Lots of issues - Intermintint power, lights out on A/C control unit, coolant leaking

[BigChief]

Hello, first time poster long time lurker.

My 2000 Park Avenue has about 180,000 miles I bought it at 160,00 and I was unable to obtain the previous repair information.

First issue. Every door except the front driver side door loses power intermittently. When I say they lose power the windows do not work my drivers controls or the controls on the doors, also same goes for the power locks. I haven't noticed a correlation that causes this issue. Some days they decide to work sometimes they decide to not work.

Second issue. Some of the lights on my A/C control unit are out. The LCD display is completely out, but some of the buttons still light up. Controls still work though.

Third issue. I took my car in to a shop today because I had a coolant leak, it looks to becoming from above the water pump. The shop told me it was the "coolant elbow" seal? I think its the thermostat or the thermostat housing o rings he is talking about. What parts would you recommend I replace? They said the repairs would run around 200$. Is this repair easy enough to do on my own? I am just a weekend mechanic that can follow directions.

Thanks for taking the time to read,

BigChief

 

[Spriteman]

First issue. Every door except the front driver side door loses power intermittently. When I say they lose power the windows do not work my drivers controls or the controls on the doors, also same goes for the power locks. I haven't noticed a correlation that causes this issue. Some days they decide to work sometimes they decide to not work.

Sounds like you might have a bad ground - some of the other posters have found bad grounds underneath the front floor carpet near the door thresholds - on both sides there is a common ground point. If you search for ground I'm sure you'll find the links - they had posted some pics as well.

Second issue. Some of the lights on my A/C control unit are out. The LCD display is completely out, but some of the buttons still light up. Controls still work though.

The A/C control unit single lights are most likely burnt out LEDs - some of the guys posted ways to buy new ones and resolder them in. The LCD is probably a bad resistor(s) - you can pull the control unit and see where the board is singed - most have just resoldered them and they work fine.

Third issue. I took my car in to a shop today because I had a coolant leak, it looks to becoming from above the water pump. The shop told me it was the "coolant elbow" seal? I think its the thermostat or the thermostat housing o rings he is talking about. What parts would you recommend I replace? They said the repairs would run around 200$. Is this repair easy enough to do on my own? I am just a weekend mechanic that can follow directions.

The thermostat is on the left side of the engine and the coolant elbow is on the right side near the water pump and tensioner. The coolant elbow goes from the tensioner into the lower intake manifold. Dorman sells an aluminum replacement you can pick up at most of the auto parts stores.

You can probably do the work yourself if you're handy around cars.

.

 

[rickwai]

I had 2 of the same issues w/ my park ave. The display on the control going out is common. I found a guy on Ebay that was selling the repair service for this. I pulled mine out which is easy and sent it to him. He resoldered whatever it is that comes loose and replaced all the button bulbs for about $50. Been working for 2-3 yrs now. Coolant elbows leak is common. Not to bad of a job after doing one.

 

[Spriteman]

That's a good price on the A/C control unit rickwai - do you have a link for his contact info so if anyone needs that done they can contact him?

 

[BigChief]

Sounds like you might have a bad ground - some of the other posters have found bad grounds underneath the front floor carpet near the door thresholds - on both sides there is a common ground point. If you search for ground I'm sure you'll find the links - they had posted some pics as well.

Thank you for the reply I will check later today and post the results.

The A/C control unit single lights are most likely burnt out LEDs - some of the guys posted ways to buy new ones and resolder them in. The LCD is probably a bad resistor(s) - you can pull the control unit and see where the board is singed - most have just resoldered them and they work fine.

Thanks I will also give this a look.

The thermostat is on the left side of the engine and the coolant elbow is on the right side near the water pump and tensioner. The coolant elbow goes from the tensioner into the lower intake manifold. Dorman sells an aluminum replacement you can pick up at most of the auto parts stores.

You can probably do the work yourself if you're handy around cars.

Thanks for clarifying that. Also I could be wrong in assuming but is there gaskets in between the coolant elbow?

- - - Updated - - -

I had 2 of the same issues w/ my park ave. The display on the control going out is common. I found a guy on Ebay that was selling the repair service for this. I pulled mine out which is easy and sent it to him. He resoldered whatever it is that comes loose and replaced all the button bulbs for about $50. Been working for 2-3 yrs now. Coolant elbows leak is common. Not to bad of a job after doing one.

Thanks I would also be interested their contact info if you still have it.

 

[Spriteman]

When you buy the coolant elbow it will have two o-rings already mounted - one on each side of the elbow.

When you take the old one out be careful not to leave any bits of the old o-rings in the intake or tensioner.

You could probably spray some lubricant in the inlets where the elbow fits and that will ease the elbow out more easily.

 

[FFarr]

If you're handy with a soldering gun the display is easy. Pop the front fascia off, two screws hold the module in, pull it out and disconnect the wiring. The module can be easily disassembled and the four resistors that control the LED display will be apparent because of heat discoloration and oxidation. I scraped the oxidation away and re-soldered the resistors.
LINK

 

[rickwai]

http://myworld.ebay.com/autoxpresstech?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
I dont remember which guy I used but it was like this guy. You pull your unit and send to him and he repairs/replaces illumination for 50-$60. Mine was repaired about 3 plus years ago.