bikemikey
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Posts posted by bikemikey
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I replaced my front struts about a month ago. If I recall, I just lowered the stabilizer bar to give it some play, then once I got the lower bolt in I used a big C clamp to draw it in to get the top bolt. I also put a bottle jack under neath the rotor in case I had to jack it up a little bit. Somehow I got it, you also have to be careful with that ABS wire. Hope that helps.
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I decided to not change out the rack and pinion. The Lucas power steering treatment seems to have worked, no leaks. If my car were a daily driver I would probably change it, but I'm afraid I'm on borrowed time with 123,000 miles on it. Hopefully it will be a while.
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Yeah, It never hurts to have tools, I try to collect tools as much as I can. My problem is to try to figure out were I put them.
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I just replaced the struts, strut mounts and front wheel bearings. I'm also going to replace the CV axles and tie rods. I just ordered that bubble level tool. When I'm done I'll try to get the camber as close as possible, then I'll take it to Sears and see if they can do the rest.
Thank You
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Yes, I'm using an 89 Reatta/Riviera manual. I filled out my car's Signature.
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Okay,
I'll go ahead and make sure they are flush and see what it looks like, then go from there.
Thanks
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The manual for my 89 Reatta says the front wheel camber specs are plus or minus 8 degrees. Are they talking about from the center point of the wheel ( level bubble ) you can be 8 degrees either way, positive or negative on both wheels? The manual also says that both wheels need to be within 1 degree of each other. I've heard that a little negative camber is better, I was thinking about 3 degrees negative camber or unless someone has a better suggestion.
Thanks
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Sorry, I read your reply wrong. Remove the 02 sensor before I spray the cleaner. Will do.
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I have already installed the EGR valve. I did clean the tube and around the EGR area a little while back , but I think I will clean it again. Are you talking about removing the 02 sensor and cleaning it, I did not do that.?
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Well, to my surprise ,it looks like it was a bad EGR valve. It really wasn't that old and did not have many miles on it. I bought it on a special close out sale, cheap price, I guess that should have been my first clue not to buy it. I bought a new one with a lifetime warranty, so it should not be a problem in the future. The 9 volt battery test worked well and it triggered numbers # B and # C terminals but not # A . I also did an OHM test on # A and it showed an open circuit, so problem solved. I'm thinking now before I install the new EGR valve , I'll go ahead and disconnect the battery to get rid of the old codes.
Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions.
Mike
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I'll give it a try. That beats trying to get to the ECM if I don't have to.
Thanks
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Appreciate that info. I'm assuming that blue wire runs straight from the ECM connector to that plugin or digital EGR as they call it. I think I will do an OHM test from the connector to the plugin and see if I have continuity. If I don't I might have a bad EGR. I'm still wondering why the OHM values on the plugin don't agree with the manual, but it might be my OHM meter.
Thank You
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My 89 Reatta is throwing an E026 code. I went to the diagnostics and for some reason #1 EGR sol is not clicking, numbers #2 and #3 are okay. The EGR is fairly new. So I went to page 8D1-68 of the manual to do an OHM test. I took the leads and placed one on D and the other on A and got a reading of .863, it is suppose to be 20-30 OHMS. Then from B-D and got .895, suppose to be 20-30 OHMS, then C-D and got .895, suppose to be 10-17 OHMS . I noticed that if you switch the leads they show nothing. I hope I did this right, I'm wondering if this little plugin that goes to the top of the EGR is bad? Also looking at that same diagram, it shows the wire is the color blue. It also shows the number 697 and then BD2 in a box before the ECM, I don't know what that means. I'm wondering if there is a splice or connector before the ECM, is that what the number 697 means? The ECM is new , I'm thinking it is that plugin or maybe a bad connector or splice.
Appreciate any info.
Thanks
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Barney,
I'm glad to hear that Nancy is doing well.
Best of wishes.
Mike
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This morning I looked under the car and didn't see any leaks ( that's a new one for me, kinda scary ). That Lucas sealer seems to be pretty good stuff. I have a mechanic friend coming over Wens. to check out the car. I might go ahead and leave the rack and pinion but change out the tie rods, I'll see what the mechanic says. Hey, those are some great videos.
Thanks
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Actually the rack and pinion was leaking pretty bad. In fact I think it was spraying on the exhaust manifold and started to smoke. At first I thought it was the valve cover leaking so I changed out the gasket and grommets, but that's okay now. So I put some Lucas power steering and rack and pinion stop leak and it seemed to work, but I'm afraid it will just start leaking again later on down the road. After installing the two front struts I need an alignment, so I'm thinking I might as well change out the rack and pinion and also the tie rods and be done with it. I'm going to go with the three port.
Thanks for that info.
Mike
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I'm thinking about changing out the rack and pinion on my 89 Reatta. I just changed out the power steering pump, the rack and pinion has about 123,000 miles on it, so it is overdue. Rockauto sells a two or three port rack and pinion for this car, I'm wondering what the difference is between them. The manual does not say anything as far as I know. Maybe a sensor or something?
Thanks
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Thanks so much for that info, I really appreciate it. I don't know what I would do without this forum, I would probably have to start taking the bus.
Thanks again.
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I just replaced the front struts on my 89 Reatta. I took the car in for an alignment and they said the passenger side camber adjustment on the passenger front wheel needed to go towards the engine a little bit. Why they did not fix it right, I don't know, anyway, I thought I would try it myself. I jacked up the car and took the wheel off and loosen the two strut bolts. I then put a bottle jack under the rotor and pushed up to get the top of the rotor to go toward the engine, I thinking now this might have been a mistake, anyway, it is way off now. My question is , are you supposed to leave the wheel on when making the adjustment? Is the car supposed to be on the ground or can it be jacked up. I'm just trying to get it close enough so I can drive it to Sears, I should have gone to them in the first place. I once rebuilt an 81 Chevy truck front end and Sears was the only one that could align it.
Thanks
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I think I will try again in a dark garage. I had the light on in the garage when I did this test, it might have messed with the photocell.
Thanks
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I've been getting an E026 on my 89, I'm starting with the light test on the cluster panel. They seem to light up okay with the exception of the four little buttons, two on the left, metric and test, then two on the right side, trip set and I forget the other. I could have sworn that those little buttons lite up when I first started the process , but then they stopped working. I also tried turning the head lights on, but they still did not lite up. Are these buttons supposed to lite up ? Maybe I'm seeing things, it's like 110 degrees in my garage in Texas.
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Okay,
I just wanted to make sure.
Thank You
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l just replaced the struts and wheel bearings on my 89. I'm a little confused, the manual says 70 ft. lbs on " I think "are the three bolts that hold the bearing on. Then I think they want 180 ft. lbs on the main cv axle nut, does that sound about right? Right now I have 70 ft. lbs on that big nut.
Thanks
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I just installed one of those bump stops. At first I did not think it was going to work . You have a one inch shaft on the strut and inside the bump stop you have a 3/4" lip. What you have to do is turn the strut vertical on the floor and push real hard on the bump stop, it "will" go over the 1" shaft to my surprise. I guess it is designed that way. Just thought I'd pass that along.
Have a Happy 4th.
Mike
Befuddled, need help, strut
in Buick Reatta
Posted
I forgot to mention that sometimes on the inside spread of the strut where the two bolts go thru, it might be a little narrow. I had to take a hammer to mine and spread them out so the knuckle would slide in. You would probably have to take the strut back out to do this.