QuestionHi Bill,
I have an Eldorado 1990 which I bought 2 years ago and have more than a couple "small" problems (from the beginning): first, the air conditioning works for about 10-15 min and then shuts down with code B446, B448; I reset the codes and works fine again (it blows 16C air, I checked). If the car sits on the drive way and idle, I get no message at all - and I left it running for 45 min…. Also, it seems to work even if outside is below 10C (actually, it works when I put the control center on 32C and Auto or when I put it to 32C and to blow on the windshield in the winter time) which I think is not suppose to, isn't it? I hear the compressor going on/off and it gives me the code in 10 min…
Second thing is that the control center shows a fuel average consummation, instant consummation and left fuel in the tank lower 30-35 % than the real one. I checked it up couple times and am sure is wrong. Everything else is right – temperature, rpm etc.
Third: It constantly gives me the codes: B120, B121, and B122. I checked the circuit and it works fine. The variable resistor does the job.
Fort: the radio/Cd makes a higher and lower noise – constant, no matter how low/high the volume is set – which goes off sometimes for a while but it gets back. The CD unit doesn't work at all (I hear the cd spinning but no audio). I checked the unit and all the amplifiers from inside the speakers – nothing seems to be wrong there. This – I believe – started after some time after the dealer replaced the ignition switch and key – they said a wire was broken inside the column. They may have replaced the security ROM (which I saw in the radio/cd unit) too, I think…
Fifth: if I put it in Drive and release the brake, it will start going, but rough, like it is using 6 or 7 cylinders only… I changed the wires, plugs, coil and cap. It still does it.
And last: couple times it happened that, out of the blue, the whole dashboard went dead. Nothing was working there: no speedometer, no temperature nothing. But the engine, lights, ABS etc, worked fine – I checked. I turn off/on the key and the dashboard came back to life. Ion the computer there were lots of messages: E031, E043, E047, B120, B121, B122, B333, B334, B335, B336, B337, B446, B448.
I do not know what to do with this car….I really like it and I would like to fix it, if possible. The dealer won't do it – they say it is about 600-800$ only to have a look, but there is no guarantee they will find something for the money…
Please help.
Thank you,
Teddy
AnswerHi Teddy, A couple...glad you didn't have more than that. LOL. Well lets start at the top. According to the Caddy engineers the a/c compresson should not engage at temps below aprox. 60F or 20C. The fact that it does isn't really a problem except that the molecules of freon are smaller and don't have as much pressure as the temps decrease. However in the summertime if you were getting the compressor to shut off then hooking up the gages and looking for leaks might find a bad temp sensor or the evaporator core leaking. I would just leave the codes stored and compressor off until springtime if it were me.
Fuel consumption...hmm...seems to me I remember a service bulletin about that and changeing the body computor prom fixed that. However that was early 90's and there might be a problem inside the gas tank like the sender is giving bad readings or to baffles inside shift and throw off the reading.
The B codes...again a prom change for that.
If the radio c/d was working fine before the repair and now not the tech needs to recheck what was done and see what might have been disturbed such as a broken wire or a blonw fuse. If the wrong wires shorted out maybe the amp is now bad.
Rough running on an older caddy especially if it has 8 fuel injectors and gets worse the longer it runs is a sign that 1 or more fuel injectors are bad. One time I had 6 that were in various stages of shorting out. I want to say that they should ohm out around 12 ohms but I use a special testor that sends a amperage through them and voltage readings are used to determine if they are bad just like the computor does. You might want to check them all and if you find 1 that is more than 1 ohm differance useing a digital ohmeter then buy a new one, check its resistance and see how many are off by more than 1 ohm than the new one and replace it. Or have them tested in the shop.
The deal with the dash board displays is there is a module called a central power supply and is a silver box aprox. 5" square mounted above the accellerator pedal. That has a loose conection inside and can usually be tested by tapping in the big flat side with fingers os screwdriver handle and will cause the displays to bland out and come back depending on how its hit. If the GM part number ends in 395 or 396 instead of 406 then it is probably bad.
The fact that the dealer isn't sure and the cost to inspect doesn't surprise me because of the age of the car. You need to find an older Caddy guy at the dealer or shop that knows how these things work. The kids these days might be able to fix the cars with-in 5 years but not 14. I guess it comes down to condition of the car and if the engine and trans have been replaced or not. Around the 120,000 MILE mark things start to go wrong in those areas. Maybe haveing the car checked over by a mechanic for overall condition might be a good thing to do at this point and then you will have a better idea what the repairs might cost when you are all done or if getting a newer car might be the better thing to do at this point. Let me know how it goes. Bill
