bikemikey
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Posts posted by bikemikey
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Back again. I did a little more investigation, started the car and went to diagnostics, it has been awhile since I had done this . It told me that the cruise control had been disconnected, I check the fuse and it is okay. I wonder if by pushing down on the throttle cables it did something to the cruise control. I'm thinking maybe disconnect the battery and erase the history?
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This morning I cleaned my TB and IAC. I unplugged the MAF sensor and the IAC sensor, the battery was still hooked up. I put it all back together then took it for a test drive. The car idled a lot better, no problems, then I got a service engine soon, electrical problem. So I took the car back home, everything was okay, ran fine when I shut the engine off, I have not restarted the car. I'm wondering if the computer sensed that I had unplugged the two sensors and will the warning light go away when I start the engine? If not, assuming everything is alright, how can I get rid of the warning light.
Appreciate any info.
Thanks
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Appreciate that info.
Thank You
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I want to clean my TB on my 89. I was wondering if I can manually operated the throttle from under the hood, or do I need to get someone to turn the key on , engine off and operate the throttle from inside the car. I understand on some later model cars you have to do this or you will mess up the computer.
Mike
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Just guessing here, possible IAC or TPS, or maybe a bad IAT sensor conflicting with the temperature sensor that goes to the computer. Might be an o2 sensor. Wish I could help you more.
Mike
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It's a long shot, but you might have corroded battery cables. Sometimes they will work when cold, but not so good when hot. But like the others have said, it is probably fuel' related.
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I just thought I'd mention that for those of you who plan to paint your own cars in the future , but don't have professional equipment. the Eastwood.com company sells a spray gun, #51550 that only uses 4 cfm @ 29 psi. You can use a small home compressor , no need for a large compressor as long as it puts out the 4 cfms. @ 29 psi. This spray gun has gotten some good reviews, I'm thinking about buying one in the near future.
Mike
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I forgot to mention, I also changed out the belt tensioner. My 89 had 118,000 on it with what I think was the original tensioner. I also checked all the other pulleys to make sure they were running true.
Mike
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This is probably not your problem, but I thought I'd mention this anyway. I had similar symptoms with the alternator. On a cold engine the alternator worked fine until it warmed up, then down the road the red warning light would come on. The voltage would go up and down acting like there was something wrong with the battery . I took the alternator to a reputable shop and they said it was okay, I also checked the battery connections, same problems. It ended up being a bent pulley, I changed out the alternator, problem solved. You probably have something wrong internally with the alternator, but I would check out the pulley just to make sure there is no wobble. Just a thought.
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I think I'll go ahead and do a flush with an additive. I was worried about the freeze plugs leaking, but if they do I'll just have to fix them. I'll also try that 180 degree Super Stat thermostat and see how it works. I can always switch back to a 195 degree thermostat. If this doesn't work I'll go down the list I've learned from this thread. Thanks for all the information, that pretty much sums it up.
Mike
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Okay, I stand corrected. I did not realize the power steering had a cooler. I thought it was a little small for a transmission cooler.
Thanks
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I've been very busy, I just found time to work on my Reatta. I checked my radiator fans yesterday, E010 and E009 and they seemed to be working okay. While looking at the front "pusher" fan, to my surprise, I noticed a transmission cooler. It's a very small one, but at least it is a cooler. I guess one of the previous owners had it installed. I've come to the conclusion I need to change out the radiator. But before I do that I thought about doing a flush. Last year I changed out the water pump and flushed the system with tap water, then filled with 50/50 Prestone. A mechanic friend talked me into not using an additive flush, he said with the mileage on my car it might cause more harm than good. I'm thinking now I probably need to use an additive flush and maybe with some bars stop leak. I've also learned to use distilled water instead of tap water when doing the flush. Do you think this is a good idea.
Thanks
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You might have a bad temperature sensor. From what I've read, it is needed on a cold engine, but not after the engine has warmed up. If it has failed, it might be sending the wrong information to the ECM, I guess. It might be causing a rich mixture, hope that helps.
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Keith,
Congratulations, great job. I'm always getting stares with my Reatta , it's a head turner. I predict some day these cars will start to show up in some movies. A future James Bond movie would be nice. I can dream, right
Mike
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I would also suggest using the built-in diagnostics to make sure the fans are operating correctly. You may find that a relay or a fan motor is bad. Locally, Kitskaboodle had a problem with his car. Via the diagnostics, we tracked down a bad relay - which partially fixed the problem. The other thing turned out to be a big dent in the lower portion of his radiator. Looked like a previous owner had placed a jack under the sheet metal below the radiator and dented it. Kit had a thread about it on here a while back.
It is always good to fix the problem and not the symptom.
Nice photo. I'm curious, when it was factory installed, did they bypass the radiator , and how did you install yours.
Mike
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bikemikey.... there is a pick-n-pull south of 410 off 16.
Way out West of SA.... I was in a KMart in Uvalde once and the blue light special was announced in Spanish (only) that was back when my Aggie daughter was a park ranger at Garner State Park.
Thanks Barney, When I get a chance I'll check it out as well as others. I think Texas John has a good point about the radiator. I don't know for sure but mine might be the original and not operating at full capacity. It might be something as simple as changing out the radiator. I noticed the Reatta Store has a nice one for $111.00. I think it's still a good idea to install a trans cooler
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If you visit Pick-n-pulls, some Riviera have factory auxiliary coolers. They are a nice size and if you take the time to pull the lines, you have everything you need.
Rear wheel drive V8 Cadillacs ofter have them and look in the truck area, most trucks with the towing package had an auxiliary cooler.
Where are you in TX?
I'm way out west of San Antonio. I know of a few junk yards, I'll give them a call when I get a chance. Somewhere on ebay I came across a cooler, it was a new different style. It was round and long and would not block the radiator as much as a conventional one. I'll check into that one as well.
Mike
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Padgett has done considerable work on understanding the cooling system and fans. Hopefully he will jump in and share his wisdom.
I will share what I know and all that is in the service manual. The fans are controlled by the Engine Control Module (ECM) which gets input from several sources.
Neither fan works until the engine warms to a predetermined temp (Padgett has these temp memorized)
This help the engine get to operating temp quickly. Then the puller fan kicks in.
The front (pusher) fan kicks in as the temp gets sligthtly above the temp of the thermostat.... so the pusher seldom is on when you are running down the road with air being forced thru the radiator. The second condition that turns on the pusher is turning on the A/C.
At this point both the pusher and puller are running (lets say around 210 degrees F) however they are running at 1/2 speed.....the relay arrangement causes them to be in series so they are sharing 12V. That condition continues until the temp sensor get to something line 230, at that point the ECM energizes different relays that send a full 12V to each fan, intending to bring them to their full speed.
Several Reatta owners have made modification to cause this full fan speed to happen at a lower temp. Some have spliced in aftermarket adjustable fan temp sensors.
I had my ECM controller chip reprogrammed to lower the kick in temp and avoid the temp creeping up in traffic.
The downside to this is higher electrical consumption, possible shortening the fan life, and they make more noise when running at full speed.
One other thing to consider if you live in a hot climate (like Texas) is adding a auxiliary transmission cooler. In my mind this has multiple benefits... (1) it help preserve the transmission by lowering the fluid temperature. (2) If the transmission fluid is at a lower temp, the radiator has less hot transmission fluid coming to it and that make the radiator more efficient in cooling the engine. I have one vehicle that the radiator has no part in cooling the transmission fluid.... using a fairly large transmission cooler, I bypassed the radiator...... NOTE this is only acceptable in areas of the country that little below freezing ambient temperatures. In cold climates, the radiator help bring the transmission fluid to temp quicker.
Barney, that's some good information. That's a good point on that transmission cooler, I'll look into getting one. Anything would help to get the temperature down. I don't use this car that much, other than an occasional Sunday ride with my girlfriend to get some BBQ, but I would still like to use the car year round without having to worry about overheating the engine. I put about a 100 miles on the car yesterday, that's a lot of miles for this Reatta.
Thank You
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I guess I misunderstood the original post. I was replying to him saying: "I noticed yesterday the gauge hit around 228 at a stop light". I don't think changing from a 195 to a 180 is going to help that.
Ronnie, I just saw your post after I just posted mine. Yes, it does get up to 228 at a stop light, but once I get moving it starts going down.
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I might be wrong about the fans coming on at 233 degrees, I thought I read that from a past thread. I think what I will do, is check the BCM to make sure the fans are working. I'll also install a 180 thermostat to see if that helps out. if not, I'll probably have to change the temperature settings on the fans. The car usually runs about 214 degrees when the outside temp is under 85, no problems. It's just this hot Texas heat which is around the corner.
Thanks everyone for your replies.
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When I first bought my 89 Reatta, I noticed that the temperature gauge would hit at around 233 degrees at a stop light, in this hot Texas summer heat. From what I understand the radiator fans don't kick in until they reach that temperature of 233 degrees. I've also heard that at that temperature it is of no way in danger of hurting the engine, it would have to go a lot higher than that to cause harm. Since then I changed out the water pump and did a flush and also a new thermostat. I noticed yesterday the gauge hit around 228 at a stop light, it was about 90 degrees outside. I understand some of you have installed a 180 degree thermostat, I was thinking about doing that myself. I went to Autozone today and they only showed a 195 degree thermostat for this car. He also told me that even though my fans might work, they might not be running at their full capacity because of a weak relay or worn out fan motors, but I don't think that's the case. I was wondering where some of you have bought the 180 degree for the 3.8 , or should I not worry about it. I get a little worried when I see those high temps. Thanks,
Mike
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My 89 when I bought it had some issues with a rough idle, I went through everything just like you are doing. I'm not saying this is your problem, but there are some fusible links hidden by the antifreeze tank up against the fender. Mine were all frayed and some of the wires were in contact with the metal, I'm sure that did not help the idle. I replaced all mine, you might check them out. Section 42 8 A 10 shows them in the data base.
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When I surf the net I'm always looking for how the Reatta market is doing on Craigslist. Usually there will be about three or four moderate priced Reattas in the state of Texas. It seems like in the last couple of weeks those cars are gone, leaving only the higher price convertibles. Either the owners have dropped their ads, or people are buying up these cars. There are still some out in Indiana and other places but it seems like the numbers are dwindling . Sure glad I got mine. Just thought I'd pass that along.
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do you have a 5 gallon gas can? or better yet a few gallon cans? the "easy" way to drain some fuel is the fuel rail or can do it underneath ( using 4 jack stands) at the connection near the drivers side rear wheel or the tank side of the fuel filter (if it's easy to get to on a 90).
the reason i say this is i've had several late 80/90's GM vehicles that the gauge would stay on full for quite awhile if i filled the tank to the top.
also, could the gas dripping out be from the gas filler area with a overflow hose? i don't have my Reatta or the FSM to check that.
anyway, removing some of the fuel is a heck of a lot easier than dropping the tank.
I might be okay on the sending unit, maybe. Today I took the car out around the block a few times to burn some gas off. When I backed out the driveway which has a steep incline, while driving off I noticed the gas went to 7/8 of a tank and stayed there a little bit but then went back to full. When I pulled back in the garage I noticed it bounced to the 7/8 th mark then back to full. I'm thinking I just need to burn off some more gas and the gauge will be okay, I hope. There is no leakage now, just mild fumes from the filler area which I will check out with a tester when I get it built. I still might have to drain some gas like you suggest if that gauge won't come down. Thanks for your input.
Electrical problem , maybe.
in Buick Reatta
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Sorry, I just missed your post while writing mine. I'll try your suggestion and see what happens.
Thanks