Climate (HVAC) control replacement

When I purchased my 2003 Buick Park Avenue the digital display on the climate control wasn't working.

So off to the u-pull it junkyard I went. Luckily for me the junkyard had two Park Avenues of the same vintage. Here is a picture of the donor vehicle for the climate controller, a 2001 Buick Park Avenue:

The dash was already removed so it was really easy to remove the climate control system. Cost for the climate controller at the junkyard was $15.

Dash removal wasn't that difficult. To assist with removal of the faux wood trim I purchased a $5 set of trim removal tools from Harbor Freight: 

I found this tool the most useful:

As usual I went to youtube to see if there was a video on how to remove the dash and I wasn't disappointed. I used this dash removal video and this dash removal video on youtube. The second video is for a Lesabre which is slightly different, but with both videos you get the idea.

Finally, from my time spent on youtube it appears that General Motors vehicles of this vintage have a lot of issues with digital displays failing as the vehicles age. In many cases the display can be repaired by soldering in new resistors or re-soldering components on the board where the solder has cracked. Here is a video on how to repair this particular circuit board. I haven't had to the time to check if this repair would work on my climate controller.

Items to look for when purchasing a 1997 to 2005 Buick Park Avenue

This list is based on my vehicle and reading internet forums and shouldn't be construed as perfect. The list should be applicable to 1997 to 2005 park avenues and possibly lesabres:

• Heating and air blend door motors. These motor direct where air comes out of the dash.
• Upper intake plenum (non supercharged engine) when fails coolant can leak into engine (bad!)
• Lower intake manifold gaskets. Super and non supercharged engine. When fails coolant can leak into engine.
• Intermittent stability control system warning.   A common failure item is a sensor in the steering column that tells the computer the steering wheel position.
• Heater hose elbows. These plastic elbows pass coolant thru the serpentine belt tensioner on the front of the engine to the intake manifold and water pump.They are plastic in a hot engine compartment and crack and leak with age. Their is an aftermarket aluminum version available from Dorman. These are usually replaced when the intake manifold gaskets are replaced.
• Rear self leveling air suspension. Failure modes include compressor, leaks in tubing, or the air shock leaks. System can be replaced with a simpler system.
• Up / down movement in power seat. There is a plastic gear that fails. You will hear the motor run, but the seat will not move up or down. I have read that GM wants to sell you the whole seat track. If you want to fix just the problem there is a brass replacement gear available on ebay. It is a little bit of work as the existing shaft has to be modified to accept the brass gear.
• Oil pressure reading on digital information system will constantly read 130 psi. Usually a bad sending unit.
• Trunk leaks
• Front struts usually need replacing by this time.
• Power windows are slow or inoperative.
• Motor and transmission mounts
• Hard shifts when the transmission is warm. Hard shifts go away after the car is restarted. Culprit is usually pressure control solenoid in the transmission.I haven't seen any youtube repair videos on a park avenue, but on General Motors cars with a similar motor and transmission such as the Chevrolet Impala it is possible to partially lower the transmission on the car and replace the solenoid. It is fairly labor intensive and a decision would need to be made if the car is worth the cost and if a complete a transmission would be a better choice than replacing one part on an old transmission.

After reading this list I can see why the original owner was ready to get a new car. To have a shop perform all the repairs would cost thousands of dollars. However, it isn't as bad as it seems. Some items such as the stability control system don't need to be fixed. If you are handy you have the ability to drive in a luxury car that you probably wouldn't be able to afford. 

On my car the up / down motion on the power seat was broken and the car had the original upper plenum, lower intake gasket, and heater hose elbows and worn struts. With knowledge of these issues i was able to reduce the purchase price.

I missed the service stability system, high (130 psi) oil pressure reading, and one inoperable rear window.

Car purchase

I have been looking on and off for a few months for a new used car. I was lucky that I didn't need to buy a new car right away. The best time to buy a used car is when you don't need to buy a used car. It takes time to find a well maintained fairly priced used car. Tips on purchasing a used car will be the topic of another post.

The car I chose is a 2003 Buick Park Avenue. Here is quick preview.

Additional information on the car and a comparison of the Buick Park Avenue / Buick Lesabre to the prevailing wisdom of purchasing a used Honda or Toyota will be an upcoming post.

The economic case for a used car

Assuming that the average new car loan is 65 months, interest rate 4%, and a total purchase price of $28,000. Your payment would be $479.83 a month. Over the life of the loan you would pay $3,188 in interest. We also need to consider sales tax. Assuming a 6.5% sales tax rate you are looking at approximately $1,700 in sales tax.

So you are looking at spending a total of $4,888 on taxes and interest. It is even worse if you live in a state that has a yearly property tax on the value of your car.

My proposition is that for $4,888 one can buy a great used car that might last three to five years. I am currently in the market for a new to me used car. I plan to monitor the cost of owning an older used car. Edmunds Debt Free Car Project performed a similar study of the costs of driving an under $5,000 used car. 

Why this blog

It seems that every year vehicles consume a larger and larger percentage of a house hold’s budget. A new car was once considered standard for the middle class is now for many American’s an impossible dream. I plan to track my experience buying and maintaining an older debt free used car. I am bit of a shade tree mechanic and hope to share what I have learned in the past fifteen years that I have been driving and repairing cars.

I also plan to discuss some public policies issues along the way as I have a love / hate relationship with cars. I love the freedom that a car provides, but I also believe that we have built our infrastructure in the U.S. to be too car dependent and hostile to other modes such as bikes and pedestrians. I think that we would all be a lot better off if we walked or biked more and drove less.