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1976 buick skylark ac fan not working


Guest jenni69

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Guest jenni69
:( have had my ac worked on twice now and everything ran great but my fan keeps kicking in and out. ac is cold but not coming out the vents. is it possible the ground wire isn't working? I have had that on other cars. I don't know how to find out. can do most stuff on car but ac blows my mind
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If it's not blowing out the dash vents in an A/C or VENT position, feel around the defroster and floor vents and find out where it IS blowing out. If there is a vacuum issue, the system will default to whichever outlets a vacuum failure directs it to, which back then was usually floor vents. This is usually caused by: a disconnected or broken vacuum hose (on the engine), a bad vacuum storage ball (also underhood), or a vacuum selector valve failure (on the dash control).

On the fan issue, does it stop on high speed or when the lower speeds are selected? High speed failure indicates a faulty high blower speed relay (usually located on firewall with a heavy gage red, orange or black w red or orange stripe going to it). If it kicks in and out on lower speeds it could be the fan speed switch on the dash control, the blower speed resistor (on heater case underhood), a bad ground as you've mentioned, or a bad connector plug to the resistor.

All this stuff would be in the 1976 Buick Chassis Manuals. If you don't have one handy, try Wild About Cars - Your Automotive Resource Center - Our Latest News and Happenings . Not sure how much Buick-specific stuff they have, but Chevy, Pontiac and Olds X-body cars used essentially the same A/C system as the Buick. If you can't find Buick, look under Oldsmobile Omega, Pontiac Ventura or Chevy Nova sections. The great thing is that all these cars are Nova-based and as such it should be easy to find replacement parts if needed.

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Guest jenni69

thank you so much for your comments!i've been on other forums and never had anyone leave info. as for the problem, the blower motor just stops. I had all vacuum leaks fixed. I went ahead and rechecked them. all the vents work. the compressor kicks on and I can feel the cold air in the vents. just no fan blowing. I tried it on low and high speeds. I tried just having the fan on without the ac and still doesn't work. I was wondering about the relays as that is problems on many cars I've had. not just to buicks. other cars I've had Toyotas, Volvos,fords and chevys. seems pretty common.

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Guest jenni69

also, before the fan stopped working, it would kick off and on for no reason. where exactly is the resistor at on the heater case?

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Jenni, look for a plug on the heater & A/C case underhood, on the passenger side of engine compartment. Should be 3 to 5 wires going to it depending on car- one for high blower speed only, and the others change current flow to the resistor. The resistor is what actually changes the blower speeds.

Also- there should be a purple wire going to the blower motor itself. Check the connector on it at the blower end and also check the grounding on the motor. Possibly motor is going bad but it should be an easy find that any auto parts store can get for you. Try to get one with the squirrel-cage fan already on it so you don't have to fool with transferring it from the old motor and risk breaking it. You can test the motor by running a wire straight from the positive battery terminal to the terminal on the blower. If it comes to full speed with the jumper wire and does not stop and start, the motor is good and the problem is in the switch, resistor, or wiring.

Good luck. I imagine you're needing working A/C in St Pete about now.

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Guest jenni69
Jenni, look for a plug on the heater & A/C case underhood, on the passenger side of engine compartment. Should be 3 to 5 wires going to it depending on car- one for high blower speed only, and the others change current flow to the resistor. The resistor is what actually changes the blower speeds.

Also- there should be a purple wire going to the blower motor itself. Check the connector on it at the blower end and also check the grounding on the motor. Possibly motor is going bad but it should be an easy find that any auto parts store can get for you. Try to get one with the squirrel-cage fan already on it so you don't have to fool with transferring it from the old motor and risk breaking it. You can test the motor by running a wire straight from the positive battery terminal to the terminal on the blower. If it comes to full speed with the jumper wire and does not stop and start, the motor is good and the problem is in the switch, resistor, or wiring.

Good luck. I imagine you're needing working A/C in St Pete about now.

thanks for the help, I will check it out

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Guest jenni69

was working on the glove box today. I needed a light and found one at the junkyard in a nova.fit perfect. just had to wire it in. looked good with new glove box liner. haven't checked the ac fan yet. only got on forum at 12:30 am. i'm a night owl.

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