A/C Service Tip—1997 to 2001 Chevrolet Malibu A/C ...

1 A/C Service Tip 1997 to 2001 Chevrolet MalibuA/C ControllersAre Repairable!By Ignacio Nacho CorellaCCustomer compLaint: On 1997and newer Chevy Malibu 's, afterabout 45 minutes of running the a/c onMax Cooling, the light on the recircula-tion control button starts blinking. Itdoesn t happen on other becomes intermittent while thelight blinking A/C light andintermittent operation maybe caused by may be repairable,saving the customerhundreds of : Photo 1. 1997 Malibu panel with the Control Head and : Photo 2. Control Head removed. This unit is probably suffer-ing from dirty contacts. With proper technique, this part can berestored to a servicable condition and live for several January/February 2002 16continued on page 18 You can temporarily stop the blinkand restart the cooling by leaving the sys-tem off for a few minutes.

2 Problemcomes back in about 10-15 repair?If the Malibu is out of warranty, mostdealers will recommend a new,improved control head. In fact though,all you need is a little curiosity and inge-nuity. After we sold a couple controlheads, we started experimenting on the dead ones We soon found that theycould be brought back to life. The stepsare documented in this it rightThe trick is to make sure that both thecontacts and brushes make PERFECT contact. The best way to accomplish thatis by lifting the contacts and cleaning thePCB (Printed Circuit Board). We just usea small screwdriver as a lifting PCB contacts and brushes arecleaned with a soft rag and alcohol, anddried with canned air.

3 I do not suggestusing even a very fine sand paper; thePCB can probably not take that cleaning, we apply one very thincoat of graphite to the contacts andbrushes. A #2 pencil can work, but athinner one is better yet. You are workingin a very tight Service Tip Fix The Controller, Don t Replace It!Photo 4. Gently pry the face off of the Control head. Here we areusing a small screw 3. Remove the knobs fromthe Control January/February 2002 18continued on page 20continued from page 16A/C Tech Tip Controller RepairCPM January/February 2002 20 With everything cleaned and graphitecoated, start the reassembly by reversingthe steps you used to get to this of Control HeadI m sure that most are aware that ACDelco is prone to change part numbersregularly.

4 However, the Delco P/N forthe Control Head that I see quite often is:15-72609. Here in Mexico, this controlretails for an average of $ I'd saythat in the , itwill retail for lessthan $200 timeA newbie techni-cian can easily taketwo or three hours tocomplete this job,given the fear of theunknown and ofbreaking an experi-enced tech, for vehicles with this problem,we now turn them around in less than anhour. We charge $ but do it free forfriends and relatives. In writing this articleI realized how low that is; we may changeour pricing. Of course, it s a great goodwill opportunity for very important of repairWe ve officially performed this serv-Above: Photo 5.

5 View beneaththe Control Head face : Photo 6. Remove ControlHead : Photo 7. Loosen and slipout the Control Heads s PCB(Printed Circuit Board).Left: Photo 8. Screwdriver pointsto the brushes which must makeperfect contact with the relatedsurface on the PCB. Alcoholapplied with a soft rag, driedwith canned air and a very finecoating of to join the Automotive Air Group The Accumulator, a monthly technicalnewsletter Technical Service Hotline. Nationwide Warranty Program. Contacts for special pricing to members onA/C parts, tools and equipment Membership only $100 per yearContact: Spencer Riddell, President @ 321-259-6522or Ben Altman, Vice President @ 843-522-8899or John Silvestri, Treasurer @ 940-464-4447 Check out our website: AAG is a self-managed group(no paid employees)of auto, truck and off-highwaya/c shop owners and your association giving you theA/C Technical Information and ShopTips you really need?

6 If not, become a member of theAutomotive Air Group (AAG).Join other A/C shop owners,managers and technicians whoshare their knowledge andproblem-solving those burning, tough questionsthat are arise in YOUR need YOUR you need from page 18A/C Tech Tip Repair, Don t ReplaceCPM January/February 2002 21ice on 15 Malibu ' being 1997(release year) andnewer being 1999(supposedly, prob-lem has been cured).We ve had onlyone , even that onewasn't really ourfault. I tried toinstruct a friend whoowns an auto detailfacility to do therepair over thephone. A couple ofmonths later, hebrought the Malibuin and we fixed ittogether. Other thanthis, no problemshave been reported by users.

7 We keep 3new units on stock, how many heads are justchucked?..GM/Delco won't care. Gosh!$20 is way too little money!$$$Nacho Corella is the owner ofCEKSA Autoclimas, an automo-tive repair facility in Hermosillo,Mexico specializing in air condi-tioning (Country Codefrom the US: 011); Toll-free inMexico: 800-222-AIRE; Fax: : Photo 9. Screwdriver points to contact sur-face on the PCB. This area is to be cleaned withalcohol and a soft rag and dried with canned this with a very thin layer of NEED TO FINDTHE LEAKS TOSEAL THEMPERMANENTLY!!!FAST & EASYWITH