[Speck29]

So here's the deal. I have been noticing for the last couple months that my blue backlighting starts to flash on the Climatronic. It started out only once or twice, then becoming more frequent. Was hessitant about taking the car to the local dealership since when I walked in to have it worked on. They asked what kind of car it is, told them R32, and they told me they had never heard of that kind before

I was so stunned and scared that I turned around and left (no way are they working on my car) So I called the dealership that I bought the car from (about 60 miles away)and told them what was going on, I took it in, they couldn't find anything or have it repeat the problem (of course!

) However, I told the mechanic that I would take him for a drive so he could watch it while I drive and sure enough, within 50 feet of the dealership it starts flashing. He tells me he wants to take it back in and run some more tests. Hour later comes back and tells me he is ordering a new Climatronic instead of trying to fix the current one.
The next week I get the new Climatronic installed, however it is still flashing when I shift, hit bumps or have any change in throttle.

Has anybody else been having these problems with their Climatronics? I am beyond frustration and wondering if I have some other type of problem. Now they want to keep my car for a couple of days to figure out what is wrong. The dash lights have only done this once or twice and it is only the blue light, not the numbers or red light.
Ian, any thoughts or suggestions? If anyone is having these problems I would like to know. TIA
Joe

 

[Daemon42]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (OlysTornado32)

Sounds like it's got a faulty ground or power wire either to the whole
Climatronic unit or just to the display backlight.
ian

 

[rabbitgtibbar]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (OlysTornado32)

Have you had the headlight switch out?

 

[Speck29]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (Daemon42)

Thanks Ian, that is what I thought about when it first started happening, then they thought it might be a faulty unit. I have been thinking of the grounding wires kit before, now I really am.
I know they should probably look it over under the dash to see if it is a ground or not, I just hate leaving my car there for a couple of days.
Joe

 

[Speck29]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (rabbitgtibbar)

yeah Jeremy I have a Euro switch in, but that is all I have done there. Plus it had the problem before the switch. That is a good idea and place to look though. Thanks
Joe

 

[Daemon42]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (rabbitgtibbar)

If the problem originated at the headlight switch, or dash light dimmer
switch, I'd expect other instrument lights to flicker on and off along with the
climatronic's light, which he hasn't indicated. I think this is a problem closer
to the climatronic unit itself. Does the display blink completely off,
or just the backlight?
ian

 

[Daemon42]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (OlysTornado32)

Quote, originally posted by OlysTornado32 »

I have been thinking of the grounding wires kit before, now I really am.

If the engine ground were faulty you'd have a lot more symptoms than this.
Again, I think this is a lot closer to the climatronic unit itself. It makes
sense that the dealer replaced the climatronic unit, because that's easy,
and has about a 50% chance of working, while tracking down a bad wire
buried in one of the harnesses is much harder.
ian

 

[schrei32]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (Daemon42)

backlight on climatronic blinks for me too on occassion... all the blue backlights tend to flicker a little while in idle, and i know i'm not the only one

 

[ytwokr32]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (OlysTornado32)

I've recently started noticing mine doing the same thing... I'll keep an eye on it and cross my fingers that it does'nt become more frequent. I'm not inclined to take it to the dealer just yet.

 

[rabbitgtibbar]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (Daemon42)

Quote, originally posted by Daemon42 »

If the problem originated at the headlight switch, or dash light dimmer switch, I'd expect other instrument lights to flicker on and off along with the climatronic's light, which he hasn't indicated. I think this is a problem closer to the climatronic unit itself. Does the display blink completely off, or just the backlight? ian

Quote »

The dash lights have only done this once or twice and it is only the blue light, not the numbers or red light.

 

[R32-4-ME]

I thought I had seen the same random flash from the climatonic unit out of the corner of my eye but I was never directly looking at it when it was happening. So I thought maybe I was just imagining it. Now I know I am not seeing things. Let us know what you find out because you are not the only one seeing the flash.

Modified by R32-4-ME at 10:29 AM 11-19-2004

 

[ginster_gtivr6]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (rabbitgtibbar)

these posts scare me

 

[schrei32]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (ginster_gtivr6)

Quote, originally posted by ginster_gtivr6 »

these posts scare me

be afraid... be very afraid.
i'm going to make a point about it to the dealer when i go in next week... they tried to pass it off as a computer issue with the instrument cluster... i think a bad wire or climatronic is the culprit

 

[schrei32]

Re: Help! Problems with Climatronic... (schrei32)

called my fav service rep at local dealer, said they'd check it out when i came in for my new instrument panel. yay

 

[Stew312]

Re: (R32-4-ME)

Quote, originally posted by R32-4-ME »

I thought I had seen the same random flash from the climatonic unit out of the corner of my eye but I was never directly looking at it when it was happening. So I thought maybe I was just imagining it. Now I know I am not seeing things. Let us know what you find out because you are not the only one seeing the flash.

same thing here, also have a friend whom has had the same thing happen, we both thought we were crazy until one of us mentioned it and the other had noticed the same thing

 

[Speck29]

Re: (Stew312)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and feedback. I guess I am not the only one with this problem which is what I figured. I will keep everyone posted on this with some updates here and there. I just don't want to leave the R at the dealership for several days while they attempt to find a problem.
Ian, thank you for your thoughts, I know the grounding wires under the hood wouldn't help for this, but it makes me wonder if it would help anything else with responsiveness or better signals. I have a sneeky hunch that it might have to do with the harness or plug going to the Climatronic itself, or I hope since that would be an easy fix.
If anyone else starts having numbers or other issue coming up please let me know as well, That way I can keep an eye out for it.
Thanks.
Joe

 

[Daemon42]

Re: (OlysTornado32)

If in fact the blue back lighting for both climatronic and dash are flicking
together, then I'd suggest trying replacing your dimmer switch
in the dash, as that's the one thing that all the blue lights
share in commong. If you ever plan to get OEM HIDs you'll want the
one with the leveller rheostat in it anyway.
ian

 

[schrei32]

Re: (Daemon42)

Me to dealer: my climatronic backlight flicks on and off at random intervals...
dealer: we couldn't replicate the problem

 

[schrei32]

Re: (schrei32)

Quote, originally posted by schrei32 »

Me to dealer: my climatronic backlight flicks on and off at random intervals... dealer: we couldn't replicate the problem

well i was able to go on a "road test" with the service manager, and after about 3-4 miles it blinked twice real quick, service manager confirmed, and i just had a new climatronic installed yesterday... no blinking so far! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
another 500 on the warranty tab.... with my instrument clusters i think i'm approaching the 2k mark on warranty replaced items

 

[j-dub]

Re: (schrei32)

Mine does the smae thing. It does not really bother me, it seems like a grounding issue to me. It does not happen with the dash lighting.

Does anybody know what kind of lights the climatronic backlight pannel uses. Is it a electro luminecent panel?