16th Jun 2010, 17:53

I have acquired a 1995 Buick Park Avenue, (3 months ago, it had about 83,300 on it) and ran into the problem that the original post posted (that there isn't much here online for them). I am very thankful to those whom have been updating and posting this.

Now on the to problem. After supposedly getting everything fixed on my air conditioner (buying a refurbished climate control from ebay, and having a dealership replace the A/C blower) my A/C worked okay. The 3rd day after this the passenger side of the A/C blew hot air, regardless of what the temperature was set on. I made sure that the passenger climate control panel was off, but it still did the same thing.

After about 2 weeks the problem switched sides on me. Currently the driver's side blows hot air, and the passenger side blows the A/C. The passenger climate control does function normally when turned on, but when it's turned off it doesn't seem to respond to the master climate control.

Either way, it's summer, and I have hot air blowing on the driver's side and the A/C coming out of the passenger's side.

Anyone have any suggestions?

28th Jul 2010, 22:33

I need advice: My 95 Park Avenue has a vibration beginning about 58 miles and accelerating at 62 miles and seems to level off a little bit about 65 miles. I have balanced the tires 5 different times, ran 4 different sets of tires, had 2 alignments. Tried new axles, front struts. The transmission man says tranny is not problem. Have turned rotors. My mechanic has run out of ideas. Hope someone has some idea as to problem. There seem to be no other problems.

30th Jul 2010, 10:17

We had a similar problem with a rear-drive GM vehicle some years ago. It turned out to be an out-of-balance drive shaft. Balancing it fixed the problem.

10th Aug 2010, 02:51

Update: 168,800 miles.

The NAPA alternator that I put 2 years ago went bad. It has a lifetime warranty so I just got it replaced. I don't think even a re-manufactured alternator should go bad in 2 years. It was the middle grade alternator.

Other than that all is well.

14th Sep 2010, 22:32

Nice to find this Buick page. I too am a long time owner of Buicks, and enjoyed the comments here, and have experienced some of the troubles you mentioned.

I currently have a '95 Park Avenue (115000 miles) since 2002, and a '95 LeSabre (135000 miles) since August last year. (I gave a '90 with low miles to my nephew last year when I got the '95 LeSabre). Have had a '82 and '88 also.

My experience had been positive with these cars. I like the roominess of big GM cars and the good performance. I always got 28 or so mpg on the road with the front wheel drive ones. They never let me down.

I would like to comment on a couple of things I experienced that may be useful to some of you.

1) Someone mentioned that the air intake can leak coolant into the engine. This is a known GM problem, especially on the series II engine. Yes, it can happen and it can really damage the engine. Mine slow leaked for several years, and I did not know what it was trying to tell me. Then one day it became a waterfall. I was sucking in coolant and blowing out white vapor. I let it sit in the driveway, and the coolant remaining leaked into the cylinders. I got a hydrolock and literally broke; killed the starter. Luckily, the 3800 is relatively bulletproof, and it survived. No rods bent or anything like that as far as I can tell. Watch out for this problem. You may think you have a head gasket problem when you find this.

Cost -- Several hundred $'s for new starter and new intake manifold, antifreeze, oil, spark plugs labor etc.

Not mention the aggravation of having to flush the oil, change the plugs, install the new starter and have the car towed to the mechanic for the intake manifold change.

2) I had the A/C controller fail in the '95 PA. The A/C defaults to the windshield and the floor in this situation. The controller is a box located behind the glove box. Easy to swap out. Can be expensive new, but used parts are reasonable. $15.

3) My '95 LeSabre had the problem of engine cutting out or bogging down, and the ammeter gauge dipped to the low red area from time to time. It always restarted for me, but it was a frighting situation in traffic. I got a spare computer from a you pull it place wrecking yard. It worked good and the problem seems to be gone. $40 (I got a second spare too since both cars use the same computer).

4) Lost A/C charge at the same time I was having the intake manifold troubles, and thought the A/C system was toast. Recharged it myself, and it worked fine.

I usually do things like brake jobs and oil changes myself as much as possible. I have rarely had a real mechanic needed on my Buicks. Good luck on your Buicks.

John.

18th Sep 2010, 14:23

Update: 169,705 miles - My A/C compressor locked up last month. So it has been a pretty warm ride lately. Still get to the low to mid 90's as high, just not as humid. Will buy a re-manufactured compressor again, and hope it lasts 3 years, and I'm hoping it didn't put metal shavings through the system like it did the last time. Will wait till spring. Will probably cost me around $300 to do myself.

Also my driver's side window motor has failed. Glad it failed in the up position. Will replace soon. All other windows work just fine.

To the previous poster. I've did the UIM/LIM repair/replacement job around February, it's posted in these comments. I've been paranoid about it since I got my car. It started to consume a regular but small amount of coolant sometime early last year. So as preventive maintenance, I did the job this February, and caught the UIM before the EGR valve burned a complete hole in it, and I was very close to that. MY LIM gaskets were shot. The car runs really good, and I see more years left, although being young, I'm about ready for a new car, I just can't afford it.

I'm just in the high-mileage, little things go wrong phase right now.

19th Oct 2010, 14:59

Update: 170,500 miles. I have replaced the driver's side window motor. It was pretty easy. I also replaced my leaking master cylinder. I got a used one from the junkyard ($12), but it was a o.e. replacement. Was kind of wary about buying a rebuilt one. Read they tend to fail pretty soon. The car brakes much better now, which makes me think the original, 15 years old, master cylinder was on its way out. I also repaired the recliner portion of my front passenger seat. The grease in the gears had dried up and prevented the seat motor from turning. Cleaned it up and put some grease on it, and it's back to normal after 3 years. Should have done it a lot sooner. I think I done with repair work for a while. Hopefully I will have to do no maintenance besides the usual oil change/filters for the next year.