Help! C4 Climate Control R&R

[marty]

My C4 Ruby coupe's Climate Contol System has, evidently like many others, decided to cease responding to operator inputs. I'd like to attempt to remove the unit and clean the contacts, a procedure that appears to have been successful in many cases. If contact cleaning doesn't work as hoped, I can always buy a remanufactured EOM control head, as I've seen some for sale on eBay, etc.
I just recently purchased the car and have not yet obtained a set of service manuals to guide me through safe removal of the dash fascia and subsequent R&R of the control head itself. Could I get a tip or two on this procedure from someone who's done it, or, if that requires an inordinately lengthy reply, perhaps a link to another site that could help? Many thanks for any responses.

 

[94conv.]

Its really not that bad of a process just time consuming and keep track of the screws. First you need to remove, not completely you dont need to get it off the shifter but pull the shifter back into low 1 or 2. Those screws are under the cup holders and under the console lid. you may need to pull back the thin black carpet in the front part of the console to get to the screws. Youll see it when you get there, then pull up and back and now on the stereo bezel there are one or two screws up near the vents and two or three on the bottom. Youll see those when you move the shifter console back a couple inches. the stereo bezel will pull off after you get the screws out. It has some retainers so be carefull when you tug on it. then youll see the four screws holding your climate controller on. remove that and theres four screws on the back or bottom of it, I dont remember exactly but itll make sense when you get there to. Ive had to cleaned mine and it worked for me. the contacts were nasty, gummy and brown from all the armor all i suppose. Good luck.

 

[John Robinson]

Welcome

Welcome to the CAC. 94Conv is right on with his information on how to get to the climate control unit. If you do not have one you will need a 7MM socket for the screws and I have found it useful to pickup a 7MM swivel head socket as well. You may have to push the counsel trim a little to get to some of the screws and that is were the swivel head socket comes in handy. Also the heater vent has two screws that hold it in place. As for keeping track of the screws you take out cover the counsel with a rag to catch the screws that will with out fail fall from your fingers and disappear never to be seen again. Let us know how it turns out or if you need more ;help

 

[So Bay Vetter]

All the above info is good stuff . . . have you checked/cleaned fuses first? Hate to see you go thru all that disassembly and find out it was dirty fuse contacts. If you're not to impatient, waiting for the FSM"s will give you a troubleshooting sequence and might save many four-letter explitives! (ps: I believe the lid has to come off the center console to move the shifter console back).

 

[marty]

Thanks for the suggestion. I excluded fuses as the culprit because the climate control head has power, i.e. the outside temp shows (accurately I believe) in the digital display, and the green light on the climate control's "Auto" button is illuminated. I'm currently in Florida and it's been warm -- the A/C cycles and blows cold, keeping the cockpit quite comfortable. The problem is that I'm unable to move temp up or down, and ditto for the fan.
I've bid on two sets of '93 manuals on eBay this week, only to get outbid -- guess I need to get more aggressive!

 

[86-ZZ3]

I've heard the wiring harnass breaks the solder joints so you might want to try resoldering there.

I've had a problem where the lights won't display (no temp or fan speed display), unless ALDL terminal is connected.

 

[marty]

Thanks!

I much appreciate all who've responded to my call for advice on my Ruby's climate control problem. Within the next few days I plan to remove the climate control head (thanks to '94cvt and John for instructions) and try and clean it up. I'll post results.
86-zz3: what's ALDL terminal?
Thanks again all Marty

 

[86-ZZ3]

86-zz3: what's ALDL terminal?

Computer diagnostic computer connector (just above your righ knee at least in the early L98s..

 

[rmagee7]

not sure but mine was a vacuum leak and an out of adjustment air door motor arm,the vac leak was at the plenum

 

[marty]

93 Ruby climate control R&R -- Success!!

Even with my limited mechanical skills I was able to get the CC head unit out and, after disassembly and alcohol scrubdown, it now works perfectly. I bought a nice Craftsman 1/4 in socket set to do the job and that, plus the great help I'd received from those on this forum, got 'er done. Sure beats spending $400 for a rebuilt control unit. Now that I'm familiar with the process I'm ready to next tackle repair of the CD player.... Many thanks again to all who helped -- great forum!

 

[Emmasdad]

Hey Marty,

I think we have the same car issues. My CD player doesn't work and my A/C unit is on the fritz. My 93' is coming out of winter storage next week and I'm thinking of tackling the problems soon. My temperature arrows work to make the temp. go up, but will work when they feel like it to drop the temp. The selector buttons always work for a few of the options, but when it's acting up, won't let me toggle through all of them (A/C, heat, defrost, etc).

Does this sound like a similar problem to what you encountered? I'll be passing through Virginia tomorrow on my way home from North Carolina. I'll look for a post when I get home if you have the opportunity to write one. If you don't mind I might want to contact you with a question about what you cleaned after I get through the removal part.

Thanks Marty, glad you had good luck getting to yours.

-Matt

P.S. I'm thinking of sending my radio to Dr. Don's in Texas for repair of the CD player. I've heard good reviews. I don't use it, but I want everything to work as the car is all original.

 

[marty]

Climate control head R&R

Matt
The symptoms you describe sound identical to the ones Ruby had. I followed the instructions I received on this forum for removing console trim, etc to get access to the head unit itself. Once I had the climate control unit out of the car, I (very carefully) removed the four screws holding the case together and emptied all components (switches, circuit board, etc) on my workbench, making notes to help me put it all back together later. I first tried cleaning the printed circuit board with a pencil eraser, but, after reassembling everything, my control unit still didn't work. So I bought some rubbing alcohol, disassembled the unit again, and scrubbed every metal part inside, including pin contacts, with the alcohol, using a Qtip.
I put the whole thing back together, reinstalled it in the dash, and was flabbergasted when it worked perfectly! After I got the dash all buttoned up I was left with two extra screws (hey. I admitted to not being a mechanic...), but my climate control is still humming right along.
If I can do this Matt, anybody can. The keys are patience and small tools to work in the confined spaces. Good luck, and write back if I can offer more help.
BTW, if you decide to remove the radio unit while you have the access, pls let me know how the repair works out.
Marty

 

[Emmasdad]

Matt
The symptoms you describe sound identical to the ones Ruby had. I followed the instructions I received on this forum for removing console trim, etc to get access to the head unit itself. Once I had the climate control unit out of the car, I (very carefully) removed the four screws holding the case together and emptied all components (switches, circuit board, etc) on my workbench, making notes to help me put it all back together later. I first tried cleaning the printed circuit board with a pencil eraser, but, after reassembling everything, my control unit still didn't work. So I bought some rubbing alcohol, disassembled the unit again, and scrubbed every metal part inside, including pin contacts, with the alcohol, using a Qtip.
I put the whole thing back together, reinstalled it in the dash, and was flabbergasted when it worked perfectly! After I got the dash all buttoned up I was left with two extra screws (hey. I admitted to not being a mechanic...), but my climate control is still humming right along.
If I can do this Matt, anybody can. The keys are patience and small tools to work in the confined spaces. Good luck, and write back if I can offer more help.
BTW, if you decide to remove the radio unit while you have the access, pls let me know how the repair works out.
Marty

Thanks a bunch Marty, I'll beep when we go through Virginia. Maybe we'll see a Ruby Red out on the road today! I'll drop another note your way if I need help. I imagine it will be 2 to 3 weeks before I get to it.

-Matt

 

[vetteoz]

I was left with two extra screws

They go in a special jar.
The more you work on your car , the more you will collect

 

[greyhound]

The for the post!

Thanks for the post on this. Rubbing alcohol fixed mine. I was ready to trash it and buy a new one. Now does anyone know where the inside and outside temp sensors are? :ugh

 

[ecss]

Inside sensor is behind the drivers head mounted in the B pillar halo panel

Outside sensor is mounted on the passenger side underneath front of the car in a
plastic cage about the size of a relay. You can see it if you look under the area where
the air dam is and look up towards the condenser

.

 

[Ray0214]

little confused: vacuum prob or dirty contacts?

My unit has gotten progresively worse. The outside temp registers correcty, Sometimes when changing functions it works sometimes not. When I get another button to light up, the function works correctly blowing air where its supposed to. When I try to raise or lower temperature, I have to repeatedly pus button, either up or down, before the temp setting changes. It seems to work better after I've driven it a while but still not as it should. So how do I tell if its vacuum leak or dirty contacts?