ChrisWhewell

Yep. two out of the three mounting loops on mine were snapped off. I used JB weld but first, obtained appropriately-sized small metal washers from local hdwe store. And a torch and pliers. I heated each washer to redness, then while they were hot, pressed them into a correct position into the ABS plastic. It melted the plastic around where it contacted, which then re-solidified. Then, I put the JB on the next day. The biggest battle is pulling the gimbal, just grab the pieces correctly and give a good pull, keep the bulk of the force applied to the center of the mirror and it will pop out. Going back in, I coated the ball with vaseline and it went in pretty easily. good luck

It was 50 year old technology, Offy's had 4 valves per cylinder, overhead cams, in 1934: http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2014/02/1934-offenhauser-engine-rebuild-overview/ So, I was pleased to have had the pleasure of diddling with a modern rendition of old tech. Once you've got 4 valves per cylinder and have tuned the port volume, there isn't much left, except cam timing events, and fueling. i.e., its not rocket science !! Published HP numbers are also subject to a little fudging, recall the Ford 428CJ. At any rate, I still think the GM 3.4L DOHC is a great motor with more potential than a lot of folk appreciate One weak point is the oil plug where the distributor hole was cast into the block, when, and not if, it leaks, the rear head must be pulled. However, there's an alternate fix, if you ever need it, holler at me.

Note , in the article he wrote 281 HP @ 7000 rpm. That is one Bad-A, naturally-aspriated motor. Only 3.4 Liters !! Ours was in a Cutlass I got my son after he graduated, only $1500 b/c the owner's mechanics all cried about how crappy the motor was, when in reality, they were just ignorant The problem when we got it was, it wouldn't start. I traced it to the ignition module, spent $50, and the kid had a car that he drove 4 years while he banked a shitload of cash. He loved revving that thing, I swear I saw the tach read 7500 once. The 2nd-3rd clutche wore out, we sold it for $500 a couple months ago. I wish I had more time to play with that 3.4. Its like, probably 95% volumetric efficiency !!

Hey, here's some good info for you, the dude is pretty knowldegeable: http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/34Performance/dohc.html and here is the EASY belt change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3fzI_ODZFI

Yeah, I'd go with changing the clutch only, leave the remainder intact. I put a new accumulator in mine last summer, I believe it also contains dessicant. I lost my charge 2 days later, fixed it by tightening the big connection on the accumulator almost to the point of it being too tight, but that solved the leak. I'm a big fan of adding a can of freon that has the yellow dye in it when charging the system, so in the future if there's ever a leak you can find it pretty easily with a uv light. good luck

impact chisel directed towards one side of it would turn it out probably in 2 sec. , and if the hole is only 3/4" deep, might not be a problem, then just pry out with screwdriver once loose ? Just thinking off the top of my head.

No, left the battery in its stock location, beneath the airbox. I don't have the fuel maps or timing spec., but am 100% certain that when that engine was spec'd at the factory for emissions, that the HP output was 270. The issue was that the team at Hydramatic could not deliver a transmission that could hold up to the Tq, so the engine was detuned by altering cam timing, I am 95% certain that the number was 8 degrees. And a commensurate mod of the fueling. I'd look to the specs for the high-output Quad-4 motor and match those timing events. The belt is a pretty easy change, just mark its position on the sprockets with some white out, changing the belt takes less than an hour that way. But the belts do stretch so after 20k miles one of the cams is off more than the other. When we had to change the alternator, the little 10mm wrench welded to a socket extension made the job really easy, pic below

can you weld a short bolt to the middle of the da*n thing ?

Those 3.4's are one of the best engines put out of GM. Forged internals. Most mechanics hated them. Essentially, the same Tq and power output as an L67, if cam timing is put to where it should be and fuel maps done right. Ign module is adjacent to exhaust manifold, I moved mine to be under the washer reservoir

Yes, I had swapped to the three separate coils and modern ignition module. Sorry for the unclarity.

I didn't switch the proms, just the whole ECM. I read the code for the prom on the old ECM in the past, and also for the new one after installation of the replacement ECM, and they were the same number. I got it I think it was code 99 in the data retrieval from diagnostics, they were both the 8064 number, the non-California version. It just idles rougher and doesn't have the pep I perceived it did with the other one. No problems starting or with any stalling, etc. Just seems wimpier. Thanks for the replies

Some of you might recall I had an intermittent rpm gauge failure on my 90 that affected the AC functioning. To remedy it, I did an ECM swap and the display problem went away, hurray. But, I don't know if its me or if its even true, but I sense the car seems to have less pickup after the ECM swap. Am I crazy for thinking this, i.e., is there any rational basis for why an ECM swap might make the car perform worse ? The ECM I swapped was from another 90 model. I swear it made the car perform worse, but I don't know why that might be the case.... any thoughts appreciated, thank you.

When a GM car stumbles under load, I always check first for high resistance in the secondary ignition circuit(s), coil(s), wires, plugs. I converted my 90 over to the three-coil system, if I ever get a stumble, first thing I'll do is coil swaps just cuz its easy. You might work in the dark with one of the spark indicators in the link below, rev the motor and look for irregularities in the spark rhythm, and get lucky to locate a problem. If you go that route, be careful of rotating assemblies in the dark, they can f- you up, I do it bare-chested. That Lisle tool is available at most auto stores for a few bucks. Good luck

I just ran up to the store and back, that trunk latch solenoid was going off repeatedly, while the vehicle was in drive and traveling down the road, as if it is possessed. Knowing morse code, I can state with full confidence that if it is space aliens trying to communicate with us, their message was un-discernable.

Thanks, I bet that's it the troublemaker. If its not too hard to get to, I'll pull the one out of my parts car and do a swap

The gremlins have returned !! Today I heard my trunk solenoid spontaneously sporadically clicking, as if the devil herself was fingering my trunk button. I started the car and the trunk popped open, the door locks went through a lock // unlock cycle by themselves. The yellow ABS light came on and burned constantly. Got to the store, went in, came out and started the car. No more trunk solenoid opening the trunk on startup by itself or door lock cycling, and the ABS yellow light stayed off the entire trip back. Recently I'd swapped out the ECM much to my delight as I now have full functions and no codes. I remember when I'd initially described the intermittent rpm gauge / temp gauge displays' simultaneous narcolepsy, some suggested it was a bad IPC and I was reluctant to accept that and fortunately , and by some luck, I was correct. So, now, I need to find perhaps a common denominator between the ABS light, and the thingy that controls the door locks and trunk solenoid. I'm thinking BCM at this moment but admit I'm still 51% ignorant. Hey, when I press the FOB on my keys and it sends an RF signal to the car to unlock the trunk, in which module is the radio receiver embedded ?? Is it the BCM that operates on that signal ?? Vielen Danke

You're right, it is the braided stuff, it looks like it could probably carry 30 amps if it had to !!

My trunk latch solenoid was fried when I got the car, so I got a replacement one and put it on but it didn't work, until I ground some of the paint off the trunk where the solenoid bolts attach it, then it worked fine.

Now that I've fixed the antenna on my 90 Reatta, I looked into the one on the 98 Riviera, photo below. I noticed there's a ground strap from the frame of the car to the tube the antenna resides in, and also noticed it was not present on the 90. Given that GM theoretically didn't put anything un-necessary in production vehicles out of cost considerations, I'm wondering the benefit of having the ground strap present, and whether I should add one to the antenna on my 90, any thoughts on that ? Thanks !!

Me neither. When I tore down the 289 in my 63 Galaxie I observed the timing gear was all steel. I found a local donor motor for some parts, it was a 289 from 1968 and had a nylon timing gear. Like, WTF ?? Doesn't Cloyes make a double roller for the LN3 ? I guess not

Could be, I know mine was - on the back of mine is a plate with the original Dealer's name on it, from a place in New Jersey. But, there isn't a spot of corrosion anywhere on mine, the undercarriage, engine compartment, etc. all look showroom new. I wish I could get that dealer name plate off. Well, the plate is off, I have a strip of foam adhered to the body beneath the trunk lid. I'm hoping the sun's uv rays will deteriorate it with time.

Once in a while, I just look. This one has sunroof, 16 way seats and CD player, I think that's all the options. Maybe ads like this show the market value. But, maybe its really worth a little more, I don't know. BTW, its not my car, I'd never abuse the forums like that http://austin.craigslist.org/ctd/5837635224.html

Is the cover on the ALDL connector under the driver's knee bolster ? There are two metal tabs in that cover that complete the circuit for the communication bus between all the modules in the event of a failure elsewhere. Since that feature is fairly unique to 90 Reatta, most mechanics probably arent aware of it.

Woo hoo, my cruise control works. Not that I'll use it much, but just knowing it works is good enough for me. Man o man, I sure did a lot on this car, list above. But no codes now and everything works. I need to find someone to do the headiner, then get the rear struts changed out, and I think I'm done. Oh, fuel filter is in order, I can hardly wait to take a gasoline shower.

Thanks for that, sir. Very interesting. I've read also about voltage spike absorbers, maybe the answer is to just put one of those on the alternator output. There's definitely some aspect that makes the electronics prone to earlier failure, all I can think of is voltage spikes at the alternator output, or static build up.