1986 Custom Cruiser and Tempmatic Help
July 25th, 2012, 10:15 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 6
1986 Custom Cruiser and Tempmatic Help
Hi guys, I have done some searching here on the forum and found a few very similar topics, but for cars of different years so here goes...
I just got this 1986 Custom Cruiser from someone I work with - their parents bought it new. It has 97,xxx on her and it runs really well, tight front end, etc. The body is in pretty good shape as well and everything works on the car, even the A/C and power antenna.
I know it is summer outside, but the heat does not work. When the selector is put to "85" it still blows cool air. Occasionally, it will put a blast of hot air through but it then reverts back to cool, no matter if its on DEF or HEATER or VENT. It has Tempmatic. My mechanic who is good with older cars took the dash apart and said that basically whatever controls this Tempmatic thing is not funcitoning. At first I thought the thermostat was stuck so I replaced that, did a completee flush and new radiator cap and the cooling system was checked out - it's fine, good heater core too.
1) What controls this? Is the part available?
2? Is there a way to just "bypass" Tempmatic and make the hot-cold lever just literally open and close the little door? Has anyone done this? Any opinions would be appreciated! Again, it's a 1986 Wagon.
Thanks!
I just got this 1986 Custom Cruiser from someone I work with - their parents bought it new. It has 97,xxx on her and it runs really well, tight front end, etc. The body is in pretty good shape as well and everything works on the car, even the A/C and power antenna.
I know it is summer outside, but the heat does not work. When the selector is put to "85" it still blows cool air. Occasionally, it will put a blast of hot air through but it then reverts back to cool, no matter if its on DEF or HEATER or VENT. It has Tempmatic. My mechanic who is good with older cars took the dash apart and said that basically whatever controls this Tempmatic thing is not funcitoning. At first I thought the thermostat was stuck so I replaced that, did a completee flush and new radiator cap and the cooling system was checked out - it's fine, good heater core too.
1) What controls this? Is the part available?
2? Is there a way to just "bypass" Tempmatic and make the hot-cold lever just literally open and close the little door? Has anyone done this? Any opinions would be appreciated! Again, it's a 1986 Wagon.
Thanks!
July 26th, 2012, 09:37 AM
#2
Oldsdruid
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southside Vajenya
Posts: 10,535
Wait till winter when it decides you should have only cold air.
My experience with 80s Tempmatic is that when it sticks in full cold or full hot, the vacuum checking relay on the programmer has failed. They were a common enough failure item that GM dealers used to keep the things on the shelf all the time, but the last ones I got were about 3 years ago and had to be special ordered then. The price had also gone from around $15 to damn near $40 each, but that may have been the overpriced local GM dealer- who routinely marks up prices to the max allowed. You can do that when you're the only game in town.
My spares are in the wagon so I'll have to wait till I'm home to give you part #.
Replacing it WILL require pulling the glove box and removing the programmer from the heater case inside the car.
My experience with 80s Tempmatic is that when it sticks in full cold or full hot, the vacuum checking relay on the programmer has failed. They were a common enough failure item that GM dealers used to keep the things on the shelf all the time, but the last ones I got were about 3 years ago and had to be special ordered then. The price had also gone from around $15 to damn near $40 each, but that may have been the overpriced local GM dealer- who routinely marks up prices to the max allowed. You can do that when you're the only game in town.
My spares are in the wagon so I'll have to wait till I'm home to give you part #.
Replacing it WILL require pulling the glove box and removing the programmer from the heater case inside the car.
July 26th, 2012, 01:02 PM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 6
Well just got back from seeing the car...yes the glovebox is all apart. Asked my mechanic if we can just bypass all this Tempmatic crap and just connect the temp cable directly to the door...he said he can rig that up so it will have heat when set to hot, but will my A/C still work then when set to cold and A/C setting?
July 26th, 2012, 07:37 PM
#5
Oldsdruid
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southside Vajenya
Posts: 10,535
One of these numbers should get you the VC relay if it is still available.
AC-Delco p/n is 15-7055
Olds book is grp 9.277 p/n 16002275, relay assembly.
It's a round plastic gizmo that fits in a clip on the Tempmatic programmer. Two vacuum harnesses attach to it.
Try not to bugger all that stuff up if you can avoid it. I've known plenty of folks who simply spliced a tee into the VC relay's vacuum source line and ran a length of vacuum hose from that to an accessible place in the glovebox, then plugged the end. If it's stuck in hot, take the tee out and it will allow the system to operate in cooling mode. Come winter, plug the line and you get full heat. It defeats the automatic temperature control feature, but will get you by until you can make a proper repair.
Even with correctly functioning system, my 83 CC has had that vacuum tee rig for years. It stays stuffed in the glovebox plugged with a golf tee until the thing goes screwy.
AC-Delco p/n is 15-7055
Olds book is grp 9.277 p/n 16002275, relay assembly.
It's a round plastic gizmo that fits in a clip on the Tempmatic programmer. Two vacuum harnesses attach to it.
Try not to bugger all that stuff up if you can avoid it. I've known plenty of folks who simply spliced a tee into the VC relay's vacuum source line and ran a length of vacuum hose from that to an accessible place in the glovebox, then plugged the end. If it's stuck in hot, take the tee out and it will allow the system to operate in cooling mode. Come winter, plug the line and you get full heat. It defeats the automatic temperature control feature, but will get you by until you can make a proper repair.
Even with correctly functioning system, my 83 CC has had that vacuum tee rig for years. It stays stuffed in the glovebox plugged with a golf tee until the thing goes screwy.
Last edited by rocketraider; July 26th, 2012 at 07:43 PM.
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