Don't sweat it. Thus is one of those it is what it is situations. Being a 96 I'm screwed either way. I got the stuff coming in order to do the fix. This is yet again one of those more money than brains moments for me, and I sure don't have the money!

Thanks for the help matatk.

I'll keep you guys in the loop

This is the same guy.
He had 3, this is the last one. He said he was getting $600 for them

I wish it was the control head.
The programmer is year specific for the 96 and is located under the dash on the drivers side

NOS 96 ac programmer $600

Sick of no AC, it needed to be done.
Now to get over the buyers remorse. Gotta pay to play right!

Bill thanks for the info. I doubt teh stuff they sell now can hold a candle to the one you have.

i ended up buying the GP7500e on line about 15 min ago. $909 which is about $170 less than what it is when i's not on sale. i'll pick up tomorrow and as long as I dont put gas in it I can return if I get buyers remorse

I hear ya! we dont loose power that often though.

Lots to read up on with this buy. Don't want to spent my money foolishly.

Dollar for dollar there is a homelite model that looks to good to be true!

BTW, my neighbor has a HF one that I've tapped into for the sump pump when the lights have gone out. other than being a royal pita to get started it does work.
And I think tahts a little 2500 watter

We have the $1K budget in mind. The genearc GP7500E is on sale and I can get it for $850+ tax.

this is for a 7500 watt model. anything in honda at that wattage raiting is in the ralm of $3k. not where I wanna be for a portable.

Now i did splurge last summer and spent $1k on my Honda push mower and cant agree with you more about the quality. i think thats why my wife love's her honda pilot!

Taking a litlle break from cars this week.

Just wondering if anyone had opinions on the Generac Brand and their portable generators.

TIA

Man, I went even cheaper than that. I got the excel g series

What level kyb's are you guys using? I just ordered a set for my firebird.

It's all good. Whatever you can do to help is appreciated.

Will i cause any harm by running the car with no programmer at all? I'm gonna start it up and see if the blower stays on or something crazy like that

If you have another programmer please let me know. At minimum I could try it to see if it works.

to be honest with you I don't know if the AC ever worked!!

I hate waking up at noon!

Thanks guys.

Ya, so at this point I'm looking for a programmer.

The 1996 part # should be 16218401, 16227376, 19151964

All three of those numbers are the same part I have no idea why they change them throughout he years.

So those are the actual 1996 numbers.

I have the 1995 programmer, so if someone can verify without a doubt that a 1995 programmer works then I could use part # 16177111, 16192582

And here it is! The board doesn't seem to be that complex of a circuit with the exception of the couple of chips. I was hoping to find a blown cap or diode. No luck. What I did find and hope was the issue was the corrosion in one spot!





The reality is most electronics boards can be washed. People assume that water kills electronics and that isn't true. power on a circuit plus water kills boards! with that said I took my 91% alch and washed both sides of the board with my fingers crossed. You can see it cleaned the spot. to bad it didn't cure my AC problem





re assembly is straight forward. just reverse the process. and there you have it, you've talked another inspection!

Yup, that's not a typo, I own a 1996 but I'll be reviewing the programmer for a 1995 as that's what was found in my car! So as of now I don't know if my problem is a compatibility issue or if this one is dead and I can get another one like it. The fact is the 1996 has it's own part number and I cant find any info on someone who has actually used one from a another year and documented it.

Backstory on removal.... take the driver seat out and prepare to get under the dash. I don't think there is any other way to do it. I'm 5' 7" and about 210 and it was about a 6/7 on the PITA scale.


Once you bust hump, this is what you get. As you can see the part number is to a 1995 and someone one wrote on it "dual zone" and then "95-6"







here's a close up of the nipples everyone always talks about. Not this issue in my situation



the back cover to this is a piece of cardboard taped on. Seriously, that's all that covers the boards. I was so pissed I took it off and forgot to take a pic. Once it's off go for the single connector in the corner and pull it off.





here's the inside in all it's glory. you'll need to pull the two screws I have circled in order to get the vacuum solenoid bank clear of the mother board





start lifting up and over then outta the way. Since my issue wasn't with these guys I just gave them the once over. Nothing visible for me to address so I left them alone.







two more screws and then you can pull the board:

I wish it was as simple as a pinched vacuum line

MFPITA

Gonna be pulling the drivers seat in the next hour or so, No way I'm fitting down there with it in place!

My body is awake, but I's still asleep!

I'm going to try and pull it, boy does that sound wrong, later today.
I know 96 is a one year only programmer, but can it be replaced with any 90+ module?

10-4
It's pretty funny in that section as the trouble shooting tree ends up with replace programmer regardless of how you answer the questions!

The only difference is you either make it there in 3 answers or 6.

I'm on day #5 in a row of work hour #68 worked. At least I have today off, that is when I get off duty at 5am

thanks Jeff.

I'm going to try and work on my programmer and wanted to see what I was in for. From a chip stand point it doesn't appear that there are many. Between the caps, diodes and resistors i hope I can track down the bad ones and replace

Alice Cooper will be here later this year too. Don't know the exact date or if i'll be working it

Anyone have a picture of the 1996 AC programmer board?
Front and back?

Right back at work. Doing a 16 hour shift today, joy!

Some bleed over from yesterday.....

As far as the concert goes, OK at best. Age has caught up to the band. They don't move like they used to and the songs dont have the same force behind them as they did 20 years ago. The crowd the same thing, older and worn down.
Was talking to the director of the venue and was surprised that it was less than $25K to book them.

As far as my duty gun goes, we are issued glocks in .40

ttyl time for coffee and donuts!

Time has not been kind to the band, and some of their fans!!!!

One gun, 3 mags, 4 sets of cuffs but no plugs! lol

The over sized rims took me some time to get used to also.

Here it is completed




i thought the same thing about pot holes too. I have never had a rim tire combo this low in profile but have been reading up about how there are reinforcements in the sidewall to help with it. I still drive around a little cautious but oh well. I'll definitely let you know if I pop a rubber band

Concert starts in 1 hour.
Why do we always get the "working" badges?

My badge, gun and cuffs are a hint and a half that I'm not here to just watch the show!

Which powerstops did you use? the z16/17?

The powerstop rotors were the ones I was looking at myself.
It gets confusing as it seems powerstop, kinetic and brakemotive are all the same.

In addition I'm wondering where the ceramic brake pads from auto zone and advanced auto weigh in.

Just wondering what everyone is using.

The Vette will need them next year but the Firebird will get some this year.

Any particular brand stand out or stay away from?

At he cost of the Chinese made one the flea bay budget buys don't seem like a bad option for the Firebird

Am I the only one up?

You should end up with these parts on your table



The dirt and residue that needs to be cleaned off resides between the rubber contacts and the front of the controls.





My head was not dirty and was not the cause of my problem but it was a good exercise anyway. Tools needed for the cleaning. Your solvent of choice, mine is 91% alch and q-tips.



Dip q-tips in solvent and begin to clean contacts on board.





next give the rubber contacts a cleaning.




and if needed the housing itself if grimed up



While your waiting to let it all dry you can verify buld function by taking them out and connecting to a dc power source if you have one.








and that's how you clean your head. The reassembly is just the inverse operation. I'll post the rest of that tomorrow. I gotta get running!

It's not hard, just don't be scared!

first have your head removed, that's another thread but don't worry, it's coming.



Here's your part #



Now we are going after six 3/16 nuts. 4 in the corners and two on the back. You might have to break out the small guns for this hard to reach one.









Once all the screws are removed slide the guts outta the housing. Here's the top, and the bottom. Give these a once over for any signs of damaged electronics though this is NOT the piece we will be focusing on when we are cleaning.





To get the controls start by lifting out the wiring harness.




Then gently pry apart the board from the head. there is a pin socket holding the two together. you can also insert something plastic between the two to help get them apart. the trick is go slow and don't rush



Once apart we can begin to take apart the head. First take the two screws out.



then begin to pull apart the head from the housing



once apart the rubber contacts may or may not still be attached to the housing.

Sorry for your loss. Being able to bring closure at least during the first stage of mourning is a big hurdle. I hope everyone is there for each other as people cope differently.

Best wishes during your difficult time.


On a light note for me, no arrests tonight

And in the words of the great rapper ice cube

today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day

Alright Gents,

It's been a long day for me, I wish you all a good night as I go back on duty tomorrow at 2pm for 5 in a row. And not looking forward to Friday as I'll be working a Megadeath concert.

Till tomorrow night! Sleep tight.

Nice fab work.
Make sure you don't shoot the foot when you lay down the paint

The interesting part about it is the front wheels OD us actually .15" smaller.

To say this was a PITA would be an understatement. I'm gonna put together a "tale if the tape" so you see how the OEM rear matches up against the fronts

FYI, front is a 19" rear a 16"

Taking a break from working on the Vette today. Instead working on getting these 5th gen rims mounted up to my 4th gen. Boy is this swap a pain!!!

Anyway, which looks better to you?

No worries, take your time. Gonna take a break from the Vette today. Full plate, working on the firebird, driving the kids around and not to mention my shoulder is killing me, so I'm not about to try and contourt myself under the dash!

I'll post pics of the firebird later

I too am leaning toward the programmer. I e-mailed Andy earlier for some more data. We're gonna figure this one out!!!

Quote:

The static ac check was to verify that the system has refrigerant. All the data I read stated that with the vehicle off a properly charged system will have 50psi or greater in the system. So the static check in my opinion at least verifies the system is charged. This car sat for 18 months, if it has 50psi like the book says it's not leaking!

The head was already taken apart and cleaned so that's not the issue.

The battery disconnected but not cycled like you described above.

When you say OFF, do you mean the car being off or the Ac set to the OFF button?

If you mean the CAR OFF, then nothing works.

If you mean the AC OFF Button engaged then in this position YES, the clutch cycles and in only the OFF position do I get the condensation since the clutch is cycling.

I sent you another e-mail Andy. Looking for section 8A of the fsm.

Thanks

The static pressure check was more for peace of mind. With the needles both pegged at 50 it's a model for a system properly holding charge. Maybe the pic will help someone else doing an ac search

Gonna take it back. At this point no use for it so rather not keep it. Any suggestions on how to pull the programmer?