More car repair

Not only do I drive, but so does She Who Must Be Obeyed. Her 1998 Chevy Venture has a passenger side power sliding door. That door (hereafter known as the PSD) stopped sliding. I vaguely recalled something about the radio fuse, and when I called the mechanic he told me it would cost more to have him look it up than it was worth to get it sliding again.

Can't say I disagree with that.

But my time is cheap, and with a little research, I came up with this:

Perform this procedure in order to re-initialize the PSD:

1. Set the PSD on/off switch in the overhead console to the OFF position
2. Manually open the PSD completely
3. Manually close and latch the PSD
4. Remove the radio fuse - this is the fuse under the hood, in the Fuse Relay Panel on the passenger side of the engine. I tried the one just inside the passenger front door - no joy there.
5. Wait 30 seconds
6. Reinstall the radio fuse
7. Wait 10 seconds
8. Set the PSD on/off switch in the overhead console to the ON position
9. Press, then release either PSD open/close switch (on the overhead console or the one on the 'B' pillar) in order to completely open the PSD
10. Wait 5 seconds
11. Press, then release either PSD open/close switch (on the overhead console or the one on the 'B' pillar) to allow the PSD to close completely
12. Wait 5 seconds
13. Repeat steps 8 through 11 and re-check for proper PSD operation

That worked! If someone else is reading this, do like I did and put some white lithium grease on the door tracks (not too much; just a thin layer is plenty! Too much and you'll attract dirt which will clog it up.)

2004 Lumina APV rear wiper

So my 1994 Chevy Lumina APV minivan's rear wiper has been... stiff for some time. If I pull it away from the window, it stays pulled away. It will do one wipe from bottom to top, but on the return stroke it stays clear of the glass. Not an optimum situation to say the least!

It's definitely corroded. Looking at the hinge, where the rivet passes through from top to bottom (as installed) I can clearly see the oxidation built up. I tried penetrating spray, but it only got a teeny bit freer, nothing like it is supposed to act.

I looked at it for a bit but could not figure out how to pull the wiper arm off the shaft. After looking at WikiAnswers for a bit, I came across a post that made the Aha! light come on. There's a clip that's part of the arm (it does NOT come off) that you can slide out of the way.


This is a photo from the bottom (as installed) of the wiper arm. See that little tab sticking down? That's part of the clip that you can use to pull the clip out of the was, but wait a second!

Get a large, flat screwdriver. Pull the wiper arm as far away from the window as it will go. This is important - there is an intentional 'lock' that holds the clip in when the wiper blade is pressed against the window.

Now that the arm is pulled away from the glass, pry the tab against the bottom of the wiper arm and pull the clip down as far as it will go. It isn't much; maybe a quarter of an inch. A pair of needle nose pliers might help, but I didn't need them.

This is what it looks like with the clip all the way down. The wiper arm is ready to remove from the wiper motor shaft.

Once that clip is down, the arm should pull straight off the shaft. It's splined, and not attached in any way other than a friction fit on the matching splines on the shaft. Mine came off with some gentle rocking ans a teeny bit of prying with the large screwdriver backed with some wood scraps against the rear door. If you squeeze the arm against the shaft (like with a pair of vise grips) you'll probably never get it off. If you become desperate, get a Dremel-style tool and cut a slit in the base of the wiper arm opposite the arm. You'll need a new wiper arm, but the motor shaft will be intact.

This is what the arm looks like once it's been removed. Note the way the clip slides behind the motor shaft. As for the obvious damage (all the gouges and scratches) those came from me trying to wiggle the frozen, corroded joint by holding the end with pliers and wiggling the arm.

Not a good plan.

In order to loosen that up, I used a wire brush to remove a bunch of corrosion, a soak in penetrating oil and then held the end (this time with some paper towel to protect the remaining splines) and wiggled some more. No good.

I used a small flat screwdriver to scrape away all the corrosion I could from the area with the arm in it's 'away from the glass' position, and also by moving the clip back and scraping when the arm is in it's 'against the glass' position. That helped some, as did squirting some graphite powder all round the area.

Ultimately, I decided I had nothing to lose, and so with the hole facing down, I drove a tiny screwdriver into the hinge area to open up the space between the arm and the 'socket.' That worked! I don't know for how long, but I dumped more graphite into the area, worked it back and forth and was satisfied enough to put it back. Before replacing it, I put some general purpose machine oil on the motor splines. Hopefully, if I have to get it off again, it'll come easy!

Venture blower switch replacement

NAPA part number HC138 AC HEATER SWITCH $22.49

Replaced it in the dark. 2 screws to pull off the console cover (under the ash tray and power socket covers. 2 screws to remove the panel the switch is mounted on and 2 more to remove the switch itself.

15 minutes, tops. All 5 positions work again, Yeah!

98 Chevy Venture HVAC blower adventure

My wife's car. The blower stopped blowing on setting 5 last year. Then it lost 3 a few months ago. Then 1. Then 2. Then 4 finally died. No blower. No front defrost. This is the Northeast. Autumn in the Northeast. Not recommended.

So I dove into it today. Without a manual... As Chris would say, I nuked it out. The blower is located at the front passenger's feet. It's easy to get to; there's a carpeted cardboard cover with several of those plastic 'pop' fasteners. A quick tug at the front ad it comes off. The courtesy light comes out after a quarter turn.

The normal cause of failure for these things is the resistor block. So I started looking for the resistor block. Of course, it's behind the motor, next to the firewall. Lovely. It turns out to be pretty easy to remove the blower. There's a two-wire connector. Push the top (it's one of thos prong types) and pull it out. Remove the 2 screws and the blower motor and squirrel cage comes out. It took a bit of twisting.

Now I can clearly see the resistor block. It has 3 screws, one of which is almost impossible to get out. Loosen the two nearest the firewall about 1-2 turns, then remove the one closest to the passenger's feet. Pull it down, toward the floor and then it should tip enough to pull it off the two screws toward you. Pull the black connector off and you're good to go.

So now I have in my hand one 12v squirrel cage and one resistor block. It occurs to me that I have a cellar full of 12v power supplies, so I go down to the lab to check it out. I hook up a 12v current limited supply and turn it on. It works! Very nice... the fan turn and churns. Well at least that's one thing that I don't have to buy.

I spent about a half hour trying to figure the pinout for the resistor block, but it remains a mystery. I couldn't tell if it was bad or good. So I turned my attention to the connector in the car. I tested every combination of voltage and continuity vs switch position and got nothing.

Nothing?

Is the switch bad? Feh. Time to burrow into the dash.

This turned out to be simple! Pull the ash tray out and you'll see a screw on the right side. There's a mate on the left under the power socket cover. Remove them and the console frame pulls out from the bottom. It becomes obvious what to remove next. All the switches are mounted to a single carrier. Two more screws and it comes out, revealing the blower switch.

Pulled the connector off of that and I see a burnt socket, with a burnt pin matching it in the switch. Hm. Turn on the key so the system is energised. I test the socket and find 12v in the middle of the 3 side. Short that to the socket opposite it on the 4 side and probe the other end - voltage! Crap, the switch is looking bad.

Lay the blower on the floor, hook up the resistor block (on the floor) and connect it. Short out the two sockets and the fan spins. Yep. Bad switch. So I put the resistor block back, put the blower back, put the courtesy light back, put the cardboard back. Short together the 12v side of the connector with the pin for speed 3, turn on the key and voila! Always on, but it won't leave the wife stranded without a blower. Electrical tape for safety and put the console back together sans switch.

Tomorrow I'll get a new switch. It should take less than 15 minutes to install.