Howard
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Posts posted by Howard
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Never really thought about till now, but my 89 Reatta still had the owner's manual in the car. The information showed it's first owner was a lady. In fact the car had a hospital parking permit sticker on the bumper. The garage the sticker was for was an area designated for nurses. It seems now that all of the members of the forum are men. Go figure.
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I'm speaking just from memory as I have not had my Reatta for several years. On your ashtray, you will note a small hole in the upper side. This is where the light shines through. Place the ashtray in the console and note the position of the hole in the ashtray. Remove the ashtray and at the position near you noted for the ashtray hole, there is a small square opening. The lamp unit snaps in the back of the square opening. As pointed out, it is somewhat difficult to get to because, at least on my car, there is not enough wire to attach the light unit to the square opening with the console out of the car. The console must be fully assembled to attach the light. Hope this helped.
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Perhaps, this link may help:
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Here is a quick test you can try. Jump the wires on the pressure switch. If the motor starts right up, then the switch is bad even though you replaced it. If the motor does not start and you much still hit it to get it to start up, then the motor unit is bad. I know there were vendors offering rebuilt Teves brake units. That was sometime ago, so I don't know if any are still offered. If I recall correctly, the rebuilt units were selling for around $600.00. I've not owned a Reatta for several years, so I don't keep up with things as much as I used to do.
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When I had my Reatta, my car did just what you describe. I was driving 70 MPH, the engine just shut off as if someone turned of the key. Like yours, would not restart. My problem was the Crank Sensor mounted behind the harmonic balancer. I think Mc_Reatta is on the right track.
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My concern here would not be the part, but how it was paid for. Have you checked to make sure your credit card and/or PayPal account has not been compromised? The fact your correct name and address are listed makes me wonder how someone got that information!
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Philip, good to see you are back. I no longer have my Reatta, but I visit here from time to time. I've noticed on my visits, that you stopped posting. I wondered what had happened. I'm sorry to hear about your family issues, but you sound as if you are handling everything well. Anyway, I bet in no time, you will have your Reatta up and running. Good Luck to you.
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I'm going to go with lugnut
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I rebuilt my deck some years ago. If you are handy and very patient you can do the belt replacement repair yourself. Just follow the directions you have already been directed to. The cassette unit is built in, well layers. Each layer must be removed to get to the next. I think I took about three and half hours to fix mine. That includes the time to remove the unit from the car. Good luck.
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Don't forget, Kevin is the driver so lively and quick. Kevin, that made my day. Merry Christmas again to you and everybody here on the forum.
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Happy Holidays to you Angelo and a Merry Christmas to all you guys out there in Reatta Land. Be safe and have a fantastic 2012!!!
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I was impressed with the Reatta when the car first appeared. Since I'm a "gadget" guy, the CRT on the dash held the most appeal for me. When I first saw and sat in a new Reatta, I was employed at a Ford Lincoln Mercury dealership next door to the Buick store. The car was out of my pocketbook at the time, plus buying a car from a competitor would have not set well with my employer. Fast forward nine years. I was a comptroller for a trucking company in 1998, but I worked part time every other evening for a used car lot doing all their accounting work. One evening I drove up and there was a silver 89 Reatta. The car had just turned 80,000 miles. The owner of the used car lot had bought the car for himself to keep for a while. However, he told me if I wanted the car he would sell it to me for what he paid for it. I did the deed. Since I did the accounting at the lot, I know just what he paid for the car, so I know I was not being screwed. In looking at the title, I saw the car had not had an owner for over a year. The car was bounced around from used car lot to used car lot, five to be exact, in the last year. The reason I knew. Cars older than 5 years have had to get financed. The carry your own note places don't want to deal with a car they have over $6000 into. I owned the car for almost ten years. The engine developed some major issues and to add insult to injury, someone ran into the car while parked at the service place. The car was toast. I did have the car fully insured, and oddly, the insurance company did not total the car. I took the insurance money and then sold the car to fellow forum member. He said he had all the parts to fix it, plus a motor. I told him if he ever sold the car to give me right of first refusal. That was in 2008. I've never heard from him again, and I don't see him appear in the forum any longer. Out of the many cars I owned, the Reatta was my favorite. I thought someday I might get another one, or perhaps a Cadillac Allante. However, in these poor economic times, it would be prudent to hold on to my money. Will I own another one someday, who knows? I know the car is a memory I will always enjoy. Even though it cost me much money over the years of ownership. The dollar amount would have been much more if it had not been for the kind people of this forum helping solve my own problems and doing my own repairs. To this day, I think this best group of cars guys out in cyberland!
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When I was a little kid, the adults always told me that when I get older, time will move faster. You know, they were right! It seems like we just had Thanksgiving! As I have done for a number of years, let me be the first to wish everybody on the forum a Happy Thanksgiving. While I have not owned a Reatta since 2008, I still check in from time to time. It's good to see old names, but it is good to see new ones as well. Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving.
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Regarding pushbutton transmission controls, the 1957 Mercury had a pod to the left of the steering wheel.
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I've been a member here for many years. I do recall a post, perhaps from the 2000-01 time, where someone did indeed get the Riviera phone to work in their Reatta. This was a time before digital of course. I also seem the recall, Barney may be able to confirm, that one Reatta was factory fitted with the Riviera phone. The Riviera also had a compass feature that the Reatta did not have. A few members have found the compass module from wrecked Rivieras and have gotten the compass to work on their Reattas. In fact I think there was very recently a thread about this very subject.
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Glad to know my advice is still being used after all these years. It never occurred to me about the possibility of a fire. I used the WD 40 on the headlight switch for a different reason other than the one stated. I was having an issue the panel lights and CRT dimming when the lights were on. I applied the WD40 once and never had an issue with the switch for the next 9.5 years. As far as the Salvage Title, I vote for flood. The insurance totaled the car out for some reason. Flood, fire, or accident. If you cannot find any body repair, then flood is the only logical explanation. Of course, these cars are getting older, and it is possible that something very minor happened to the car and the insurance company simply totaled the car rather than fixing it.
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Hey Dave! Just happen to stop into the forum today and saw your post. I'm glad my tip from years ago is still of some value. While I don't have my Reatta anymore, I do stop in from time to time to see what is happening in the crazy land that we call Reatta.
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I don't think you have a problem at all. The touch screen does have a feature where you can display each warning to show you what it looks like. I think that is what you have done. If there is a problem with the car, the problem will show up on the screen without you have to do anything. For instance, if your passenger door is ajar, the screen will tell you that without having to do anything. Again, if your fuel in low, the screen will come on automatically and display a low fuel message when the fuel is low. You don't have to do anything. It's been three years since I had my car, but if I remember correctly, pressing the "status" key brings up items. If you press on those items then the warning for that item is displayed. I think that is what you are doing, is that correct? See Dave's and Harry's post above.
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Talk about an old post! I commented originally that I would drive mine until it went to that showroom in the sky. It did a little over three years ago. Out of all the cars I've owned, it was by far my favorite. A money pit, but still my favorite. One of the most enjoyable aspects of owning the car were the people on this forum. Everyone was very helpful and respectful. I'm not sure that I will ever own another Reatta. They are getting older as is I. Some parts are now harder to come by than they were when I got my car in 1998. In my case, the Reatta was like my first love. You enjoyed being with her everyday. Then the time came when she left you. All you now have left are fond memories. There are many women (oh wait, I mean cars) but none like your first love. First loves are always special. They are part of you always.
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I have been a member on this site longer than most. I, for one, applaud your information you provide. While I don't visit here very much any more, from time to time I do check in to see what it happening in the world of Reatta. Over the years, I have never found your signature offensive. As others have said, you provide a great service to Reatta owners. Don't change a thing! I don't consider any of your links to be "spam". Just do what you have been doing. I think the majority of forum members appreciate your effort.
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Good Luck to you. I've not had my Reatta now for almost 3 years, but I still stop by this site from time to time. I bet you will too.
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Have to say, the stripes look great:D
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Tom is correct. If the R12 or 134A gets too low, the compressor will turn off. The only way it will turn on again is to reset the codes. My 89's Low Refrigerant warning would come on anytime it was below 60 degrees. Oddly, if the temp. dropped below 35, the warning never appeared. Go figure. I had the refrigerant checked several times, it the readings were within specs.
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The long forgotten FoMoCo twins, the Ford EXP and Mercury LN7 can be mentioned here. These cars were built on the Escort/Lynx platform and were two seaters. They first appeared in the 1982 model year. I had a LN7 as a demo when I worked for a Lincoln/Mercury dealership. Looking back it was a pretty bad car. No performance, rattles, a great deal of road noise. The only plus, it got pretty good gas mileage for the period. I only had it a few weeks because it was thankfully sold. Also don't forget the 2002-05 Thunderbird.
Natural Gas swich over
in Buick Reatta
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As with any alternative fuels there are trade-offs. Many years ago I had the pleasure of speaking to a Ford Motor Company engineer at a new car introduction meeting when I worked for the dealership. He stated the NG is a very clean fuel and in huge supply in the US (this was many years ago, and I think the supply question is still the same). Engines can run on NG with very little changes. He stated mainly compression ratio and fuel delivery system. Beyond that, that's about it. There are however two trade offs. First, the NG itself, has a much lower BTU rating than gasoline. As such, the engine's performance is nothing in line with the same engine running on gasoline. Secondly, due to problem one, the fuel economy is much lower and much more NG must be stored on board to have any sort of range. The tanks weight a lot which does not help with the mileage issue. The size of the tanks cause packaging problems. There are safety issues as well. The tanks must be placed in the chassis in such a way to minimize damage in a collision. This conversation happened many years ago, but the I think the problems he stated are still valid today. Frankly, I would think that NG car would make more sense than an electric car. Not much would have to change in the IC engine. NG is cheap and plentiful and in the USA, no need to import. NG service is already in many homes. It is a clean fuel, not only for the car but for the environment. It seems like a no brainer. Maybe I'm missing something. Going to your question, I would think you could convert your Reatta in NG. The issue is going to be the placement of the tanks and the weight of those said tanks. Because of the limited space, your range will be nothing like you have with gasoline power.