2000 Buick Park Avenue Climate Control

BIGDOGS48

MEMBER
2000 BUICK PARK AVENUE
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
128,483 MILES

I just bought this car today. But where the display is to show you how you are setting the temp, fan, air flow, temp inside, temp outside etc. Is so dim that you can hardly see it. I have the dimmer switch turned up. I am assuming it is not a fuse or you wouldn't be able to see it at all (I think). What could the problem be? Not all of the seat controls work either. Nor does the lighter. Any clues? It also needs possibly a new muffler or something to do with the exhaust. It is somewhat loud.

1 Reply

ERNEST CLARK

MECHANIC
1,730 POSTS

There's a couple of possible causes for why your display would start to dim:
High resistance in a wire or connector
The circuit board that the display is mounted to is bad
The display is bad, or loose on the circuit board

I've also seen cases where one/more resistors on the circuit board have gone bad, and they can be replaced if you're any good with a soldering gun.

As for your other electrical issues, always check the fuses first. And just because the fuse appears to be good, doesn't mean that it is. Check it with a DVOM.

With the seat controls, if your fuse checks out, then begin testing the circuit for that function starting at the switch. If the switch/wires/connectors check out, then move on to the seats motor and mechanism.

As for the lighter, if that fuse checks out, check to see if there's power at the lighter. (Probe with
DVOM on the inside of the socket) If there's voltage, then the pop-out lighter is bad. If there's no voltage, then one/more of the wires or connectors are bad.

Finally, if your car is louder than normal, then you need to check out the exhaust system. (Visual inspection) This could be caused by a leaking/cracked exhaust manifold, catalytic converter, pipe or muffler.