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Comments
Replacement motors for the blower are available aftermarket. Connect the blower motor and test it for running before bolting it in.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Good Luck!!
The programmer is the box down by the heater that has vacuum tubes going in and out that control the vacuum doors on the heater box to direct air to the right places. I assume you have the automatic air with the digital temperature readout? It also controls the actuator that varies the temperature door to maintain the right temperature.
rockauto.com
gmpartsdirect.com
look it up under HVAC or heating and air conditioning
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I have a 1996 Boneville and was told today I need a A/C programmer. I can't find what I am looking for. Did you ever find a part number and how much was it. Where did you buy yours?
The fact that everything works right at first is a good sign. Are you in a relatively cool climate? I think high temps in the car sitting in the sun help deteriorate those plastics faster. The connector can be cut off the tubes at the corner of the programmer (controller) box down under the dash. Those loose ends can be connected with pieces of aquarium tubing or with 1/8 inch rubber gas line pieces. I did it on mine.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
This site has good instructions and color photos of parts involved.
richard82
Amazing what a little piece of deteriorated plastic can cause. A lot of people replace the $450 programmer box and it wasn't the cause at all for their problems.
Thanks for reporting back to let others know what you found and what worked!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
So when the winter came along, I simply took the grips off and let the hot air flow.
Well now it's summer again and I still have extra hot air. I have automatic climate control and regardless of what temperature I set it at, it still bows nothing but hot.
I have contacted the 2 biggest auto parts suppliers in the KC metro and they say they do not have a Automatic Climate Control head unit for sale. I asked...how can you search within 600 miles for a part that fits so many cars, and not have one?
And I do not even know if it is that part that is the problem.
If any of you have experienced this problem and or can give any insight, it would certainly be appreciated.
I haven't got the problem fixed yet. Tuesday morning May 27th I'm taking it back to the shop that replaced the A/C compressor 2 years ago.
Hopefully they can figure something out. Or at least clamp off the hose allowing hot air to blow in. With it being 13 years old now and with 140,000 miles, I'm real hessitant to spend more than a few hundred on a repair. It has leaked oil ever since I got it. I keep it changed regularly. I was pitting Lucas Oil Heavy Duty Oil Stablalizer in between oil changes. But at $11 per, and would do that twice between changes. So now I just went to Sams club and boought a case of Mobil 5000 oil. It has increased my mpg from 22.5 to just over 24. And that has been for several tanks in a row not just once.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. After I take it to the garage, I will post here Tuesday night with an update.
If so, you may want to take off the hush panel above the passenger's feet (about 5 little screws and taps) and look for the brass colored screw rod that clips to a white plastic arm coming out of a programmer box. Either the vane inside is stuck or the arm is snapped off the screw thread rod or the programmer box not working the rod.
I believe the rod that controls the driver's heat is the lower one. If you have automatic air with a pssenger control, that's the upper one way up high on top of the box...
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
If anyone in Kansas City knows of a shop that could fix the problem for good, and it wouldn't cost me several hundred dollars, please let me know. Thanks
Thanks Steve
i think the 1992-1996s had that setup. Then 1997-1999 had the tank under the front fender.
If it's not there on the firewall, look under the right front fender in front of the wheel. Lie on te ground and look up. sometimes the connector goes bad that snaps on or the tank splits with age or injury. If the tank is there pull of the hose with the motor running to see if there's vacuum stored in the tank--it'll whoosh when you pull it off.
If that doesn't work then there may be an internal problem under the dash. There's a programmer box with a 5 tube coupler made of plastic that has little rubber layers inside that soften and suck in and block the vacuum--but you usually will hear the lower dash vanes move when you put the settings on heater and on bilevel with the motor running. Try running the motor and then turn it off but leave the key on and switch between settings and see if you hear the vacuum motors move. If not you probably don't have vacuum coming inside at all.
Check for the engine and storage tank vacuum lines and then I can give you links for the inside problem and cheap fix.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Thanks for your help, i will try anything you suggest
Steve
If you have standard (C67) no digital readout, there are two relays that switch. If one is burned, the blower doesn't work on the lower speeds and if the other is burned the system doesn't have the highest blower speed.
Since you don't say that it works on one speed or other, check the ground from the blower motor. AND first you should disconnect the blower motor plug from the resistor pack on top of the air channel (the relay center lifts up after loosening or removing one or two screws, and test the blower motor with a FUSED power line from the battery and a ground.
Fuse 17 and fuse 11 in the driver's dash panel. Fuse #3 in the Fuse and Relay center on the firewall under the hood -- but that only powers the high blower speed.
If blower works then check the connector for good ground connection.
If you've got the dual, automatic temperature control with digital readout, then it may be your blower motor control module that replaces the resistor pack in the top of the air duct under the hood. Again if the blower motor checks okay with fused wire, then the control module may have died. I'm told they're available aftermarket at Advance Auto and others. Also might find compatible at junkyard.
It may look like this found on rockauto.com with a price of $119
Also on dual system Fuse 1 in fuse/relay center on passenger inside car under dash against A pillar area. Remove plastic panel above passenger's feet. On top of panel may be schematic and llist of relays and fuses in that forgotten panel.
Also underhood firewall it's fuse 3. And on this unit it looks a blown fuse 3 there stops all speeds unlike the manual control system above.
Note there are two fuse and relay centers I've mention: one is on the firewall under the hood and the other is by the passenger's right foot.
This info is from a 1993 leSabre/ParkAvenue factory service manual. I may not be what's used for the Pontiac in 1992.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/fix_vacuum_line.php
It worked on my 1998 Pontiac Bonneville and using the "Plan B" directions it cost $1.29 to repair, all I needed was about a foot of vacuum line from my local auto-parts store.
I'm concerned you said you didn't get a lot of vacuum at the tank. How long had the motor been off. When I did it, I had turned the motor off a minute or two before and when I got down there I could hardly pull the line off because there was so much vacuum.
Your next step if you don't get movement testing the various HVAC motors like in paragraph one is to go to the right side of the dash and follow the violet line up to where it's connected to the black line from the motor side of the firewall. Pull them apart (may be hard, they've been together a long time). See if there's vacuum on the black line when you put your moist fingetip on it!
If there is vacuum and some of the other motors work, but the blue line one for the defrost/AC door doesn't, then most likely the connector at the programmer is sucking shut the little black nipple. You can bypass one, the blue one, or all with1/8 inch gas line chunks or aquarium line that fits tightly over the outside.
This link tells one story which I had posted on Edmunds long ago.
Repair link
These pictures show the rubbery plastic connector after I cut the lines off. You can cut only the blue line inside and outside and bypass them.
The connector comes out of the slot on the programmer box when the lid is snapped out using the black clips on one side.
See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com
See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I suspect you'll be below the minimum pressure to engage the switch to operate the system. Myself I would use the can and put in freon up to the correct color and see if you aren't getting some cooling. Then you can see if it goes down again or not.
I had my 98 get not cool when the outside really got warm last summer. It had seemed okay earlier in the summer, but when the outside when up to 90 and above it was lacking. After 11 years I guess it seeped enough R134a that it was low. I put it back up to the proper level and I've had cooling since--including so far this summer. So I don't think I had a slow leak. You might check the condenser and tubing and look for oiliness as a sign of a leak which brings out some oil with it.
The fans will come on through a separate circuit for coolant heating up. The no freon may be keeping them from coming on with the AC.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Has anyone else had this problem, any ideas how to fix?
Any suggestions?
MirTrip
If it's a Bonneville, it's already special!
>Most of the time when I start the it the heater blows, but sometimes it doesn't.
I suspect the control on the dash was not the problem.
One most likely point is the blower motor itself. Some are having wear on the commutator so that when it stops it may not be making electrical contact. Then when the dash control and the programmer on the heater box say blow, the blower motor doesn't move. When the car hits a bump, or something vibrates the motor, the commutator makes contact and the blower starts working while you're driving.
Next time your start the car and turning the blower speed up doesn't result in any air movement, use the toe of your foot on the right side of the hump and tap upward against the blower housing; keep your foot back toward the firewall. Most likely the blower will come on. Keep the key on while you do this.
The snap connector in that area may have a burned contact--check it first by disconnecting and looking for burning or melted plastic.
There also is a blower control module if you have the automatic control AC unit (C69). These are next to the blower and control the speed using a power transistor.
The blower can be replaced easily by removing the plastic panel under the bottom of the dash with a few screws and clips. The blower motor is held in with 3 screws and wiggles out with the squirrel cage attached. Some people say to pull the carpet back from the firewall to allow another inch of room and that will make it easier to wiggle in and out.
This requires working lying on the floor and across the seats, but several types of blowers are available on the net. Some are much better quality than others. I'd suggest rockauto.com to look at some of the choices. Click through their online parts list to get to heating and cooling and then to blower motor.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k110/imidazol97/IMG_2157.jpg
At the middle left of the picture is a white arm with a thin threaded rod that goes to the right about 5 inches to a little white plastic arm that is part of an actuator.
By taking off the hush panel under the dash (3 screws and two taps at the firewall) and maybe taking off the glovebox door, you can see that arm. By moving it while the key and heater are on, you should see it go right and left to change the blend door to give the temp you want. It may be unsnapped from the arm. It just snaps on sideways and you would have the door at the left inside the heater on full heat and the digital temp control at full heat request (90) and then snap on then.
This picture may help more. These have had the dash removed for some kind of work. Yours can still be reached but will not be this easy, depending on the year.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k110/imidazol97/HeaterCore1-1.jpg
The actuator may be burned out or the gears cracked. They are available at rockauto.com or gmpartsdirect.com. You'll need to be very careful you get the right one for your car. IF it is bad, you can take the actuator off with two screws-not easy to get at one, and check the part number on it. Put that part number into the blank on gmpartsdirect or rockauto and it will give you the right replacement.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,