New to me

1991 Reatta Coupe in overall decent shape. Several things I need to look into including

1. Suspension clunk...seems to be only on potholes, no pull on steering etc..ride feels fine. Front passenger side I believe.

2. door locks are pretty stiff. Havent seen a set that has doors and trunk...would like to do all three.

3. trunk not opening...wont have time to crawl through the trap door until this weekend.

4. Wet carpet..unknown how bad until I wash the car I guess.

5. need to polish the lenses

6. One headlamp stuck down.

7. Need to make spare keys.

On the good side...motor runs well, tranny was recently rebuilt, tires are new, climate control works, instrument panel works and looks great. Seems to be all there just sun damaged.

This site has already been very helpful.

Robert.

It's a tight squeeze. I had to get into the trunk of mine last night. Definitely helps to have two people. one to squeeze in and release and one to open. I started this thread http://forums.aaca.org/f116/intro-thread-389340.html yesterday. Might help you in that area as it seems we might be going through the same basic thing with minor differences due to year?

It's a tight squeeze. I had to get into the trunk of mine last night. Definitely helps to have two people. one to squeeze in and release and one to open. I started this thread http://forums.aaca.org/f116/intro-thread-389340.html yesterday. Might help you in that area as it seems we might be going through the same basic thing with minor differences due to year?

Thanx!

Welcome to the forum

Couple tips. Wet carpet = big problem on an electronics intensive car. Get it dry and find the leak. No good comes of letting the splices below the seat corrode. Headlamp. Is it stuck down, or is it free spinning the motor? If it's just stuck, Look at manually turning the lift knob and Check the condition of the rubber bushing on the crank arm. If the motor is free spinning, several vendors on here sell excellent repair kits. Door locks, it's easier to attack the latches with wd40 and then white lithium instead of immediately tearing the doors apart. It's rarely a problem with the lock levers or motors. Credit to whoever recently posted this topic, I tried this method and it cleared right up. Trunk issue, I've dealt with on one car. If you read up on it and can't find the problem, hit me with a PM. I just went through a very irritating trunk issue on one Reatta then the other.

Enjoy your new Reatta, the 91s are awesome, I'm jealous.

Welcome to the forum

Couple tips. Wet carpet = big problem on an electronics intensive car. Get it dry and find the leak. No good comes of letting the splices below the seat corrode. Headlamp. Is it stuck down, or is it free spinning the motor? If it's just stuck, Look at manually turning the lift knob and Check the condition of the rubber bushing on the crank arm. If the motor is free spinning, several vendors on here sell excellent repair kits. Door locks, it's easier to attack the latches with wd40 and then white lithium instead of immediately tearing the doors apart. It's rarely a problem with the lock levers or motors. Credit to whoever recently posted this topic, I tried this method and it cleared right up. Trunk issue, I've dealt with on one car. If you read up on it and can't find the problem, hit me with a PM. I just went through a very irritating trunk issue on one Reatta then the other.

Enjoy your new Reatta, the 91s are awesome, I'm jealous.

Kewl, thanx...Yep been using the newspaper and towel method and have leached most of the water out...carpet looks new and I don't see water tracks as of yet so am a bit mystified.

Was told the headlamps have been rebuilt but maybe it has sat too long? Ok will try the wd40 lithium grease method. Am ready to get stuck into these hopefully mostly minor problems.

Instrument panel was rebuilt as well and looks like new. Clunk, water and driver side flipper are on top of the list.

Robert,

Welcome to the Forum. There ia another site names the Reatta Owners Journal that you should check out. Lotsa great info.

1. Suspension clunk...seems to be only on potholes, no pull on steering etc..ride feels fine. Front passenger side I believe.

There are a number of possibilities but the first that comes to my mind is the engine cradle insulator cushions.

John F.

Robert,

Welcome to the Forum. There ia another site names the Reatta Owners Journal that you should check out. Lotsa great info.

There are a number of possibilities but the first that comes to my mind is the engine cradle insulator cushions.

John F.

are those available or is there some substitute people are using? I assume at some point they have to be replaced even if they arent the current issue.

well the winking headlamp seems to have righted itself with minimal effort. Popped the hood last night and used the manual drive to move the light up and down. Cranked the car and both lights pop up like they should...Passenger side needs some adjustment. Lights disengage after shutdown as they should as well.

Your clunk could also be a collapsed strut. Engine cradle insulators are hard to replace and difficult to find if you need everything.

Your clunk could also be a collapsed strut. Engine cradle insulators are hard to replace and difficult to find if you need everything.

yep not sure what to hope for at this point. Supposedly struts are new...tops look new but I'll have it in the air some time this weekend. It's a Georgia car "supposedly" so hopefully if necessary its just a cushion thing and I saw that those are still available.

Welcome to the forum! The front end clunk could be caused by bad sway bar bushings or bad sway bar end links. Both are available in the Reatta Store.

Welcome to the forum! The front end clunk could be caused by bad sway bar bushings or bad sway bar end links. Both are available in the Reatta Store.

That's my hope. Something simple...still may end up replacing everything eventually. Hope to diagnose properly this weekend.

are those available or is there some substitute people are using? I assume at some point they have to be replaced even if they arent the current issue.

That's one for the search function. In short, I believe the Dorman 924-005 and the GM cradle bolt are what you need.

are those available or is there some substitute people are using? I assume at some point they have to be replaced even if they arent the current issue.

Thanx guys thats PERFECT!

examined the bushings yesterday and the rubber appears to have shrunken considerably and the rubber puck feels very "crumbled or chunky" So I'm thinking it's time to proceed with the cradle bushing retrofit. Strut rod bushings are as hard as stone. It appears everything else has been replaced suspension wise. Very clean underneath so hopefully a good omen.

Was able to release the trunk and now it seems to function normally with the interior button. Everything spotless except the soaking wet state of the the "jute?" padding under the spare tire. The spare is nasty and may be unusable due to the rust on the rim and yet it seems to be holding air. Jack is also very rusty. Trunk surface areas are dry and spotless.

after measuring the key resistance and ordering a blank on ebay am very happy to have a working spare set now. Phew.

Haven't been able to get to much (seriously need some time off or a relax in the schedule) Worked with the parking brake some this weekend and with some judiciously spray lube it now functions normally ...at least the ratchet action of the pedal does...(reinserted the small spring that keeps the latch mechanism engaged.) Problem is it doesn't seem to engage the parking brake despite the tension on the cable. I assume this is another sitting too long problem or some such. Will have to wait until I get the engine cradle bushings done, hopefully starting that project this weekend. Car gets better in function every time I drive it!