http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd251/tenmark262/DSCN7270-1.jpg

Been thinking of this one for awhile - to get control of the fan mostly. And pulled one from a 94 Roadmaster today. Is it plug and play into my 95 FWB?

And how will it effect the onboard diagnostics?

Read back through some of the older posts and answered my own questions.

Basically, I wanted control of the fan. Can't really do that with our FWB controls. Well, at least not without adjusting the temp. Here in FL, I like to keep the lowest temp setting and change the speed of the fan as needed.

Largest drawback, for me, with this mod was the look of the controls. I like the look of the FWBs buttons better. So I took apart controls and swapped out most of the buttons. As you can see, swapped Econ and Out Temp FWB buttons with Air and Vent buttons, but I don't use those functions anyhow and prefer the Caddy buttons. It's a little mixed matched but I can control the fan and happen to like the mismatched look better than if I left the stock Buick's controls alone. I lose the outside temp feature, I know, but so what on that one.

All what's left to do is modify and retrofit the shape of the Roadmaster's controls and fit it in the FWB!

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd251/tenmark262/DSCN7593.jpg

Yep, here was the most recent thread we had, about a week ago:

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/rwd-19xx-1984-deville-fleetwood-1985/139722-using-buick-r-m-c-control.html

Simply put, one of the easiest and best changes you can make that is all plug & play, aside from mounting the Roadmaster unit--which, too, is no problem. I left mine with the stock buttons it had and the lack of the original chrome edged buttons never bothered me. At least better, IMHO, than a mixture of Buick and Cadillac buttons that some do (as in that picture).

Buttons aside, do it. Great thing:thumbsup:

caddycruiser, that link doesn't work. Can you try posting it again. Tried copying it into my browser and that didn't work too.

I did the buttons. A little more work but like I said, I prefer the Caddy buttons. :)

Basically, I wanted control of the fan. Can't really do that with our FWB controls. Well, at least not without adjusting the temp. Here in FL, I like to keep the lowest temp setting and change the speed of the fan as needed.

You know what's funny about that is, you might be better off with manual controls set to cold and set the fan speed where you want it. But I guess you can't just put manual controls in there as GM wasn't using full electronic controls in the regular HVAC cars like they did on trucks.

In playing with the HVAC in my 95, it seems like there IS some control of the fan. Actually, from what I remember, you should be able to dial in 60° and set the fan on Low Auto or something. I also noticed that the default fan speed is also on the slow side, but then it's not hot here yet, so maybe that will change.

I lose the outside temp feature, I know, but so what on that one.

I gotta say I wouldn't want to lose that feature, but to each his own!

You still get the temp feature but it's passive (displayed) rather than dialed in by way of button like on the FWB. And I guess you can somewhat control the fan on the FWB by adjusting the temp up or down. That "seems" to do the trick.

All that said, I'm putting it back. While I like the fan control, it just doesn't look right. Live and learn.

Oh it's displayed all the time? That sounds even better than having to choose.

I don't understand why you'd adjust the fan speed with the temp when you can adjust it with the fan buttons! I am confused here.

Let me explain.

You can toggle the fan speed up and down in more increments with the Buick's fan control. All you've got with the FWB's is high, auto, and low. And that's not enough because high is sometimes too high and low is, well, too low.

With the FWBs OEM contols, it seems, or so it felt, that when the fan is set to auto, you can change the fan speed by adjusting the temp up or down, thus giving you more fan increments. Again, it just seemed like the fan speed changed. And besides all that, I don't want to adjust the temp. I want to adjust the fan.

Right, and all of which with the Fleetwood, ANNOYED us beyond reproach. Well, you get used to it, but it still was terrible with having other "normal" cars in the drive and a Roadmaster.

Fleetwood stock, fan speeds consist of Low (piddle), Low Auto (whatever it thinks, then piddle), High (roar), and High Auto (basically High, just car controlled), and you can't select air flow specifics...ever. With vent or AC, that's kind of okay, as it blows it generally on you, but with heat, you get feet only. Roadmaster unit gives me a full auto (never use it for fan), 5 specific fan speeds, and I can choose at will floor, center, blend, or Defog..."normal" luxury car controls, done by Buick.

Chrome edged buttons, eh, never even thought of it once after the install and the little things tend to bug me.

I like chrome edges buttons too .Nonetheless, I believe that if you insist on having the chrome frames on the Buick's controls that should be done considering I saw a W140 w/ full chrome edges buttons

Craig on the SS forum swapped the chrome buttons onto the Roadmaster HVAC controls, looked good, but alas he sold his Fleetwood.

I would have and could have swapped the buttons, but only half of them are swappable, and I actually like the feel/operation of the stock Buick buttons better. Less chunky and work great.

So, again, the possibility is there, just not a big deal unless you must have some of the larger chrome buttons back and don't mind a mismatch.

Whether you swap the buttons, or don't swap the buttons, the display's color is off. It's close but it's just not the same - bluish instead of greenish.

I like the functionality of the Buick's controls better but they're just not right. The buttons are off. The color is off.

I'm going to read up on the FWB's A/C controls and see what I can come up with in the way of getting more control/usability out of the OEM controls.

Again, true, but I've lived with it so long AND long ago ditched the stock head unit as well, the color difference in my car is never noticed.

You can do small things to reset/balance (or something?) the Fleetwood climate control operation, but you will never get those 5 selectable fan speeds or be able to choose where you want the air to go, like a normal vehicle. That's the big tradeoff, and one the minor difference in looks is more than acceptable to me for.

Oh well, at least there's always the choice, and it remains a popular one. Too bad the system in '93 and earlier was a bit different...my father begged me to swap his '93s, only to be one of the first to find out, nada.

True, true. And I agree with you on the keeping the stock Buick buttons. I've just done bunches of permutations, with buttons, without buttons, mixed, and it just plain looks better with the Buick's buttons.

All that aside, I've got bigger problems. The A/C fan stays on high and runs even without the key in the ignition. What's up with that?

Blower control module, likely.

Sure enough - all that fooling around killed my blower control module. Could have spiked the voltage somehow or it just finally crapped out. Either way, it's a common problem. $5 at the local salvage yard done.

Also experimenting with changing the Buick's display color. Turns out, the digital output is the same. It's a colored lens on the plastic overlay changes the color. Swap the lens and swap the color. The buttons are the next challenge. Buick buttons with Cadillac colors.

What a great combination then
:highfive:

I'm done with this project. Ended up going with the Buick's controls, keeping the buttons but making the display Cadillac green instead of Buick bluish. Was easy enough.

Peeled off the Buick's sticker fascia (it's the lens on sticker that changes the color). Cut an extra Caddy sticker with lens to fit. And stuck a similar Roadmaster A/C control sticker (from an earlier model that didn't have the lens 91/92?) over top the Caddy's. Done. The buttons were close enough but the display was well off.

From this (try to ignore the button swap :) - I went back to the Buick's buttons for consistency):

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd251/tenmark262/DSCN7594.jpg

To this:

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd251/tenmark262/DSCN7606-1.jpg

Looks good and great work with the display coloring! That will probably be used by others now, who want to get it right.

Otherwise, do you have it shifted to the right too much, or at least it looks like that? Maybe some mount adjustments? Mine sunk down a little, an I have to adjust mine again after nearly 2 years just because of the homemade slotted brackets I used got loose.

Thanks, cruiser. Yea, it needs some adjusting in there. Just threw it in to see how it looked and if it worked with the junkyard blower control module I picked up. :)

Went around the world with this one but in the end, I'm happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for your tips.

Yeah, again, looks good and I think the lens color change will be one that lives on:thumbsup:

Nice mod with changing the color display, Im wondering If I should do it to my Roadmaster controls.:rolleyes:

Yea. If you feel like it, do it. You can use the sticker off your stock FWB controls and the one on the Buick controls you have.

Just crop the Cadillac's sticker to fit and overlay the buick's. Of course, you'll have to cut out the lens (I effed mine up trying to do it) on the Buick sticker to work or find an earlier Roadmaster's controls (where the lens is precut). Presto!

OK, so i've been trying to research this but I'm getting confused, and most of the links no longer work. Will this swap work for a 93 fleetwood, or just the 94-96 fleet's???:hmm: