Thread: Weird glitch with A/C switch

Hey guys,

I'm working on a 2001 Grand Prix GT that was in an accident with a 3.8l N/A motor. I've run into a rather peculiar behavior in this car:

I have blower speeds 1-4 on the A/C, which just started working out of nowhere after wiggling the fuses in the fusebox by the glove compartment, but 5 doesn't work. I checked the fuse for HVAC HI, and it looked fine.

Now, here's the weird part....

When I turn the switch to 4 and let it go for a little while, and then switch it to 5, the radio's display flashes on, the windows can work, and the display lights up on the mirror (Auto-dimming w/Onstar), all for a split second before those things go blank again and don't work.

Any ideas for what's going on?

Sounds like there is a wiring/ground issue somewhere. How bad was the accident? Any of the wiring under the hood get damaged, or possibly from airbags deploying?

Thanks for the replies. The accident caved the nose of the car in (hit a tree) and the airbags deployed. I've since replaced the dash, and the only thing I noticed was damage to the airbag cable that runs from the driver's side to the passenger side, and that's already been fixed. I'll look into it more once I get the car restored.

Well, I got the car put back together after helping my dad weld in a new core support, and upon reinstalling breakers for the headlamps and the cooling fans, everything started working again, and all four windows work along with all five blower speeds. . The previous owner had removed those breakers for some reason after the accident. Now I just have a dim DIC, which could be just bulbs. Thanks all!