94/96 Roadmasterambient temp sensor

[Guest bobjudd]

Good morning,

My 96 Roadmaster Estate is missing her ambient temp sensor. So the HVAC is out of whack. These ambient temp sensors are very hard to find. GM is out, so is Rock Auto etc. etc. Do you have any idea where I might find one? thanks for your help.

Bob Judd

[NTX5467]

Might these inside temp sensors be termed, by GM, as "aspirator"? If that's the case, then it's behind some little louvers. Many times, they are behind the little slots near the ignition key. In other vehicles, they are in the headliner, kind of looking like it ought to be a microphone for OnStar, near the driver's left ear, in the headliner.

Sometimes, in the case of Suburbans and such, one failure mode is a whirring sound coming from "the box in the headliner", as there is a small electric motor and fan in there to move air across the thermistor to gauge the temperature.

IF the vehicle has an inside rear view mirror with a temperature display, or an "outside temperature" readout somewhere, THAT sensor is located somewhere on the front bumper support structure. A bolt-on/clip-on, little black item with a wire hooked to it. Everything's colored "black", so it's not easy to see or find.

Now, IF you have a reliable part number, there are two options. The first one is to go to www.partsvoice.com , do the free registration, follow their menus to the GM side of things, input the part number, and it should give you a list of stocking dealers and IF they still have any. Consider, too, "all sales are final" in this scenario, which is why the reliability of the part number is necessary, as it's "all yours" if you purchase it, freight included.

The other option, if the part has been discontinued by GM, is Vintage Parts International in Beaver Dam, WI. As they are not a part of the GM organization, they use the last GM MSRP of the part as a guide, so it can vary, BUT if they have it, they have it.

At worst, the dealer's operative can call GM SPO Assistance to inquire as to if the part is scheduled for discontinuance or is just "between batches". I would hope that given the necessity of that part to the ultimate comfort and safety of the occupants, they would have done this as a matter of course . . . right up front. Yes, I've done that whenever it was an older vehicle that I suspected of the part being discontinued, so it IS a doable situation. Just might take a little extra effort. If the part is "between batches" or "under review", there can be a future date of when it's supposed to happen, usually what has seemed like an arbitrary two weeks in the future. But then that will give the parts operative (and customer) a general idea of when to check back for a parts status update. Once they figure out how to do those inquiries, it's pretty easy to do. These calls are something that ONLY dealership operatives can make.

Have they also done a "SPAC Case" on your part? To do that, they'll have to order the part and then let it backorder. From there, they can upgrade the order to a "Service Parts Action Center" or "SPAC" situation with a case number applied to the upgraded order. With that active, GM will do their own search (with a different search engine) to see if anybody has one they are willing to sell. GM then buys it from the stocking dealer, has it Overnighted to the ordering dealer, "on their dime". If no one responds to the initial case inquiry, within a day, with no reply to the ordering dealer within about a day, then the ordering dealer can inquire on the SPAC Case and possibly request it be "re-run" a second time. With the SPAC Case Number now on the order, it can be tracked directly . . . either by calling or via the GM secure computer network (used to be called "Dealer World").

Hope this might help,

NTX5467