle running and in bright light. Turn the dimmer switch down a bit. The radio illumination should be bright. Put something dark over the center top of dash (over the little bubble) and wait a bit, the radio display should go dim (if you covered sensor and its working) after a bit (20 or 30 secs maybe).

brent13

Hi, we have an 01 aztek. Last winter our windows began steaming up on the inside and then quickly turning to frost. The heater seems to be working fine in that the interior temperature is very warm to hot. We have had the core heater replaced but it did not help the problem. The mechanic said that the core heater had black patches on it that may have been something leaking on it. Other than that the mechanic had no idea what may be causing our problem. Does anyone have any ideas. We live in Northern Canada so have to scrape our windows on the inside as we are driving because our view is severely limited due to the frost.

bruckmann

When I go to drive my Aztec I hear a noise in the steering colum. It only happens when its cold and the noise completely goes away once my car has warmed up/been driven for a bit.
Anyone else experienced this?

bruckmann

So I have had major issues with my brakes on my '03. They are good now, (Knock on wood!!) Anyways last week I went to get into my car and back out of my work parking lot and the AWD disable light and (B) light came on. I turned off my car and they turned off and haven't come on since.
Now 2 hours earlier I was driving on some lovely snow covered residential street, do you think this could just have been my vehicle proteting itself from not being ruined in some way?

bruckmann

I have looked in the manual and it has not been very helpful. Can anyone tell me where I would find my plug in so I can plug my car in.
Thanks

ray80

Almost assuredly in your case its a wiring problem, either corrosion or loose connections to wheel/hub assembly (could be elsewhere, but that is fairly common place for it to happen)

ray80

Hate when that happens. Bottom line is excessive mositure in cabin. Could be a few things, have you noticed any excessive fogging during warmer weather (may indicate a leak into interior from somewhere)? With winter weather its difficult to not bring in snow on footwear that melts and keeps thing moist. One thing that may help (even if it costs your in milage) is to keep defroster and/or recirc (you may have to play with HVAC settings for that), either will help dry out the air inside.

brent13

We have been keeping the defrost on full blast all the time to the point where we are cooking - it doesn't help. The problem is severe - our visibility is severely limited and we have to keep scraping the window on the inside as we drive. We do have very cold and snowy winters so we do bring in a lot of snow on our boots etc but we did not have this problem last winter or the winter before. Thanks anyway, anyone else have any ideas?

buickjunk

We have a 2002 rendezvous and have encountered several problems. We have replaced wheel bearings three times, BCM twice, intake gasket, had to replace the entire gas tank and now are having the same traction control/anti-lock brake system problems. The service traction contral light came on so believing that it was a brake problem, replaced and blead brakes. This car has been a piece of junk!I'm a die hard gm fan and right now FORDS looking good.

cjbuike

I have 2 problems with my 04 Aztek....

1. Will be driving or parked and all of the dash lights and head lights will go out for a second and then come back on. The engine has never lost power, but my wife told me it did for the first time the other night. Any suggestions?

2. The traction control service light and dash ABS light will sometimes come on and stay on until the car is shut off and restarted. Then it will be good for a while.

I will be checking the cable between the battery and under hood fuse box and the wet carpet behind the driver's seat as suggested in some other postings I read. If there are any other suggestions, let me know.

ray80

For the lights winking, I have always (right or wrong) attributed it to BCM issue. If it happens more then a couple times on a trip and it bothers me I just turn the light switch to headlights on (as opposed to auto), I haven't seen them wink after that.
(just remember to pay attention to the ding when you shut it off that is trying to tell you you left the lights on )

For the TC/ABS thing, if you took it to dealer and had it scanned it would most likely suggest replacing a hub bearing assembly, but many many times it is more likely (as our vehicles age) a wireing thing (broken/corroded connection) most often but not always the connection at the hub/bearing assembly. I would suggest looking at the other topics with ABS/TC/AWD disabled title in both the Aztek and Vous forums here at Edmunds to find other causes and locations for this problem. .

bugpuncher

Hi everyone, I am new here. We've had our 2001 Aztek for about 6 months. We took it to a Pontiac dealership about 2 months ago for some basic maintenance and the day I drove it home it had a starting issue. I was parked at a store, and it would not start- so I opened the hood and jiggled some wires, and it started. This happened 2-3 more times and the wire-jiggling stopped working. Once, I got a jump start and that got it going. After that, it simply refused to start, and no amount of wire jiggling or jumping helped. My husband took the battery to the auto parts place and they said it was fine. So we had it towed to a shop where they determined there'd been a short inside the battery, and replaced the battery, and it was fine for about a week. Now, it won't start. What could be the root cause? Thanks- Cathy

tidester

I think the wire jiggling technique worked the first time only by coincidence.

The problem could be your ignition system. The experts here may be better able to help you out if you could provide a little more detail about the symptoms. E.g., when you say your Aztek won't start does the engine turn over? Do you hear anything? Do you hear clicking noises? Do you smell gasoline?

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

ray80

I have a couple questions in addition to what tidester asked. If I am reading (and understanding correctly) the jiggle the wire thing worked in several cases? If so I would be leaning more to physical battery cable problem or cable connection problem. While a short in the battery is possible (and would require repalcement), it should not have been fixed by jiggling wires like you did to begin with. Have you noticed any problems like key getting locked in ignition when it won't start (may help narrowing down problem)?

bugpuncher

Hi Ray80, thanks for the reply. The wire-jiggling worked 3 times, then stopped working. My husband, who is fairly handy, checked the connections to the battery and replaced the positive post because it was corroded- but the car still wouldn't start. I'm trying to remember if the key got stuck in the ignition...I was on the phone with the dealership at the time and had a lot on my mind, so it may have but I don't remember. I think I may try pumping the gas pedal like someone else has said worked for them, and taking out fuse #28 for 20 seconds like someone else (you?) suggested...but even if something like that gets it to start, there has to be a root problem for this weird behavior. What do you think? Thanks- Cathy

ray80

Hi Cathy, As Tidester asked, what does it do when you try to start it, does it turn over as it always does but not start, or do you here clicking sound, or does it do nothing? Fuse 28 I don't believe will help in this case.

bugpuncher

Thanks, Ray80 and Tidester. When the key is turned, nothing at all happens. No clicking, no gas smell, nothing. No lights. And I just came in from trying it again, and lo and behold, the key won't come out. What are the odds it's something to do with the alternator or the starter motor? If the battery did short out like the mechanic said, could that have been caused by a faulty alternator? We need to get this problem solved, so any insight, help, good guesses, etc. you can offer is appreciated! Thanks- Cathy

ray80

Cathy, as you may have guessed, there was a reason I asked about the key. I had a similiar thing happen with mine, lights and everything would work until I tried starting it, then nothing and key was stuck. In MY case ( I lived with it and wiggled wires for a long time before I fixed it) there was a bad connection between battery cable and battery (wasn't installed correctly) and sometimes it was ok, sometimes not. Even though the connection may look good it may not be. Have someone check the mating surfaces (on battery in particular) to see if there is any imperfections (on battery it should be smooth). and I'll bet if someone loosens and/or re-installs the cable connections it will start (but may very well fail again if not correct). Also make sure there isn't a problem with hot(red) connection to underhood fuse box to be sure its tight and not corroded (If there was a problem there I think it would still turn over though). Ray

bugpuncher

Ray, great suggestions! I'm going to try them all and then let you know what happens! Thanks- Cathy

ray80

Oh, one other thing to watch for. I believe the plastic rubbery outside of cable sticks out a bit from the metal mounting surface, make sure that rubber part goes OVER the mounting surface on battery, not tucked under some how, or you will never get a good connection.

bruckmann

:confuse: Where is my block heater located in my 2003 Aztec? Or rather is this one of the vehicles that were made without block heaters???
I have looked in my manual....not much helpful info there. I have had my father in law search for it...no luck. Is it hiding or am I one of those lucky people who got a vehicle (in Alberta to boot) that does not have one...
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

stever

If you have a block heater, it will be installed in one of the engine block freeze plugs. Those are often hard to find. It's easier to look for the power cord. Usually they are zip-tied off near the radiator but can be about anywhere. I've seen the plugs stick out of grills for example.

I'm not sure what the labor would be, but you can buy block heaters in the states from around $35 USD and up.

stemul32

I have a 2003 Aztek , 70000 miles, and in the past week or 2 it sounds like road noise when your driving. Possibly transmission? No leaks, pings, knocks or anything else. Anyone else had this?

ray80

Could be a few different things. FWD or AWD? Is it a groan/moan thing, or sorta metallic (or metal on metal) , or humm. Does it change with speed and how? Cornering make any differance in it?

stemul32

It is FWD. No metallic sounds, kinda sounds like a low geared truck, if ya know what I mean. The faster you go the higher the noise gets, when you slow down it gets lower. No difference when cornering.