Hello ,
Not sure what is going on Here. When driving my car I set the climate control on automatic and nothing happens for the first 10 minutes after that it works fine . When I turn the climate wheel to 65 the air discharges fro the upper dash vents as it should . When I spin the wheel to 80 the heat is discharged from the bottom as it should . My question is what the ten
Minute delay ?
Thanks ,
Bill
Cadillacs of that vintage were extraordinarily polite cars. They wouldn't even *think* of blowing air on an innocent and unsuspecting passenger before that air was good and ready!
There's a master switch (sometimes referred to as the "steamboat switch") in the Automatic Climate Control circuit that is controlled by the engine temperature. If the engine has not warmed up to its proper operating temperature, the system will not turn on.
It's for your own good! :-)
Hello 67_eldo,
Thank you for your quick response . Your answer makes me feel better . I had a 1970 Cadillac in the 70’s and I can not remember it operating that way but that was a long time ago . As soon as I start the car the vent and the fog and defroster work immediately . If I leave it on automatic It take about ten minutes or so and works perfectly . I think I will leave it alone .
Thank you very much
Bill
The 70 doesn't have the steamboat switch.
Flip it to ice when you start it. Does it come on immediately? It grounds thru a temp switch on the passenger side manifold just behind the alternator for heat and the sensor in the dash for the ac. It also grounds when put in the ice position.
Get Cadillac Tim's book. It's great.
Jeff
Mine has a delay, but it's not 10 minutes. My heater turn on switch is not hooked up, there's no wire to it. I can't recall just now if the hot/cold air is dumped to the engine compartment or if it just blows out the heater ducts. Eventually, the cold are moves to the dash vents. My delay may be around a couple of minutes, then the air goes to where it should. My issue is independent of engine temp. I notice if I haven't started the car in two weeks, there is a delay in getting cold air out of the ducts. If it's only been a week or less, cold air comes out as it should.
Haven't sorted that out yet, other things to work on.
Be sure to read the owner's manual and shop manual for proper a/c operation - how it should work...
I second the thumbs up for Cadillac Tim’s book. If you’re going to mess with Automatic Climate Control, it is a must have.
I said *some* call the 1970 switch a “steamboat.†If you’re searching online, every relevant term helps.
https://www.caddydaddy.com/1964-1965-1966-1967-1968-1969-1970-1971-1972-1973-1974-1975-1976-cadillac-see-details-master-steamboat-a-c-switch-reproduction-free-shipping-in-the-usa.html
Bill,
A short delay is normal but not 10 minutes. As posted if you put it on defog or defrost it should come on immediately. Possibly the engine temp sensor is bad?
Brian
Quick way to check that would be to pull the connector from the temp switch and ground it before starting the car. If you have immediate climate control, that is your issue.
I suspect that if your car doesn't really take 10 minutes to warm up -- hey, it's possible -- you have one or more tiny vacuum leaks. The more vacuum leakage, the longer it will take the ACC system to build up enough vacuum to close the master switch.
I'd start with at the master switch and work my way out, checking the conditions of the vacuum hoses and connections throughout the vacuum network.
Vacuum switches can leak too. They aren't easy to fix but they aren't impossible either.
Good luck!
One other thing, the climate control temperature switch and the engine metal overtemp switch use the same bodies and thread into the same holes in the head. They have different closing points though. Would be easy to mix them up. The climate control temperature switch should be passenger front by the alternator. The engine metal overtemp switch is driver's rear.
Quote from: 67_Eldo on October 07, 2019, 10:14:41 PM
Cadillacs of that vintage were extraordinarily polite cars. They wouldn't even *think* of blowing air on an innocent and unsuspecting passenger before that air was good and ready!
There's a master switch (sometimes referred to as the "steamboat switch") in the Automatic Climate Control circuit that is controlled by the engine temperature. If the engine has not warmed up to its proper operating temperature, the system will not turn on.
It's for your own good! :-)
Only the Eldorados of this vintage still had the "steamboat switch". The "delay" function on the others was accomplished by a coolant temperature switch in the RH cylinder head. It allowed the system to turn on when the coolant temperature reached approximately 130 degrees.
-Charles Fares
There are two delays built into the Cadillac climate controls. This is prevent uncomfortable unconditioned air from blowing on the occupants. One is a thermal switch behind the alternator on head that makes ground when engine is 140'F, and the other is to prevent hot air from blowing during summer when ac is first turned on. This safety for ac fails easily (after 50 years), and then when the temp warms up after about 10 minutes the system is enabled by the heating sensor behind alternator.
To resolve this quickly, take the wire that is connected to the sensor behind the alternator and ground it. Then the both safeties will be removed and your climate control will operate immediately - that is what I do. The only time this may be a little uncomfortable is if it was real cold outside and it took a while to warm up - a very unlikely driving condition of a 1970 Cadillac.
Quote from: Scot Minesinger on October 08, 2019, 03:32:30 PM
... and the other is to prevent hot air from blowing during summer when ac is first turned on. This safety for ac fails easily (after 50 years)...
Scot,
Are you referring to the "purge door" that dumps the hot, unconditioned air into the engine compartment?
-Charles
I can start my car and get A/C and heat as soon as it's running. When it drops below 40F, it may take a minute or two to get heat.
John,
Your car also has an override that starts the AC/fan immediately if the cabin temperature is over 78 degrees.
Greg Surfas
Right !
There is a temp exclusion that eliminated the delay of its over a certain temp. I forgot about that.
The 69 and 70 Caddys have the purge door that empties air that would discharge from floor or dash vent into the engine bay. The door closes when safeties are satisfied. Since the poster said the climate control works after ten minutes or so, we know the purge door actuator works. I routinely permanently close the purge door so air is always discharged into the passenger compartment. Unfortunately the purge door vacuum actuator fails open to engine bay discharge, and it should have been the other way around.
Again, just ground the single wire behind alternator on head and this will be resolved unless purge door actuator fails.
Quote from: 67_Eldo on October 07, 2019, 10:14:41 PM
Cadillacs of that vintage were extraordinarily polite cars. They wouldn't even *think* of blowing air on an innocent and unsuspecting passenger before that air was good and ready!
There's a master switch (sometimes referred to as the "steamboat switch") in the Automatic Climate Control circuit that is controlled by the engine temperature. If the engine has not warmed up to its proper operating temperature, the system will not turn on.
It's for your own good! :-)
This is only when it's cold out and the system is requesting heat. If it is 70 F out and the car is set on 65, it should turn on after a few seconds.
Somehow, all these delays make me think about my '74 super beetle with "dual preheat" muffler in high school.
With an air-cooled engine, it ran air through passages in the muffler to heat for the passenger department . . . and by the first turn, ten or eleven houses away, heat was already coming out . . (and a few minutes later, would cause the wires on the controls to expand and cut the heat ::) )
Quote from: dochawk on October 20, 2019, 11:22:35 PM
Somehow, all these delays make me think about my '74 super beetle with "dual preheat" muffler in high school.
Oh man, that brings me back. I had a 74 Super beetle as well for about 8-9 months or so. And, of course, it was during the winter. I went to a junkyard and got a blower motor off of something and hooked it up with a piece of scat tubing to the duct under the left rear vent tube. Then I connected a piece of dryer tubing to the output side of the blower. So, I had instant heat. And when the windows began to fog up I would just aim the dryer vent to the fogged up window. Worked great but I bet I looked funny going down the road aiming a dryer vent hose.
Jeff
And just what did you VW guys do when it was 95F with same humidity out there? Open the windows? ;)
Cadillac Climate Control, is a tad more complicated than pulling a lever on the tranny tunnel for heat.
The upper crust wants to be sure their fine Italian suits doesn't wrinkle prior to their $1000/plate luncheon. ;D
So that’s how you transportation fuel moguls live.
Greg Surfas
There is nothing better than a functioning Climate Control and nothing more exasperating than one that has gone psychotic. 8)
Quote from: Big Fins on October 21, 2019, 06:34:28 PM
And just what did you VW guys do when it was 95F with same humidity out there? Open the windows? ;)
I was in Northern California, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains.
Humidity was something in the laundry room, not a weather condition . . .
:P
And I
permanently solved it by settling in Las Vegas. I'll take 115F here over 85 in Iowa
any day.
And, no, I don't own VWs here. not just the lack of real AC, but that the very idea of being in one of those around the other drivers here terrifies me. We have bad drivers from around the country, and the size of the '93 Fleetwood I just picked up
clearly made a difference three times as I crossed town tonight for my CLC regional meeting . . .