93 Cutlass climate control problem

[doc_speeder]

Well, I'm new to this board, cause athough being an admirer of w-bodies for a long time, I just bought my first one. Its a 93 Cutlass SL 4dr. Its in really nice shape, and I bought it about 2months ago. Y'all seem like a friendly bunch, so I hope you can help me with a problem that started yesterday. The temp (both outside and interior setting) is way off, and even though its hot out, the unit only thinks it is 8-10 degrees celsius. This is causing the unit not to work properly, and I have to turn the temp setting way down because it thinks it is cooler than it really is. Is this a common problem? Is there a temp sending unit or probe mounted somewhere in the car? Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

 

BTW, Im really a VW guy, and I've received oodles of help and tips from vwvortex.com. I'm hoping this board can be as useful a resource as that has been.

[DOHCRagtopguy]

On my Olds I know there is a sensor on the driver's side front end. That is what gives the temp for outside. There is also an interior sensor right under the glovebox. That one reads the INSIDE temp. Maybe that is your problem, it's bad.

 

Oh and welcome to the board. It's quite entertaining some times!

[GnatGoSplat]

What's up doc?

It sounds like it could be a bad sensor ground, but I can't imagine how because almost all the grounds are tied together with soldered splices.

 

It's common for the 89-93 automatic climate control to go bad. The 94 unit is much more reliable. The 89-93 auto climate control tends to have solder joints go bad. To fix mine, I had to take it apart, de-varnish all the circuit boards using a toothbrush and lacquer thinner, and resolder all the tiny joints. It might be easier just to replace it. That is, if the sensor grounds check out.

 

VWVortex!!! How's G-man doing? Is he still hanging around the VWVortex? The veteran forum members here may remember G-man (George Mantis). The guy had a few alternators go bad in his 95(?) Cutlass coupe and had a fit. He cursed his car, cursed GM, and cursed all who own GM cars and like them! He bought himself a new VW Golf, then came back to the forum and mailing list calling us all idiots for owning and liking our GM cars when they're unreliable POS's, not like the wonderfully reliable VW that he just bought. I told him if he wanted reliability, look to the Japanese, not Germans, but did he listen? Noooo! So needless to say, he had a few little problems with his VW like I said he would... talked a little too much and got his ass sued! http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/22973.html Anyway, your mentioning VWVortex brought back some old memories of the G-man.