For starters, I hav'nt looked at the fuse(s) yet but this is wierd.... Last nite I'm driving the Buick, factory radio is on and I plug in the cigarete lighter. intantly the radio goes to static and the digital face says "AM scan FM". I can't do anything with the radio so I turn it off, then I realize after a few minutes of messing with it that the cigarete lighter does'nt work anymore (could be just a fuse?) . So I get back in the car after shopping, the radio is turned off but when I turned the key to acessory there was static clicking from the speaker. Once I started the car the static stoped, I again turned the radio on and nothing but static. I turned the radio off again and turned the car off, once the key is on acessory and the radio is off the speaker static's and clicks. Anybody have any ideas??
Sounds like my '91 Custom Cruiser. When I open the tailgate, especially in the down position, I lose all my presets and the radio reverts to AM. Also have to reset clock. This started after I replaced the ground wire going to my lighter. I noticed my radar detector was not working, so I checked the socket. It has lost the ground. I ran a new ground and woke up all kinds of gremlins.
Gremlins, exactly what my wife said last nite. This is some thing I Have To Get Sorted, I'll admit it's making me a bit paranoid. I don't feel safe leaving the dogs in the car incase something fries up and I'm in a store and they are locked in.
Mine has been like that for years with no problems other having to reset the radio from time to time. I think it is more a ground problem rather than a "hot wire" one. I also had the buzzing and "plop" sound in the speakers when I first worked on it. However, the radio plays fine. I am not that great of a spark-chaser, so I just left it alone.:confused:
Here is a thought.....I have seen turn signals ground to the other side, so MAYBE, the ground to the instrument panel is bad. Might run a new wire from a good metal spot on the dash to the negative battery cable. I know my problem is ground, just don't know where. It sure won't hurt to try, since there will be no voltage in the ground.
Yep, if it ain't smokin' or fumin', I'd look at the grounding. Besides, Gremlins were fun cars, but you knew why they broke down...
Tedy, if it ends up being a radio problem, I have an extra factory radio here for that car. Grounding seemed to be a common problem with that car. I'd check on those. The electrical gremlins were one reason I got rid of my 90 wagon. It became too daunting to figure out why all the mystery lights would pop on and off randomly. I hope you have better luck with this. If you need a hand, pop me an email and I'll stop by and help you trace things out.
Thanx loads for the offer Jeff I hav'nt had time to tackle it yet dues to Thanksgiving and our house being the meeting grounds. I hope, weather pending I'll be able to start tackeling this problem this week.
You know...here's 2 in this thread with electrical concerns in the late Buick box wagons. I have to say, I never had one single problem with my 88 Electra. I hope you find it, Tedy, and don't have the problems that madbiker had. If I remember...the one you have is from a woman one owner. Shouldn't be a modification problem....likely a wire or something just worn out.
Yeah, our friend Suzie who is still batleing cancer gave us the wagon, she was the second owner. Suzie is back at work though now. I saw her a week or so ago and she is doing great! Back to the Buick thing, and all GM products of that era...These GM's were famous for leaking on the upper fire wall where the fresh air intake is for the heater (passenger side). Suzie told me there was a leak but it only leaked when the car was parked. She kept a lrge coffee can proped up under the dash when parked for weekends. I repaired that problem ASAP when we got the car but none the less....What A SH** design IMO, designed to leak IMO. I don't blame her as she told me of several huge $$$ estimates to repair the leak and she felt the shops she brout it to while she owned it were full of BS so she left it. The fact I repaired the leak in a couple hours just by removing the plastic vent/screen, cleaning and a huge expence of $10 (if that) for a tube of good quality neopreme caulking.......far difference from the few hundred she was quoted! Kinda strange, I hate dishonest mechanics and sadly from what I've seen done to women I dis-like all mechanics perioud (I just see thief, and I know thats wrong because there is 1 honest one out there for evey 50) but if it was'nt for them I never would have met my wife 15 years ago.....what do ya do? Send them a thankyou card for there dis-honesty?? ...But any ways, I still hav'nt looked, but I wonder if the long term leak may have added moisture to conections, ground wires etc and now age has come if the crap designed to leak air intake may have alot to do with under dash problems these cars are getting. Again I mention, the Buick leaked for a couple years and I only knew/was told about it when she gave us the car. Had she mentioned it, hell I would have helper her ASAP. She did how ever keep the floor and carpet from rotting by rigging the coffee can under it.
I have to agree with you on several of your points here. GM of this vintage - every time I think about this wagon, as much as I like it, the build quality is crap. I truly question how a car with under 150,000 kms needed a fully rebuild transmission and a bad pinion bearing (a car that has no evidence of ever towing anything or being driven hard by it's previous two owners - one being an "older" gentleman and the other being a lady)...this is on top of all of the broken tabs on the door panels and plastic garbage. Anyways, back to your problem - water damage could definitely create some strange problems but I'd be tempted to look at the fuse block and see if I could redo some of the grounds. Maybe even multimeter the connections to the radio. Sorry, not that helpful, I know but it's been awhile since I looked under the hood of the boxy beast. Mine is still driving around town somewhere although somebody said they spotted it on the peninsula with the owner looking under the hood - I suspect for electrical gremlins
i had the same issue in my 88 buick, first i found that the ground from my cig lighter was loose. i believe it was grounded to the back of the ashtray itself so i put a thicker gauge wire on it and moved the ground point to a better spot. then the radio was still staticy so i installed a new radio and new antenna and it fixed it. sometimes also you might wanna check your speakers. if you said the dash was leaking on the inside then perhaps the water damaged the dash speakers? specially since factory installed speakers are made very poorly, and the cones were made of a cheap paper that resembles newspaper. maybe it's time to upgrade your radio and speakers in your wagon. that's usually what i do with every car i get, i'll get a new cd player and all new speakers.
