Jim

I have never replaced the sunroof cables myself so cannot be of much help there but I do have several Reatta parts cars and do have a good working IPC and the latch for the gas door. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com Please include your zip code for shipping costs. After posting this message I looked on Ebay and see you are the high bidder on one there. My normal price is less than your current bid.

The BCM ( body control module)is located behind the glove box and mounted horizontally. The ECM ( engine control module )is mounted below the glove box and is mounted vertically. From the your description you may have a bad connection or a bad ground but I am guessing not a bad ECM or BCM. Check your connectors and also check the two ground connection points on the body near the battery. The may look good but make sure they are and are tight. Also make sure your battery cables on the battery are clean and tight. To remove the connectors on the BCM or ECM simply have the ignition key off. I have several Reatta parts cars and have parts if you need them. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

There is a difference between the '88-89 covers and the '90-91s. From one of your other posts you were interested in some of Barney's visor clips so I am assuming you have a '90. I do have an armrest in grey for a '90. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

The mouldings on the door and rear panel are just snap on with the door moulding having a nut on the inside at each end. The moulding on the front fender is bolted on and you have to remove the inner fender to get at the nut. I have all the side mouldings in red but the problem you will have is finding good rub strips for the front and rear bumpers and finding them in good condition. I would suggest simply painting your mouldings. You would have to buy a pint of the exact matching color paint and then spray them yourself or have a body shop do it. You could remove the door and rear 1/4 moulding and remove the Reatta script and the chrome strips and then paint the rub strips and the front fender mouldings on the car and the side mouldings off.

I would guess it is the headlight control module also and I have a good one available. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

There was another post about this subject on the discussion site this morning but for some reason has been removed. For those who did see it and might have felt left out let me explain. The original intention was for it to be a local event for Michigan Reatta owners wether or not they belonged to the Reatta division. The event was limited to 22 cars and was never nationally publicized because of the limit on the cars and April and Ron never imagined kooks like me would even consider driving any distance for a couple of laps around a race track. Being friends with the Gills I heard about it last winter and asked to be invited. Two others from outside of Michigan, friends of mine, also asked to be invited and we actually had to wait a bit to see if there would be openings. There were a total of 4 out of state cars there. Talking to April about 3 weeks ago she mentioned she had a spot open and if I knew anyone who might want to be included. I, like her, thought that no one would want to come from very far away but I suggested she contact Randy as he is very enthusiastic about promoting Reattas and the Reatta division. I had a terrific experience and I suggest anyone interested in driving around a Nascar track should contact the Gills. I would also suggest if you do want to go, post it here, and that will bring this post to the top again for others to see and maybe want to participate.

I just received an email from Ron and April Gill telling me there will be another chance for Reatta owners to drive their cars around the Michigan International Speedway on August 11th this year. Last weekend many of us had the privilege of making 5-6 laps around the track at up to a maximum speed of 70 MPH and anyone who did not get to do so will get the opportunity this August. It will be limited to 22 cars and 4 spots are already taken leaving 18. Those of us who were there this weekend are not eligible for the second trip. This is not a BCA or Reatta division event, as was the last one, but open to anyone owning a Reatta. If you want to get on the list no matter if you are in Michigan, Seattle or Miami, send an email to April and Ron at WWDHMS@aol.com

You simply have to pull and wiggle the panel. Be sure an pull both pieces as the black part has tabs that go through the chrome edging/backing and are melted over holding the two pieces semi-permanently. Sometimes I also have trouble in that area and you can slip a screw driver between the dash and the trip plate to put a little outward pressure while you are wiggling the panel trying to get the push in tabs on the back of the trim panel to release from the dash.

Neither my '89 or '90 manuals list an E017 code and am wondering if you got it by counting the flashes of the service enging light. The best way to get the codes on a '90 or '91 is as follows------- Turn on the key and on your ECC ( climate control module ) push the "off" and temperature up ( up arrow ) at the same time and hold them until the car goes into the diagnostic mode. You will see all of the lights on the IPC light up and the trouble codes will then be read out where the mileage usually is. Write down the codes as they go by. They go by pretty fast so write them down quickly and watch for the next. First you will get the engine codes eg. Exxx, then you will get the body codes eg. Bxxx then some IPC codes eg. Rxxx and maybe an SIR code. If any code has an "h" after it that means it is a code in history and not current. No "h" means it is a current code. After all the codes have displayed you will get a Ec? this means do you want to diagnose the engine computer. Pressing the Fan down arrow you will be telling the computer no, the fan up arrow means yes. If you did get any Ec codes and you want to clear them, when you get the Ec? push yes and then it will ask you questions, keep pushing no until it asks if you want to clear the E codes then push yes. If you have no E codes and/or want to go to the B codes when it asks you Ec? push the fan down button for no and it will then ask you Bc, and you can push yes. It will then ask you questions and you continue pushing no until it ask CLR b code and you push the up fan for yes. You cannot hurt anything or screw up anything by doing this and if you make a mistake simply turn off the key and start over or push the bi-level button next to the fan switch.

The IPC is the most common part to go bad in the '90-91 Reattas and sometimes they do go up in smoke. That just happened to my brother in law about a month ago. Lots of smoke came from that area so he took his IPC out took it apart and couldn't see anything wrong so he proceeded to tear the whole dash out of his car looking for the burn. Had he called me first I could have saved him a lot of effort. When he did call me I went over to his house and at the time we couldn't put a good IPC into his car because the dash was still out but we put his IPC in my car and it did not light up and then after about a minute smoke came rolling from the IPC. A week later he got his car all back together with an IPC I gave him and now everything is back to normal. I have several Reatta parts cars and have a good IPC available. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com About 2 hours from now 25 of us Reatta owners will be making a two lap trip around the Michigan International Speedway.

Anything for our heros. I am currently the assistant director of the Reatta division but am being deposed by my friend George Madsen in the upcoming election and he will be taking over my duties. I will make sure we get pictures to you. Thanks for all you are doing for us. Jim

I agree, if you are getting 21 pounds the filter might be plugged. From my experience if you have no pressure then the pump is bad. In section 6E3-A-19 of my '89 shop manual it says pressure at the rail should be 40-47 PSI. I have had Reattas with as high as 37 PSI and they ran poorly. I see this is my 1000th post and had hoped to use it for something more fun like to criticize the yellow and green of Lameboys field and then loose customers because of their fanaticism but I guess this will have to do. I have a long way to go to catch Padgett with 5672. His advice and all the others is much appreciated.

I see you have Washington plates on the car. The Buick Club of America normally holds their National meets centrally located but this year the national meet is in Seattle July 25-28. Maybe we will see you there. Looks like a very nice car.

The car is in Novi MI. Maybe2fast lives in Novi MI. I will send him an email and he can maybe tell us about the car.

John, I have a good computer for your '91 and I sent you an email. The ECM is located under the glove box and is mounted vertically next to the heater programmer. You will need to remove the glove box and the panel under the glove box to get at it. It is silver and has three large connectors on it. Jim

1. It is HIGHLY recommended that all the fluid in the whole system be changed with new fluid to eliminate any built up moisture in the system. 2. Any time the brake hydraulic system is to be opened the brake pedal should be pumped 25 times with the key off to bleed off the 2600 pounds of pressure in the accumulator. 3. Siphon out as much of the old fluid as possible from the reservoir and refill with clean fluid to the top. Another good way is to cut the rubber hose that comes from the reservoir right where it attaches to the ABS pump and let all the fluid in the reservoir run out. Then remove the piece of hose still attached to the pump and reinstall the rubber hose. It is long enough to do this. I like to cut it rather than try and remove it because the hose sticks really hard to the plastic fitting and you might break the fitting trying to take the hose off. Doing it this way you get all the fluid out of the reservoir before putting in new clean fluid. 4. When doing the rear wheels only let out about a half of a cup and then refill the reservoir. This is to make sure you don't take out too much and get air into the system. 5. To bleed the front brakes have the key off and bleed in a conventional method. Have someone pump the pedal a few times and hold it down while the other person opens the front bleeders. 6. To bleed the rear brakes A. Turn on the key and allow the system to pressurize B. Have an assistant slightly depress the pedal and hold it. C. Open each rear bleeder, one at a time, and hold open until clear fluid comes out. (The pump and motor will do the bleeding) When you are done there are high and low marks on the reservoir and after the system pump and motor has run and the lights are out the level should be at the low mark. When you have pumped the brakes with the key off 25 times the level will be at the high mark.

I was talking to a person who wants to buy a Reatta convertible and one of them he tried had a pretty bad shake at about 30 MPH. I have had several convertibles and have not noticed much shake on any of them but when I did experience it on one of mine it was at about 50 MPH on a good road. My question is, when and at what speed does the cowl shake manifest itself in the convertibles?

I have some good windshields and could maybe deliver one to Chicago on June 1. I will send you an email and I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

I have a convertible top assembly that I have been parting out. I know the adjustment rods on both sides are gone but I may have the part you need. Can you give me a better description of the piece or maybe a picture? I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

Go down in the spare tire compartment and on the passenger side lift up the insulation and you will see the service parts label. On the bottom is the color code. Yes all red Reattas were the same color red. The normal temp is 195. If you are running hotter you should change your thermostat. There is one bolt that holds it in place. Make sure your fans are also running when it gets warm.

On your door panel you have the long 3X20? inch trim piece. There are two of those pieces that snap onto the trim piece to hold it to the panel. One above and one below the door strap pull area.

Have you cleared the codes? Turn on the key and on your ECC ( climate control module ) push the "off" and temperature up ( up arrow ) at the same time and hold them until the car goes into the diagnostic mode. You will see all of the lights on the IPC light up and the trouble codes will then be read out where the mileage usually is. Write down the codes as they go by. They go by pretty fast so write them down quickly and watch for the next. First you will get the engine codes eg. Exxx, then you will get the body codes eg. Bxxx then some IPC codes eg. Rxxx and maybe an SIR code. If any code has an "h" after it that means it is a code in history and not current. No "h" means it is a current code. After all the codes have displayed you will get a Ec? this means do you want to diagnose the engine computer. Pressing the Fan down arrow you will be telling the computer no, the fan up arrow means yes. If you did get any Ec codes and you want to clear them, when you get the Ec? push yes and then it will ask you questions, keep pushing no until it asks if you want to clear the E codes then push yes. If you have no E codes and/or want to go to the B codes when it asks you Ec? push the fan down button for no and it will then ask you Bc, and you can push yes. It will then ask you questions and you continue pushing no until it ask CLR b code and you push the up fan for yes. You cannot hurt anything or screw up anything by doing this and if you make a mistake simply turn off the key and start over or push the bi-level button next to the fan switch.

It looks like a pretty nice car. Some of the things I noticed were the Riviera wood grain dash panels and the missing cover on top of the engine. The drivers seat appears to have a wear spot on it but the drivers side door panel looks above average. ( sometimes it gets frustrating when I spend a lot of time taking pictures and writing discriptions of parts and then never hear back ) Another thing I noticed is the front has been bumped. The gaps below the hood and headlight are not correct and you can see a gap on the end of the bumper on the right side. These gaps are from the bumper being bumped. By taking the bumper loose and pushing it up in the slots on the bumper supports and inserting the correct shims, these gaps should be able to be corrected. The mirrors also have been painted red. I think it looks good. The trunk lock is missing and a cover put in place. I wonder if the whole car has been painted as the RH door handle seems to be a different color. Cracked RH red reflector and paint bad on filler panel. Black speaker covers. Cover is missing on top of cowl under hood. A plus----it has the luggage straps in the trunk. All of the things I see are minor, looks like a pretty nice car for the money and mileage.

You need to remove the whole knee bolster panel. The Panel below the steering column and it goes over and fits around the CD. Remove the trim around the IPC/radio/ecc and that will expose the top screws. Under the dash under the steering column you will see the screws for the bottom of that panel.

Send an email to Toni Hunt thunt19@aol.com He jsut moved from Vero Beach where he lived for many years. He probably knows of a good mechanic in that area which is not too far from you. I probably have any part you might need and shipping is pretty cheap. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com