Hello,
I recently took my Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham to a garage that's worked on the car a few times before this. I just had them do an oil change, set up a new spare tire for me, and clean the brakes and that was all.
I arrived at the garage, and I saw the secretary with the mechanic before he hurried out the door to start my car and arbitrary pull it forward 3 ft with the engine running as I checked out. I talked to him for a moment before getting into the car, he mentioned trying to turn off the "Change Oil" light in the vehicle a few different ways but still couldn't get it off. This was fine and not a problem, they put a sticker up in the windshield saying when the next oil change should be so the light being on still didn't feel like a problem.
I get in the already started car and pull up to my house and turn off the engine. I notice the air is continuously running even when the engine was turned off completely with the keys out of the ignition. I can't find a way to shut it off and kind of shrugged it off, thinking it would just turn off eventually, even though this has never happened before while owning the vehicle for the last 2 years.
I come back 3 hours later to go to work, the air is still flowing at the same pace, continuously from where I left it before even putting the keys. I knew something was up but couldn't do much about it since I had to go to work. The engine turns over with a little bit of a struggle but still turns on.
I pull up to the parking lot, turn off the engine, and the air starts flowing at a specific speed the same as before with the engine completely off. I try turning the engine back on and hitting the "OFF" button and that doesn't do anything, which really starts to worry me. I have to punch in so there wasn't much I could do then.
I come back 8 hours later to my car completely dead, we can't jump it, mostly from having the cables not on properly or not good cables.
AAA comes the next morning and gets it jumped, I call the garage and tell them what happened to the car immediately after I got it back from them. They say they'll check it out even though it's right before the 4th of July weekend and they close early and weren't sure they could get to it.
They call me and tell me it's "all buttoned up, ready to go" 10 minutes before they close early for the holidays. i wait about 5 days to come pick it up. I arrive and the mechanic I talked to previous tells me they had to disconnect the air fan entirely from the controls so it wouldn't burn out the battery. He explains some troubleshooting that goes over my head, and I'm still kind of confused what happened and also mad that there was a problem still and the temporary solution was to cut the air completely from the vehicle in the middle of summer when there was no problem with it at all before taking it there for the oil change.
I ask again what's wrong/needs to be replaced. I feel like he says the control panel or something was burned out and that the only way to get a new one is through another Cadillac Fleetwood which they made seem like wasn't a promising endeavor which was even more aggravating. He also doesn't really go into detail about how/why this happened, which I also didn't want to press them on because I'm a non-confrontational person and they did some good work on the vehicle about a year previous.
Just feeling kind of helpless right now and not sure if and when they'll be able to fix it. They also didn't admit to malpractice or being at fault for what happened but I have a suspicion that they knew the fan was running even with the vehicle off before they gave it to me and that's why they had it running already before giving the vehicle back so I wouldn't notice until I went home. They also mentioned they would tell me the cost for the new part when they could get it which made me angry since I feel like I'm pretty sure they caused the problem (again this never happened before I took it in this time or ever in the last 2 years I've owned it) and I feel like they should have to pay for it and fix it. I could call again and ask for more info for what's wrong and needs replaced but wanted to give them another week to maybe call back with the part. I don't think they did anything on purpose but I also don't think they're owning up to some mistake they made while they had it, assuming it was when they were trying to turn off the Change Oil light.
Anyone ever experience a consistently running fan whether the engine is engaged or not and what it took to fix the problem?
I don't see what your blower fan has to do with oil or brakes.
Cadillacs are known to be electronic nightmares.
Somebody at the garage screwed up something. I would demand they fix it at their expense. You have plenty of choices to make if they refuse.
What are my choices if they refuse? Also I can live without AC but I don't have any air for anything at all now. If I start fogging up I have to towel it off and in the winter I would just be screwed straight up. I had an '82 Oldsmobile 98 Regency without AC before but at least it had air and hot air in the winter, I have nothing now.
Also they noted trying to pump the break 3 times to reset the Check Oil light but it didn't work, I feel like they might have tried something else that also messed with the control panel or something. I don't feel confident in locating the exact thing needed to fix this and I feel like I need to talk to them again to pin point what exactly needs replaced. But also I feel like I need to start this search myself though I don't really have the fluency in searching as a garage would but I feel like they don't have the time or care at this point and feel like it's up to me.
Ok, so this is what I would I were you:
For starters, the "Change Oil" light can most likely be turned off by turning the key to the "on" position (Don't start the car, just turn the power on.) And pump the gas pedal down fully 3 times, that should reset the computer clock for the oil. If they didn't try that at the shop, try it yourself. On a some of the GM B-Bodys (Especially late model ones) it was how you got the light to turn off, this may not work with all cars but there's a high chance this would if it hasn't been tried, being a Cadillac Fleetwood. Personally I would just live with it and keep track of how many miles you go between oil changes.
As for the fan, it could be the control panel or just possibly the buttons not working (Either way you have to take part of the dash out so it's a pain.) Since the shop disconnected the fan so it wouldn't burn out the battery you have two options.
1. Either try to find a panel of whatever piece you need from a junkyard, U-pull, Pick-And-Pull, etc. But just so you know it may take a long time to find what you need, as B-Body GM cars are getting hard to find these days, especially Caddys. Or you could looking online and see if you could find anything there, that's an option too.
2. Just live with it and roll the windows down, none of the cars I drive have AC and it does get very hot, but rolling down your windows does prove to be effective at least at higher speeds. That's what I would do if I were you, but it's your decision.
Realistically, what could he possibly have done to cause this problem in his attempt to reset your Change Oil light? More likely, maybe he turned on your A/C while he was sitting in your car, which is not unreasonable. Then it wouldn't shut off (at least the blower). Would wiring a toggle switch inline with your blower be a cheap, easy and acceptable fix?
I like this idea and feels straight forward. Do you think it's something the garage would do? I feel like this would require certain tools and electrical know-how that I'm not sure a standard garage would do.
It should be easy to do. I wouldn't trust a Jiffy Lube to do it, but any repair facility should have no problem doing it.