I can't figure out which fuses to check!

mcowser · May 2015

The display for the dual ac and heat stopped working on my 2001 Buick Regal. Of course, I would first like to check the fuses but I can't figure out which ones to check. Can you tell me what they would be called?

Also, the air works, but it has never blown as hard and cold as it should and it's works better on the passenger side than the driver side. I changed the cabin filter, which was filthy. Doing that helped a lot. It now blows stronger, but still not like it should and still better on the passenger side. I'm sure it needs a freon charge. It probably hasn't had one in the lifetime of the car. But again, I would like to check all the fuses that could possibly affect this problem first. I have the diagram, but I don't know what the fuses would be called. Yes, I'm a girl, but how many girls would even attempt to change the filter.

nelsonf · June 2015

One suggestion: If you don't know which fuse in particular, you can check all of them in the fuse box pretty quickly, then if you find a bad one, you can investigate from there, using the diagram sometimes found on the fuse box cover, or in the owner's manual.

Go to any car parts place and ask for a test light. Shouldn't cost much. It looks like an ice pick with long wire that has an alligator clip at the end.

I don't know where the fuse box is on your car, but open the box, and attach the alligator clip to something metal nearby, like the seat track or a screw or something like that. Needs to be bare metal to complete the circuit to ground.

Turn the key to on, not accessory, and not with engine running, then, one at a time put the tip of the tester on the little metal piece that you can see sticking through the plastic on each side of the amp rating on the fuse. 5, 10, 25, etc. The tester will light up if power is there. You need to do both sides of the fuse. If it lights up on one side, but not the other, the fuse is bad.

Some circuits may not be active with just the key on. So if you think a fuse is bad, look on the diagram to see what circuit it is. If it's say parking lights, turn on the parking lights and test again. If the test light works this time, keep moving down the line.

I hope this isn't confusing. Once you get started, it'll take literally a minute or two to check all of your fuses.

buicknicksi78 · May 2015

If you haven't received the answer you inquired, it's my belief the unit has gone bad, prior employment with Chevrolet, till breaking of my back, leaving the field, this was a common issue with buick, olds, Chevy, Pontic, etc., etc., especially in the early 2000's,

mcowser · May 2015

Thank you. I would still like to check the fuses. I just don't know which fuses are the right ones. I have a diagram, but I don't know what they would be called on there. I didn't want to start pulling fuses until I at least have a good i

mcowser · June 2015

It wasn't confusing at all. Thank you very much for your help.

nelsonf · June 2015

Glad you figured it out. Any luck finding a bad fuse?

imidazol97 · June 2015

The digital readout goes bright and dim with the dimming feature for the rest of the dash lights.
If the dimming works for the rest of the dash, then the problem is isolated to the control unit
for the HVAC. It might, rarely be the connector not working right. But the control heads for quite
a few Grand Prix's, Regals, leSabres, Bonnevilles, had trouble in year before that with certain
resistors losing contact with the circuit board inside the control unit. There were instructions
with pictures on the net showing how to take apart the HVAC box and get to the layer of circuit
board that was the part providing voltage for the display. Resolder all the connections to be sure
you got the ones that were defective and the brightness on the readout was back.

The symptoms for those were that the brightness would come and go as the contact between
the resistor lead and the circuit foil burned and corroded. I would suggest getting a replacment
from a junkyard. Unless you are good at dis-assembly and re soldering.

http://www.gmforum.com/electrical-133/fixing-dim-hvac-97-5-04-regal-296707/

I can't figure out which fuses to check!

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