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doity

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Everything posted by doity

  1. I still check in from time to time. My Reatta gets little to no use and I seem to spend more time keeping it up the best I can with my limited budget than I do actually driving it. I have put maybe 20k on the clock since buying it maybe 13 years ago or so. I don’t mind the expense because I derive a lot of pride from it when I do actually drive it. I call it the “Six Million Dollar car” for obvious reasons. This forum is always the first site to pop up when using Google if I am researching an issue or a Reatta related problem so there’s that.
  2. Here is a picture of the bad coil pack. It would appear that one of the connectors broke off. My mechanic said that he tried a new pack with my old/new ICM and that didn’t work so he replaced both. I guess they don’t make ‘em like they used to.
  3. Will look at the parts when I pick up the car to see if there is a date code. He said that one of the coils had failed.
  4. Padgett, I think you were right. I was going from memory but I know that I bought the OEM parts and they were not cheap. I did not have any problems with the car until I did. No codes or check engine light.
  5. About a year and a half ago I got my 1988 out of storage. Before putting it in storage it was having stalling issues, especially when it was real hot, and I read on this site that it could that a failing coil pack/ICM that can cause this. i bought a new set mail order and made sure it was Delco brand. I held on to it in box(s) for a year and when it was time to pull the car out of storage my mechanic replaced them along with some other items. It was still stalling after a bunch of work and another mechanic traced it to a vacuum leak. No problems since then on that front. Anyway, I have had a wonky battery that while newish had been worn down some due to a bad alternator. I replaced the alternator about the same time as the other work and had to replace the battery last week when my car wouldn’t start and the battery wouldn’t even accept a jump or charge. Problem solved I thought......well no. The car still wouldn’t start but I could tell that it certainly wasn’t the battery and I was thinking a bad fuel pump. Had it towed to my mechanic and he checked it out today and said that the problem was the coil pack and ICM. It was not opening one of the injectors he said or maybe it wasn’t getting spark, not sure. I had to think and then remembered I had just replaced those items. He said that he used replacements from Oreilly’s and I mentioned that I had used Delco but he said that he had to replace both to match. Not sure if he thought it through or maybe both were shot but that seems unlikely. I have put less than 2,000 miles on it since getting it out of storage......probably half of that honestly. What are the odds that a brand new Delco coil pack would fail after such a short time? Is it possible? Should I just pay up and forget the whole episode or should I obsess about it endlessly until I forget about it?😀 Maybe someone else here has had a similar experience that they could share. thanks, Luke
  6. I just love the prototype interior, especially the vertical CD player. Funny thing is just a few days ago I was thinking (after gazing at my circa 1985 Boombox with vertical CD player) just how great that would had made the interior look. So futuristic looking especially with the other electronics that the Reatta had......real or imagined.
  7. Here is my TPMS system as noted in my previous post. It is actually mounted below the visor not above.
  8. About 7 or 8 years ago I had a aftermarket TPMS installed. I think the thing cost around $200 with the sensors. It still works to this day but eventually the batteries will go out. It constantly monitors the tire pressure, tire temp, and gives a warning if a tire is low. I had it mounted above the drivers side sun visor.
  9. Well I went the DIY route. I ordered a couple of patches off of eBay and used contact cement to glue them down. Looks pretty good.....I just hope they stay on for a long time. I don’t use the car much so they won’t get too much wear and tear. BTW, the mats were purchased from Lloyd’s Mats if anyone is curious.
  10. Thanks Ronnie. I like your suggestion but I would be too worried about overspray and the paint running. I usually have better results painting something when it is lying flat. The tape thing was just a thought after picking up a large piece that came off and noticed that it was not brittle but bendable like tape.
  11. That is a big help, thanks. I guess next you are also going to tell me that Dubuque isn’t the Capital of Iowa. Or that the sun doesn’t orbit the Earth?
  12. Imagine a strip of that black coating say 6 or 7 inches by about 1/2 inch high no longer there.
  13. Not sure if this is the same as mine but I had issues with mine for years stalling, rough idle, no start, etc. and my mechanic changed out virtually every part imaginable. Turns out it was a vacuum leak at the throttle body I believe it was.
  14. I know that this topic has been covered here before but I still had another question regarding this. I scraped the top part of the front bumper along with a little bit of the black bumper guard recently. I searched the forums and found some good info. I took one guys advise and used 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and used that to remove the scratches on the chrome part and then polished with wadding cloth. The problem is that when I masked off the lower part a lot of old peeling black paint came with it when removed. So what would had been an easy paint touch-up job became much worse. Truthfully the front bumper was peeling in numerous spots before but now there is a longish strip of that black coating gone. It is not really worth it to me to bring it to a paint shop as it is not really that important as to spend $$ on, but is there any paint that I can use to fill in a largish area that would blend well without spraying it? Maybe also some kind of tape or something that would adhere to the bumper and blend in well and become semi-permanent? Thanks for any tips tips they are much appreciated. Luke
  15. Hi Barney, do they have a border color different than the lettering or is it just a plain “R”? I have seen some mats that are/were original and the logo doesn’t stand out too much. There are some emblem patches on eBay but they claim a 4-inch diameter which seems somewhat large for this application. thanks Luke
  16. Is there a company that sells Reatta logo mats or is there possibly an easy way to adhere a cloth logo to a set of floor mats? I called the number of a place in California that was referenced in a very old post but the guy said that the fellow who did that work in-house is no longer there. I would like to get a real nice set of mats for my 88’ but I am having a hard time finding a company that does custom logos beyond their stock set of manufacturer logos. There are some cloth emblems on Ebay that might work but I don’t want to ruin a nice set of mats if it is not done right. Though I seem to remember that my original mats had the logo glued on and they eventually came up. Just going from memory though and you know how that goes. If anyone has any tips or leads please let me know. My car is white/burgundy by the way. thanks, Luke P.
  17. The piece on the passenger side was hanging loose and it came right off for regluing. The one on the drivers side was also loose so I tried removing it and got half way but there was a lot of glue in small areas which caused it to tear unfortunately. Does anyone have a line on one or maybe know a good place to get replacement fabric to cut to size? I could always go to a upholstery shop but they might charge more than really is justified. I also just got it back from the paint shop and had the trunk and hood repainted because the clear coat was starting to peel somewhat. They blended the paint great with the rest of the car. I also had them put new pinstripes. Prior to that last fall I had it in the upholstery shop for new headliner, repair and re-dye the seats and new speaker grille(s). So as you can see I am trying to get her ‘up to date’ the best I can. Though in hindsight I should had left the trim piece alone. Oh well. Thanks! Luke P.
  18. Talked to the mechanic today and he said that he did replace the PCV hose but that was not the source of the vacuum leak. He is certain that the leak is coming from the ‘Tree’ as he calls it and GM no longer stocks the seal or gasket. He said that they are working on fabricating a part so I should know in a day or two if that is the cause. Thanks for all all the great help guys. This board is like a godsend sometimes and it is good to know that there are other people like me who are gluttons for punishment by owning a Reatta. 🙂
  19. I should had said initially that it is a 1988. Ronnie I see your photos and that helps but are the 4 vacuum lines that you mention related to emissions? Because the main symptom is a lean idle and stalling. It does run fine after a good 20 minutes or so and I chalked that up to maybe the intake manifold gasket expanded a bit with the heat from engine and seals properly. If there were bad hoses I don’t see how it would run better once warm......unless I am missing something? I don’t mind paying for work that ‘needs’ to get done, but I just hate to throw money at an issue unless the mechanic is 100% certain.
  20. Thanks for the reply 2seater. How hard would it be for them though to isolate exactly where the leak(s) are coming from? They have had it close to a week now and it took me calling to even get an update. The mechanic there that I have been dealing with made it seem like he wanted to rule that out before delving in to the intake manifold but to me that seems like just they are avoiding any responsibility or at the least just trying to apply guesswork.
  21. I had a shop do some electrical work on my car a good year and a half ago. They are mainly a auto electric shop but also do general car mechanics. They initially did some work and also did a workup of all it would take my numerous electrical gremlins. The car was getting oil into the coolant reservoir and they replaced the intake manifold gasket. After doing all of the work, mechanical and electrical, I put the car into storage because it was still running like crap and it was not reliable. I took it out of storage a few months back and have slowly been getting it running somewhat reliably, except for the idle which is weak at startup and will cause the car to stall until fully warmed up and on the road. I took it to my mechanic for some fluid changes and a tune-up but he said that the plugs and wires were good but recommended a fuel system cleaning where he hooked it up to some machine which sends a chemical to clear out the Iines, injectors, etc. it ran noticeably better but he said that I had a leak in the intake manifold and he demonstrated this by spraying carb cleaner around the intake manifold gasket and the idle cleared up, at least until the liquid dissipated. I called the other shop back and waited 2 weeks for an appointment. I told the mechanic that since I had only put 1,000 miles on the car since the work I hoped that it would be covered under warranty. They have it since last week and I finally called them and he said that he thinks that there are other vacuum leaks that he wants to investigate/fix first. He mentioned something called a ‘Vacuum Tree’ which is close to the intake manifold. I told him what my other mechanic said and he got a bit defensive. I don’t mind paying for real problems that the car might have but money is tight now and I need the car due to an emergency. Does the Vacuum Tree explanation sound plausible or should I just demand that they either fix their work or pay up? He did mention giving me a couple hundred back and I could have the work done elsewhere, or not at all I guess. thanks for any help!
  22. Anyone with a clean and operable cassette deck for the 88/89 models for sale please get ahold of me. I think the similar year Riviera’s with the touchscreen will work also. I know I can have mine repaired but would rather just swap one out and then send the other one off for repair at later date when I have more funds. Thanks. Luke Perry Portland, OR.
  23. Well I certainly can’t do a overhaul on an engine but I do have more than basic level knowledge of tools and mechanics. I grew up in an era of numerous shop classes and the whole ‘fix it yourself’ ethic. I’ve done basic stuff on the Reatta like swapping out the CRT, the engine computer, radio box, etc.
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