Would anyone be familiar with the Heater A/C controls? I cant change the location for the vents to floor or windshield. The air is always coming out the vents. I can hear something running continuously. I believe it might be the heater blend door actuator. I looked on E bay and people selling the control unit claim that my problem isn't the control unit. I found the door actuators on E bay but wonder if it would need to be programmed before installing as not to destroy the new actuator? Any ideas

Went ahead and moved this to a new thread for you, and named the title, that should help you get the issue figured out quicker, I am sure somebody will have some info to help you out, heater controls are not my specialty.

It does sound like the others are correct, its not the programmer at fault, but the actuator arm that always fail. Where its exactly at in your Buick, I'm not sure, but someone here somewhere knows or has done it before.

A faulty HVAC control unit will default to defrost, not vent, so I tend to agree that is not the problem and you are headed in the right direction thinking it could be the blend door. I have not worked on a 98 PA, so like Mike said we will have to wait for someone who has.

this problem arises when the car looses power and the hvac is set to auto. dispite the fact the car lost power, the hvac still saves the place it was set at before. the problem is, when it regains power, it thinks the blend door is at defrost. so its trying to move it too far, and the arm breaks. chances are it just the blend door arm. just make sure you have the hvac and the blend door both set on defrost when you replace it.

somehow i forgot to post the alldata info. according to all data the actuator is "Under the left hand of the instrument panel, on the left side of HVAC module"

the hvac module is directly over the "hump" in the middle of the floor.

here is the replacement procedure

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...psfba60380.png

and here is the diagram blown up

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps25f436b4.png

i also have the info on the drivers and passengers air mix actuators, if needed. hope this helps.

Thanks for the information on the HVAC system and the install procedure a great help.

Well I made it through the winter with the actuator module disconnected and the blend door in the defrost position. The arm is there not physically broken so I am planning on replacing the blend door actuator. I would like to know if the module needs to be programmed or can I buy it on ebay and just install it while making sure it is in the defrost position?

the way i reconnected mine, i plugged in the harness, set it to defrost, then shut off the car. then i matched the dowell thing it goes onto to the actuator itself. the actuator will not move if it does not have power. im not sure how its physically possible, but it wont move.