2003 Saturn L-200 Climate Control Problem

[Dejola]

I received this message from my brother-in-law who is having a problem
with his climate control. I pass his message along unedited. This is
all I know about his problem. Haven't been able to reach him for
further information or clarification. He's traveling.

Any body have any idea what could be going on. He hopes it's something
simple and inexpensive to repair, but one Saturn owner he spoke with
says he could be in for a repair bill of $600 to $800.

Thanks. My brother-in-law's statement of symptoms is below:


"It was going on after a long time, and running for about 5 minutes or
less, and now it don;t go on at all. I heard the motor and it seem to
be straining, and then all at once it would kick in and run for 5 or
less minutes.i checked all fuses and they're okay."

 

[Oppie]

Tell your bil to trade in his L series. He can not seem to effectively
express himself. Are we talking problems of heat, defogging or simply blower
motor?

fwiw- My Lw-300 had a problem with a connector behind the HVAC panel and
radio. The connector burned up a few pins. As this was not a connection that
had to be removed for service, I bypassed the burned pins by cutting them
off one at a time from each side of the connectors and splicing them
permanently. The blower control switch was also burned but still
serviceable. The blower switch is not available as a separate item - the
entire hvac panel must be replaced (at about $180).

Oppie

 

[Steph]

Fwiw, before I dumped my LW-200 the A/C clutch assembly went out.
It was a $1k+ repair.

 

[Oppie]

That sounds like they replaced the entire compressor and evacuated /
recharged the system. I had a car that they tried to do that on me. I just
bought a clutch assembly and replaced it myself. Worked very nicely.

 

[Bob Shuman]

Perhaps it was the compressor that froze up and not just the clutch
assembly. In that case the full evacuation procedure would be needed and
the dryer replaced too. Otherwise, I agree with you completely that the OP
was over charged.

Bob

 

[Steph]

I wasn't the OP, but that was my story about the clutch assembly.
I agree it was overcharging especially given we had complained about the
rough AC operaton for months/years/miles. The original quote was around
$1200 and included a compressor and the associated labor charges for the
evacuation and dryer.

I did get them to take some off and paid around $700 for the repair as I
recall. but I was very soured over that experience, and as I recall the
OP topic - every repair or replacement part for the LW series.

So far the 2002 Outlook has been good.