The service engine soon light came on in my 1998 Buick Regal the other day. took it to Autozone thinking it had to do with a lean condition or something like that. He pulled code B1242 - and it said something like Rear brake expansion spring. I can't remember exactly what it said because I thought I could find the code online. I can't find the code anywhere exactly and what I need to do to fix this. Anyone out there that can help me?

Thanks

B1242 - air flow recirculation door driver circuit failure

I am surprised Autozone had a scanner that would read body codes. Are you sure it wasn't P1242?

P1242 Sensor Power Supply High Input

No - I saw the scanner and it said B1242 - and said something about the brakes. I didn't think to write it down completely because I thought I could just look the code up - finding it is a lot tougher than I thought. I am pretty sure it said something like rear brake expansion spring - but not sure what that really means.

I need to go back and have them run it again.

BillBoost37 has a Regal, and may know something about your code. Let'* see if he has something to say on this.

The nice thing about GM and all other codes is they are grouped. The leading letter means something.
P = Power train
B = Body

B0242 is the air flow recirculation door driver circuit failure
B1242 is showing up as CD player focus malfunction
B1242 Air Flow Recirculation Door Driver Circuit Failure

Depends on where you look. Likely in the 98 Regal, this is going to be a recirc door issue. There was a stepping count number that they addressed on the air mix actuators and maybe on the recirc doors as well from 97 to 98. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that they built in the code for it.

Try going from auto to recirc etc and listen for a sound change in the fan noise and or a difference the airflow.

I have not had a chance to check it yet, but could this also be causing an issue with my ac blowing colder from the pass side as opposed to the driver side. Neither one are really that cold, but the pass side is cooler than the driver side. I had an issue with that last summer and just have not looked into it yet.

Maybe..but I don't think so. That issue is typically low on freon.

I tested last night - when I go from auto to recirc their is an increase in air flow. It does sound like when I turn off the system that one of the gears or doors may be struggling to close. I had the same noise coming from the actuator behind the glove compartment for a while then it quite. I noticed that the gear in the actuator had cracked. I thought that was the problem with the warm on one side cold on the other, but when I replaced the gear from another actuator it did not fix that issue.