1991 Buick Park Avenue Manual Climate Control Issues

[(insert name here)]

My cousin is having issues with the manual climate control in his '91 Park Avenue. The control panel will wig out at random, putting on a little light show as all the setting buttons rapidly flash, before everything goes out completely. I'm assuming this is an issue with the panel itself, but I am also hearing a relay going nuts somewhere in the passenger footwell (not sure if this is a symptom or a cause).

Yesterday I quickly tossed in a direct 12V wire to the blower motor with a fuse and a switch under the hood just so he had some form of heat, but this is a very temporary solution.

Curious if anyone has any pointers to diagnose the root cause of the issue. If it's a cheaper/easier fix than replacing the control panel, that would be great. Replacing that panel for $100+ exceeds the budget for any repairs.

I'm also curious if anyone knows where I can buy the mating connector for this guy:

If I have to permanently bypass the control panel, I'll need both sides of the connection for what I have in mind.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

My cousin is having issues with the manual climate control in his '91 Park Avenue. The control panel will wig out at random, putting on a little light show as all the setting buttons rapidly flash, before everything goes out completely. I'm assuming this is an issue with the panel itself, but I am also hearing a relay going nuts somewhere in the passenger footwell (not sure if this is a symptom or a cause).

Yesterday I quickly tossed in a direct 12V wire to the blower motor with a fuse and a switch under the hood just so he had some form of heat, but this is a very temporary solution.

Curious if anyone has any pointers to diagnose the root cause of the issue. If it's a cheaper/easier fix than replacing the control panel, that would be great. Replacing that panel for $100+ exceeds the budget for any repairs.

I'm also curious if anyone knows where I can buy the mating connector for this guy:

If I have to permanently bypass the control panel, I'll need both sides of the connection for what I have in mind.

The modules in the early cars are known issues. If you are still monitoring this thread I can get some diagnostic info or part numbers

 

[(insert name here)]

We spent a large amount of time removing the module, disassembling it, cleaning it (it was filled with old soda), and putting it back together. And it still didn't work. I'm not sure either of us has the time/patience to mess with it anymore.

During one of the times the climate controls were working, I set them to full heat and defrost and then pulled the fuse, so there's no risks of them wigging out and changing to something he doesn't want.

As it stands right now, there is a wire running from the fuse box that turns the fan on when the ignition is on, and off when the ignition is off. At some point we'll add a toggle switch inside the car so the fan can be controlled independent of the ignition. The wiring's all set to do this, and the hole is cut, just didn't have a proper amperage switch at the time we ran the new wiring (read as: the first switch we used melted and fused into the ON position).

 

[DrivenDaily]

Maybe you could use a relay to interrupt the blower motor power wire, which would save having to run huge wires to a switch, and having to source a switch that can handle 20-30 amps.