VA Randy

Found some flawless, soft tan seats from a pick-it place in Oregon and installed them today in my '91. Mine weren't totally trashed, but had some wear and tears. New ones are 16 way instead of the 6 way that were installed, I see from forum search that passenger doesn't have the control pod that the drivers does, but can you adjust "recline" some way? 6 way had the typical handle for it. Attaching picture of the old ones, not totally horrible (not pretty either), will give to anyone that might want them (I'm in Chesapeake, VA). Didn't take picture of the replacements, too many shadows now that they're installed, but they're perfect. One last item needed for interior - anyone have a nice tan steering wheel for a '91 to part with? Thanks, Randy

I appreciate that info, Dave. Need to fix my carpet "pink-out". Need a decent pair of tan seats if anyone sees some.....Randy

Thanks Ronnie, I will take a look....

On the linked page I saw where last year Barney said: "There was a running change in 1990 that added a relay before the HI-LOW relay. This takes the load off the headlight switch. This new relay was added to the headlight wiring harness and is located in the front of the console and taped to the cable bundle (drivers side)" Does this mean that my '91 should also have this new relay? Don't see it in the FSM headlight diagram ('91, page 8A-4-1). Only looking to install SilverStars, but see that they are 55 watt vs 35 watt originals and surely don't want to toast my headlight switch. So can I just plug and play some new SilverStars? Thanks, Randy

We all kinda knew what I'd find, didn't we..... Now, is this thing pressed on? Tried a light pry with no movement, guess I'll pull the defrost section out and get a closer look. I'd like to take you up on your offer if I could, will send message.

If you're a magician, haha. Spent 4-6 hours today, almost there, looks like just need to lower the steering console and a few bolts. Speaking of which, I'm thinking the dash should be clear once the column is lowered some (onto a box or something), no need to remove entirely? Took out the drivers seat to make some room also, helped out a lot with moving around inside the car. Saw the dash pad tool info and made something quite similar. The narrow vent piece had to be one of the toughest trim pieces I've ever removed. May need a lever, should know soon when I get the dash off, had enough aggravation for the day and stopping where I'm at for now. May be the weekend before I get back to it. Thanks for the support and advice guys! Like I tell my crew at work, "Failure is not an option".

Not me. Hoping it's as simple as this. Only 2 hours would be awesome, but we all know how it goes sometimes,,,, Thanks guys for your thoughts, will update when I get in there.

Lots of discussion over the years about this, spent a couple hours reading and making notes. Have decent vacuum (16 psi) at the programmer, and all 4 colored vac lines hold vacuum when pumped up with the MightyVac, but no change in airflow from defrost. Seems like it's probably a mechanical issue. Saw pictures posted of the "flapper" door up high that may be the culprit, read that you could push a dowel through the center vent to move it, but that was probably on earlier years where there was a center vent. Looking at dash pictures, my '91 has a different layout, no vent at center, looks like it was moved to the right by 6-8 inches, so explains why I can't probe with a stick? Looks like it's time to start stripping parts out of the dash for a better look. Got the holiday off tomorrow, so maybe can get somewhere with it. Any advice would be welcomed. Also, saw pictures of a vacuum reservoir by drivers wheel well, and near the cruise control, this is also where my service manual shows it. After tracing lines, I found mine to be tucked away in front of the passenger wheel. Looks factory - tees off from near the AC line through firewall, short piece of rubber to hard plastic line that runs down passenger side, then back to rubber and under to reservoir. After doing the vacuum tests on colored lines, thought a great troubleshooting tool for programmer issues would be an extra set of 6 inch lines with the programmer fitting on it, could then read vacuum while connected on each color to check if all internal solenoids were functional....

Told a friend about my issue and this is what he said also.... told me his story. He was driving (a non-Reatta) with a new modulator in hand to a friend's house that had a lift and got a ticket for smoking so badly, only a couple blocks from his destination. The cop insisted on writing a ticket, but ended up getting an ass-chewing and ticket was dropped - turns out my friend's mother was dating the local District Attorney, ha. Have driven only about 20 miles now, but no smoke at all, not even a wisp. Oil and fill cap show no "milk" - good sign. Next step is a compression test, but currently working on "defrost only" problem in the garage, want to drive it more, but damn it's hot here, want some A/C in my face.

Saw this at Rock prior to buying my '91 a couple weeks ago. The listing for the '91 (only) also has a digital version on disc for $ 22 !! Ordered it.

Totally baffled now.....my son came over a couple days ago and I started the car to show him the smoking issue and....not a puff to be seen?? Drove 5-6 miles that evening to my workplace and back, no smoke to be seen, even when revved up. Last night took another trip for 6-8 miles, then back home, still no smoke. I've worked on my own vehicles since I started driving in '74, have totally rebuilt 6-8 engines over the years, and consider myself a pretty damn good mechanic, but have no idea how this could be. When I said "good sized clouds" in my original post, I meant it, filled my side yard with white smoke that first day. Have never seen anything like this. At the same time, relieved that I seem to be good for the moment, had a minor accident 10 days ago and took off the fingertip of my right hand ring finger (caught in the lid of a "gangbox" at jobsite), missed the nail and bone, but the whole tip pad is gone. Hand doctor told me today that all looks good and estimates another 6-8 weeks of healing, so auto repair is out of the question for a while. Randy

Greetings, new owner of a '91 coupe here in Chesapeake, Virginia. A little backstory - have only seen a few Reattas in my time, thought they were beautiful cars. Was watching Young Sheldon a couple months ago and saw the one in the background drive by, noticed the full light bar across the back. Backed up the DVR for a better look, told the wife there was a Reatta on the TV. (She was not excited.) Started looking for one, found a red '91 in good condition a couple hundred miles away and picked it up last week. 112K miles, drives nicely and seems in good shape overall, (with the exception of defrost only, will get to that soon, and needs new paint because of clearcoat peeling on roof and trunk), made the trip home with no issues. Was puttering around with it yesterday, and when I started it, noticed some white smoke from tailpipe. Rev'd it and it blew some good sized clouds out. Took a short drive and after returning to yard, was still smoking, but a good bit less. Did some online research and believe it has a Series 1, L27 motor. Saw that these can have an intake coolant leak that causes white smoke also, and that head gasket failures are rare unless engine is severely overheated. Has anyone had the symptoms that I'm seeing, and did new intake gaskets fix the issue? Overall, quite happy with this car, makes me smile to drive it and see it in the yard (My son says I like it because it's an oversized LeBaron, I have an '89 premium coupe that I've owned since '95 with full digital dash package and 2.5 turbo under hood. He's correct, they do have similar body styles.) Randy