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Pontiac Grand Am Heating/Cooling

july1979july1979 Member Posts: 1
edited July 2014 in Pontiac
The fan won't work when it is on setting 1 or 2 but when it gets turned up to 3 it blows to hard. I am wondering if it is something that can be fixed easy I would like heat and air but not on high.
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Comments

  • courtgcourtg Member Posts: 2
    How's it going? I am trying to recharge the a/c on my co-workders 1999 Pontiac Grand Am but cannont find the nipple/connector to hook up the freon gauge?

    On my car it's easily visible, but I was wondering if someone here might tell me where to look. Do I have to get under the car?

    I know this is not a complex issue because i've done it on my own car, it's just that I'm not familiar with the Grand Am.

    Thanks
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Most likely the fan control board has gone out, a common problem, and not hard to repair. The part is about $25, it's in the plenum on the passengers side on the bottom. It's a little hard to get to the rear screw.
  • buckeyegirl172buckeyegirl172 Member Posts: 2
    I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about this: oftentimes (but not always) there's a very loud rattle sound coming from under the hood when the AC is on any setting except the defroster. If I have the air coming out at the feet or out the vent, it rattles. When turned to defroster, the rattle immediately stops. Thanks in advance for any info.
  • mlhowardmlhoward Member Posts: 3
    My cousin has a 1999 (mine is a 2003). When I bought mine he came over to look at it and mentioned he hoped they had fixed the problem. I remember him fixing it himself so it can't be that hard.
  • jsabatjsabat Member Posts: 1
    Hi,
    I've had the same problem with the resistor board. I also cannot get the rear screw out! How did you accomplish this? It seems to be an odd size too, do you happen to remember the size?

    -Joe
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    I don't remember the exact size, but I used a small ignition wrench (a small wrench made out of stamped steel) and just turned it out a little at a time. I believe it was something like 11/32 but I'm not sure.
  • nodding2003nodding2003 Member Posts: 2
    I had water and antifreeze leaking and the shop replace the intake valve. When I drove it in all that was wrong was the leak. When they replaced it the called and said there was now a valve sticking and they were trying to find out what was wrong. After a week of this they finally called back and this time they said when they replaced it, it never cranked again. They said they clean some sludge out and that sludge must have been what gave the engine its compression. Now there is no compression and the engine is dead. Is this normal or did they do something wrong when they fixed it?
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    That's the strangest explanation for a lousy repair I have ever heard. Was the original problem a leaking intake manifold gasket?
  • leash82leash82 Member Posts: 1
    ok i posted this some where else on here too but i have a 95 grand am the heat has gone crazy today i checked the anti-freeze ... changed the fuse ... but i looked under the hood n i dont know if this means n ething but the fan by the grill of the car isint turning while on ... is that a possible reason y its not working? please let me know :confuse:
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    "heat has gone crazy" Do you mean it's hot outside and the car's overheating or the heater isn't working?
    The radiator fan should run when the engine temp reaches about 195F (if I remember right for a 95), or full time when the A/C is on. If that's your problem then yes it will overheat especially when running and sitting still, maybe OK when your moving but depends on conditions.
    If your talking about the heater, then provide more info.
  • dgovaindgovain Member Posts: 2
    It's Cold & My HEAT stopped blowingMy heat has stopped blowing on my 2001 Pontiac Grand Am. It will not blow out on any of the settings. If I put my hand by the heat vents I can feel warm air barely coming out. Can anyone please tell me what this may be. I am having a lot of problems with this vehicle and this is my problem now. Could someone please help me? :cry:
  • latin198latin198 Member Posts: 2
    my heater/defrost/ac was working fine the other day in my 2004 grand am gt and now it does not blow any heat or air in any setting. what can be wrong with it?
  • latin198latin198 Member Posts: 2
    i recently started having the same problem with my 2004!! please let me know if you ever get an answer!!
    thanks
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    It could be any number of things. Blower motor out, fan control board, or the switch itself.
  • dgovaindgovain Member Posts: 2
    I ended up having the blower moter replaced. The motor cost me $29.99 and my mechanic charged me $40.00 for labor. So that wasn't too bad. Thank goodness. :shades:
  • nncrffnbrdnncrffnbrd Member Posts: 3
    my car (2005 Pontiac Grand am), the climate control won't switch from defrost, vent, heater, the blower works fine and it's hot when I want hot and it's cold when I turn on the ac, but I can't switch between the different functions. There is a hiss sound that comes out from behind the knob that does the switching, what do I need to check/fix?
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Pull the knob off and see if the back of it has broken. Look closely in the area where it goes on the shaft. That control puts the most pressure (torque) on the knob and it's not uncommon for it to crack and slip over the shaft instead of turning it. If that's the problem you can use one of the other knobs as a replacement. The knobs are not expensive, about $5.00 or so on Ebay.
    I've owned three GA's and have had to replace that knob on all of them at one point or another.
    If it's not that and it is the mode control switch itself, then the entire assembly (fan speed, temp, mode control) has to be replaced since it's supplied as a unit.
    I'm willing to bet though it's just a cracked knob.
  • nncrffnbrdnncrffnbrd Member Posts: 3
    Thanks, the knob had broken already and I've done just what you said, used one of the other ones, but even though the other is a good fit and all, I can turn the knob to the different positions and it's just now changing. I can also hear a slight hiss. If it's the other thing you said had to be replaced have you any idea what that costs?
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    $138.70 at GM Auto Parts.com. Look under instrument panel/cluster and switches/temp control.
    Are you sure that the knob you put on isn't also damaged? If you can hear the hiss all the time, regardless of the setting, then it's probably leaking vacuum. This can also happen if it's between positions since it vents vacuum under certain settings, that's why I say to be sure that the knob, even if it's a different one, isn't also damaged. You may want take the knob off and try using a pair of pliers (carefully) to turn the shaft to test it and make sure.
  • nncrffnbrdnncrffnbrd Member Posts: 3
    Yeah :( I'm sure it isn't damaged. Just my luck it would have to be something like this....shoot! Thanks for your input. Guess when my income tax check comes in I can get it fixed maybe. *sigh*
  • commie21commie21 Member Posts: 2
    i know on my 2000 grand am, the lower line, the one you need to connect to the freon kit, is located behind the front passanger tire, behind the plastic mud stopper. you should be able to remove the tire and that flap and voila it should be right there
  • duran209duran209 Member Posts: 2
    On my brothers 95 grand am se 3.1L the a/c seems to not want to blow any cold air when a/c is on. Checked pressure of freon and was at normal pressure, the clutch on the compressor is on. What else could be the problem?
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Is the blower motor working?
  • duran209duran209 Member Posts: 2
    yeah, it blows air but when you have the a/c on it feels like the heater is on.
  • kisbowlkisbowl Member Posts: 2
    sounds like thermostat to me
  • buster123buster123 Member Posts: 2
    I have a 1996 Grand Am and want to know if the heater core can be bypassed and the car still run.
  • buster123buster123 Member Posts: 2
    Hello, Anyone out there??? I have a 1996 Pontiac Grand AM :lemon: And the heater core is leaking. When I put water in it It's just pores out, Plus when I start driving it the windows start too fog up. Looks like steam is coming in through my vents. Can I bypass this problem long enough to drive the car or what?? Any suggestions would be helpfull.. Thanks.

    Jim J.
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Yes. Connect a bypass hose to the connections on the engine.
  • meljj3meljj3 Member Posts: 2
    If it's not your thermostat you may want to see if it is the A/C control panel. Mine has gone out on my 2000 Grand AM. The heat blows cold and the a/c blows hot but only sometimes. Usually if you keep turning it off and then back on it will start working again.
  • tfink12tfink12 Member Posts: 1
    I'm having A/C problems. About 3 weeks ago I changed the switch from defrost to max a/c. When I did that, the air now does not come out full force out of the vents, and it now comes out through my floor vents. I took it to pontiac and told them about it, but they told me it's "normal for a/c to blow out the floor on max a/c." They are full of crap and I'm wondering if anyone knows how to fix this problem so I can sell this pontiac piece of junk!!
  • answer987answer987 Member Posts: 6
    I have a 2003 grand am gt and my AC will only work on setting number 4 and 5. It doesn't work on 1, 2, or 3. Can anyone tell me what is wrong and how I can fix it?
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Most likely the blower resistor board has failed, a common problem on this model. It's on the bottom of the air plenum in the passengers footwell area. The part runs about $25 or so.
  • answer987answer987 Member Posts: 6
    Thank you, is there a site that will show me what it looks like?
  • ginny13ginny13 Member Posts: 6
    Just a thank you for all the information and help with my blow motor problems and the info on resistor board is especially great..

    virginia

    you have saved me bunches of money :)
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Not that I'm directly aware of. If you do a search here or in the Olds Alero forum though you should find lots of info on it and how to replace it. It's been discussed quite often in the past
  • debtdebt Member Posts: 10
    My 1999 Grand Am SE air conditioning does not cool like it should. I have put coolant in several times and it will remedy the problem for a while but soon returns to warm air. On these very hot days, it feels like all I'm getting is warm air. Finally after it has ran a few minutes you start to feel a little cool air. Does anybody have this problem? I keep it set on Max. It seems to cool better on fan speeds 1 and 2. Anything higher, it is like a fan blowing hot air.
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    You have a leak somewhere in the system if you keep having to put freon in. The only solution if that's the case is find and repair the leak.
  • smquebecsmquebec Member Posts: 1
    I had the same problem! The Antifreeze leaking is very possible that it came from the intake valve. What they (Good mechanic) did to mine was put what they refer to as "Tablets" in the Antifreeze coolant. This is an anti-leak temp fix. Since then I have not had any problems with it. This had been done about 30K miles ago and I now have 139K on the car.

    If you brought this to any trustable garage and they "Cleaned out the sludge" then they didn't know what they were doing. If there is slug in the Engine more often then not, if cleaned out will pose more problems then if left in. This is what my Mechanic told me and I did some research and found out to be mostly true. There are times where they can clean this out but they have to also do other replacements of certain parts as well. Hope this helps!
  • ddlovelyddlovely Member Posts: 1
    My knob for the direction of the air to go, is broken on my 2005 Pontiac Gram Am. I need to know where I can go to get it fixed or get a new one. It is the third knob on the right closer to the passenger.
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    That's the most common one to get broken. The last time I needed one I got one on Ebay.
  • jables1jables1 Member Posts: 1
    Hey all, brand new here and I'm pretty desperate for answers. I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM SE and my AC is acting up on me. About 3-4 months ago, the AC stopped working all together on settings of 2 or lower. It's slowly gotten worse as it now only works on a setting of 5. Just curious if anyone knows what might be the cause and how much it might be to fix it.

    Thanks!
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Most likely the blower motor resistor is going bad. Search in this forum and the Olds Alero forum for it, it's been discussed many times in the past.
  • bran320bran320 Member Posts: 2
    i have a 2002 grand am my heat does not work at all in the mornings. in the afternoon it works some but only when going fast. if anyone can help please help me. htank you
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    Is the blower fan working?
  • bran320bran320 Member Posts: 2
    yes blower is working fine
  • skayeskaye Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am (V6). I'm not getting much heat from the blower. The temp. gauge shows just above 40 degrees Celcius. Could this be a thermostat problem?
  • rshoemaker1rshoemaker1 Member Posts: 1
    Could you please point me in the right direction? Not sure where blower motor resistor is located in my 1999 Grand Am. Lost 1 and 2 speed controls a couple years ago and now I have lost 3, 4 and 5. Hoping this is the problem and any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!!!
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    It's in the passenger side footwell on the bottom of the plenum. You will have to remove the trim panel under the dash. Some folks remove the glovebox for access but you don't really have to unless you think you need to. Look for the connector on the bottom of the plenum, it's way up against the firewall. Remove the connector. There's two screws that hold the resistor board on to the plenum, the front one isn't too bad to get to but the back one is tough since it's up against the firewall.
  • sunnyladysunnylady Member Posts: 11
    I unforunately own a 99 Grand AM SE.I loved the car when I got it.Now I am begining to want to through it to the sharks.My rear defroster stopped working about two yrs ago.Bought a Chiltons manaul.It was useless,as it just showed me how to replace the lines.It said the fuse for it is fuse # 33.Well I looked and there is no fuse # 33.What went wrong?Also recent I had the hoses,therostate,& water pump replaced.Still it leaks coolant,but now I can't go five blocks without it overheating.When I turn if off,there is a huge puddle of anti-freeze on the ground.I was told its the intake manafold gasket near the firewall.I would like to know if this is really the problem before I spend another $ 600.00 to repair it,as I had to spend that much to replace the headgasket.This car has gone from my dreamcar to my nightmare car!When I can afford to I plan on buying another make of car,but not a Ford or a Ponitac.
  • sundanceaasundanceaa Member Posts: 2
    my heater and ac switch quit working on 1&2 at first, then it started to blowing the fluse's :confuse: :confuse: , now the fan just stopped blowing, i wonder if it's the switch or the fan? have u found any thing out with your's. ps mine did viberate the dash a little at on point,
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