Post by wfooshee on Mar 11, 2015 23:27:07 GMT -6
I just bought my mother-in-law's '98, White Diamond Pearl, and I'm really liking the car! The paint is completely shot, with peeling and flaking, but there's no rust (yet) where the paint is missing. The car is mechanically sound, everything works (except the cruise control, but that's for another time,) and the interior is perfect. Bose stereo, and I found this board while searching for ways to replace the head unit. (I HAVE to have my Bluetooth back!!!!) Factory Bose system, so I know there's work to do there. Also, it does need a drive axle; the right side clatters during right turns.... One fender shows where my father-in-law (now passed, sadly) tried to use some rattle-can paint to fix. It's not been wrecked, it just lived outdoors under oak trees, and he had the wrong waxes and cleaners for clear-coat paints...... Deep swirl scratches in the places not actually peeling.
Issue for this thread is that my climate control panel had no illumination. The indicators lit up, so I could tell which modes were set, and the fan speed, but the labels were dark, making it hard to understand the system at night! Looking around inside the car I could find NOTHING that indicated how to pull that thing out and have a look. No visible hardware!
Turns out that nearly the whole dash is built around that panel......... I did find a thread somewhere that talked about removing the four Torx screws to get behind the the panel, but to be careful of the connectors, and two of the screws are inaccessible without shoving the dash pad up out of the way. Not acceptable, so I found a thread on removing the dash pad.
All of these were old threads, and either without pictures or with dead links to pictures. As my first contribution to the board, allow me to explain 1st-gen dash disassembly, with pictures.
To get to the climate control panel specifically, which was my goal, you have to remove the top dash pad. Oldsmobile, in their infinite wisdom (inherited from GM in general) designed the car to be assembled in a factory, and not to be serviced. They really don't give a rat's butt what you have to go through to fix something simple, like a light bulb. Case in point is that the bottom right corner of the dash pad is retained by one of the bolts that holds the center console in place, and is hidden under the wood-trim panel around the ash tray.
So to get to the climate control panel, you start with the center console. Remove the storage tray under the armrest, 6 Philips screws, and set it aside on the passenger seat. No need to disconnect wiring, the wires are long enough to set it over there out of the way.
Once the tray is out, go ahead and remove the two 10mm nuts down inside the console:
Now the shifter. It's retained on the shaft by a simple staple, on the side facing the dashboard. Remove that staple, pry the boot away from the bottom of the shifter handle, and lift the handle SLOWLY, until the electrical connection goes tight. You won't be able to get the handle off yet. You have to get underneath inside and pry the little hook off the plastic piece it's attached to, which gives you enough slack in the wire to remove the shift handle.
Now you're ready to remove the wood-trim panel. This is a good time to remove the trim piece over the radio, too. I didn't bother with a picture, but it comes off easily, just use a small screwdriver on either side of the radio and pry it up. There is a snap clip on each side of the radio, and two on the bottom, and the piece just pulls straight out.
Back to the wood panel.... I saw in the other threads how you should pry it carefully, but don't break it or cut the material alongside. I found it easy enough to just reach underneath and push it up. Much easier, and gentler on the pieces!
Now disconnect the electrical connector and set the panel aside. You have four more bolts to remove to get the center console up. Two 10mm bolts right at the shifter, and two T-15 Torx bolts under the radio. (The Torx on the right is the reason we have to be here at all, as it also retains the corner of the upper dash pad..... Remember what I said about infinite wisdom??!?!?!)
Lift the back of the center console to clear those bolts from the nuts you removed earlier, then pull it towards the back seat. Take it out of the car to get it out of the way.
Now to the instrument panel. Start with the small switch panels on either side of the steering column. They just pull straight out, no screws. Each one has an electrical connector you unplug, and set the switch panels aside.
Now the warning light cluster over the instruments. Start at the left side and just pull it forward a bit. Go over to the right side and pull again. There is an electrical connector at the top on the right, and two connectors low at the left. Unplug them and set the assembly aside.
If any of these numerous lamps are out, here's the bulbs on the back. (If this is all you needed to get to, just start with the switch panels on the sides of the steering column. The center console has nothing to do with this piece by itself.)
Ready for the dash pad. Two 10mm bolts, one way to the left and one above the tachometer:
With those out, just pull the pad towards you. There are three clips at the back of the pad that slide out of fittings on the dashboard. Now, FINALLY, you have complete access to the climate control panel!!!! Remove three Philips screws, disconnect the electrical connector on the back, and take the assembly inside where you can work on it.
To get to the back of the panel, you disconnect two ribbon cables and remove 4 Torx screws. (These are the screws you can see when you remove the radio trim panel, and lift up on the dash pad, so you think that's all you need for access. Nope nope nope nope nope. Gotta take dang near the whole interior out!) The small ribbon cable pulls straight back, and the large one disconnects by lifting the black connect up. When the four Torx screws are out, the panel separates easily, and you can see the back of the board, with all the bulbs in their little twist-n-pop mounts.
The bulbs in the black bases are for panel illumination, and the bulbs in white bases are indicators. You remove them by turning the plastic piece about an eighth of a turn and lifting. Here's one of them removed:
Now at this point I had a pretty good indication that I'd really wasted some time getting here, because the chances of ALL of those bulbs in the black bases being burned out, and NONE of the bulbs in the white bases being burned out, is pretty remote! And sure enough, a random check of two or three of the bulbs shows them working just fine.
I don't have a service manual or schematics (yet) so at this point I decided to just button it back up and wait till I had some documentation to work from.
Strangely enough, that night I had lights in that panel, and the steering wheel buttons were lit, too! I didn't even know they were supposed to light!!! None of the other dash lights had been non-functional. The instruments were lit, all the switchgear was lit, the radio, the console, the door switches. Just the climate control panel (and as it turns out, the steering wheel buttons) were dark. Apparently something just wanted to be fondled, because they all worked after reassembly...... I guess the time wasn't really wasted after all! And by the way, I pulled the A-pillar trim piece and ran my Bluetooth microphone up to the roof while I had the dash pad off. It doesn't do anything yet, but it's in place when the radio goes in! I am nothing if not efficient!
Issue for this thread is that my climate control panel had no illumination. The indicators lit up, so I could tell which modes were set, and the fan speed, but the labels were dark, making it hard to understand the system at night! Looking around inside the car I could find NOTHING that indicated how to pull that thing out and have a look. No visible hardware!
Turns out that nearly the whole dash is built around that panel......... I did find a thread somewhere that talked about removing the four Torx screws to get behind the the panel, but to be careful of the connectors, and two of the screws are inaccessible without shoving the dash pad up out of the way. Not acceptable, so I found a thread on removing the dash pad.
All of these were old threads, and either without pictures or with dead links to pictures. As my first contribution to the board, allow me to explain 1st-gen dash disassembly, with pictures.
To get to the climate control panel specifically, which was my goal, you have to remove the top dash pad. Oldsmobile, in their infinite wisdom (inherited from GM in general) designed the car to be assembled in a factory, and not to be serviced. They really don't give a rat's butt what you have to go through to fix something simple, like a light bulb. Case in point is that the bottom right corner of the dash pad is retained by one of the bolts that holds the center console in place, and is hidden under the wood-trim panel around the ash tray.
So to get to the climate control panel, you start with the center console. Remove the storage tray under the armrest, 6 Philips screws, and set it aside on the passenger seat. No need to disconnect wiring, the wires are long enough to set it over there out of the way.
Once the tray is out, go ahead and remove the two 10mm nuts down inside the console:
Now the shifter. It's retained on the shaft by a simple staple, on the side facing the dashboard. Remove that staple, pry the boot away from the bottom of the shifter handle, and lift the handle SLOWLY, until the electrical connection goes tight. You won't be able to get the handle off yet. You have to get underneath inside and pry the little hook off the plastic piece it's attached to, which gives you enough slack in the wire to remove the shift handle.
Now you're ready to remove the wood-trim panel. This is a good time to remove the trim piece over the radio, too. I didn't bother with a picture, but it comes off easily, just use a small screwdriver on either side of the radio and pry it up. There is a snap clip on each side of the radio, and two on the bottom, and the piece just pulls straight out.
Back to the wood panel.... I saw in the other threads how you should pry it carefully, but don't break it or cut the material alongside. I found it easy enough to just reach underneath and push it up. Much easier, and gentler on the pieces!
Now disconnect the electrical connector and set the panel aside. You have four more bolts to remove to get the center console up. Two 10mm bolts right at the shifter, and two T-15 Torx bolts under the radio. (The Torx on the right is the reason we have to be here at all, as it also retains the corner of the upper dash pad..... Remember what I said about infinite wisdom??!?!?!)
Lift the back of the center console to clear those bolts from the nuts you removed earlier, then pull it towards the back seat. Take it out of the car to get it out of the way.
Now to the instrument panel. Start with the small switch panels on either side of the steering column. They just pull straight out, no screws. Each one has an electrical connector you unplug, and set the switch panels aside.
Now the warning light cluster over the instruments. Start at the left side and just pull it forward a bit. Go over to the right side and pull again. There is an electrical connector at the top on the right, and two connectors low at the left. Unplug them and set the assembly aside.
If any of these numerous lamps are out, here's the bulbs on the back. (If this is all you needed to get to, just start with the switch panels on the sides of the steering column. The center console has nothing to do with this piece by itself.)
Ready for the dash pad. Two 10mm bolts, one way to the left and one above the tachometer:
With those out, just pull the pad towards you. There are three clips at the back of the pad that slide out of fittings on the dashboard. Now, FINALLY, you have complete access to the climate control panel!!!! Remove three Philips screws, disconnect the electrical connector on the back, and take the assembly inside where you can work on it.
To get to the back of the panel, you disconnect two ribbon cables and remove 4 Torx screws. (These are the screws you can see when you remove the radio trim panel, and lift up on the dash pad, so you think that's all you need for access. Nope nope nope nope nope. Gotta take dang near the whole interior out!) The small ribbon cable pulls straight back, and the large one disconnects by lifting the black connect up. When the four Torx screws are out, the panel separates easily, and you can see the back of the board, with all the bulbs in their little twist-n-pop mounts.
The bulbs in the black bases are for panel illumination, and the bulbs in white bases are indicators. You remove them by turning the plastic piece about an eighth of a turn and lifting. Here's one of them removed:
Now at this point I had a pretty good indication that I'd really wasted some time getting here, because the chances of ALL of those bulbs in the black bases being burned out, and NONE of the bulbs in the white bases being burned out, is pretty remote! And sure enough, a random check of two or three of the bulbs shows them working just fine.
I don't have a service manual or schematics (yet) so at this point I decided to just button it back up and wait till I had some documentation to work from.
Strangely enough, that night I had lights in that panel, and the steering wheel buttons were lit, too! I didn't even know they were supposed to light!!! None of the other dash lights had been non-functional. The instruments were lit, all the switchgear was lit, the radio, the console, the door switches. Just the climate control panel (and as it turns out, the steering wheel buttons) were dark. Apparently something just wanted to be fondled, because they all worked after reassembly...... I guess the time wasn't really wasted after all! And by the way, I pulled the A-pillar trim piece and ran my Bluetooth microphone up to the roof while I had the dash pad off. It doesn't do anything yet, but it's in place when the radio goes in! I am nothing if not efficient!