bobwhite

I bought a accumulator on eBay that is made for the Jaguar. The add said NEW BRAKE ACCUMULATOR REATTA TROFEO Jaguar JLM1907 Delco 25528382 Saab 4002267. It looked like an exact fit, installed easily. I did remove a bracket blocking removal, but I remember doing that when I used the original part years ago. I checked and the is still on eBay. It works fine and came with the "e" ring.

The accumulator arrived in two days from east coast to west coast thanks to the Post Office. I gave the brake pedal about 30 pushes to make sure all pressure was gone. But it still sprayed a little brake fluid as I unscrewed the accumulator. I struggled trying to get the accumulator all the way out until I remembered that it is a lot easier or only possible if the cross brace is removed. It blocks removal, but only two 13mm nuts on each side and it comes off. The rest took just a few minutes. I started the car and after 60 to 90 seconds, the pump stopped. It took seven pushes of the brake pedal to start the pump. The brakes now work like they used to.

My brakes started giving trouble and the ABS symbol on my 1990 Reatta would occasionally come on. Not feeling up to it, I took the car to a brake specialist that I have used for over thirty years. They said it was throwing a code 48, and I would need a "control unit". Turns out the Teves specialist no longer works there. They said they couldn't find any parts at all after much searching. So after spending $180, I took it home. First thing I found was that the accumulator must have a broken bladder as the pump comes on as soon as you press the pedal. My mechanic made no mention of this. Since the car is a daily driver, I couldn't wait for some of the other suppliers to get their stocks replenished, so I bought one for a Jaguar from eBay for $330 including priority mail. It is supposed to be the exact same part that the Reatta uses. I'll report back when I install it.

That's exactly how I set my clock, except for the seconds part. But the clock did not advance. This morning, the clock had advanced. So I set it to the proper time, and it is now working properly. I probably will never know why.

I replaced the two bulbs in the 3rd brake light. What a difference. They were much brighter and they don't get hot. It is true that they come on faster that filament bulbs. I followed my car and I could tell that the 3rd brake light did come on quicker than the lower ones. At 60 MPH, it could mean quite a few feet advance warning for the guy behind you. I used a Part Number: 1156-R45-T lamp that I got from https://www.superbrightleds.com/. I am very impressed. They come in several colors, make sure you get red, the same color of the lens.

My 1990 Reatta came back from my mechanic today. He changed the serpentine belt. I noticed the clock had the wrong time. I assumed he hadn't set it after disconnecting the battery. I set the clock, waited, and it never advanced. I disconnected the battery a few times assuming a reboot would do the trick. It just keeps the last time it was set. My wife thinks it was the mechanics fault, I don't see how it can be. Any ideas?

That did it! But it took about 8 to 10 tries. The fuse box door shows the fuses, but not which one is for the radio. Turns out to be the 10 amp fuse, The only 10 amp fuse in the fuse box on the passenger's side of the tunnel, At least in the 1990 model. Many Thanks

I just got my 1990 Reatta back from having the Throttle Position Sensor replaced. While driving it home I noticed the radio would not turn on and the letters "LOC" appeared on the radio display. The mechanic didn't clear any codes and I can't imagine what he could have done to cause this. I guess it could just be a coincidence. The radio was OK before the repair. Any ideas?

After a few near accidents because the Reatter swerved when appling the brakes, We started flushing the brakes every year to year and a half. That has been over ten years ago, and it hasn't swerved when braking again.

I've lubed the actuators and linkages so I thought I would try the relay. How do you get the kick panel off? Thanks

I'm having trouble with my door locking system. I replaced the solenoid in the driver's side door. That helped, but now both doors are sluggish when locking and unlocking. Looking at the service manual, it looks as if it is clustered with the cables under the driver's seat. I can't see anything like it under the seat. A older post said it was in the kick panel on the drivers side. I need to know where it is located, and how to get at it. I will be grateful for any help I get.

I had BBA repair my IPC back in January of 2013. They did a good job and I got it back in five days. Turnaround time for repair was just 1 day. Considering the price of $99, and the fast and excellent service, I recommend them strongly for IPC repair.

Our instrument cluster had been going dark for a second or two for a few months. It would come back on by itself, or a little slap on the top of the dash over the cluster would bring it back to life. Today it went dark and smoke came out of the vents above the cluster. It was a short trip home. After a few minutes in the garage with the key off, smoke still came out. So I disconnected the battery. I've never had a problem like this, so I would appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed. I am familiar with electronics and have a Fluke Multimeter.

I had the Parking Brake Assembly replaced in my '90 coupe on 5/6/2011. It cost me $756.88. It took them a good part of the day. Even though they are a Buick dealer that had once sold the Reatta, they didn't remember that the dash had to come partially out. I even supplied the part that I got from Finn. The original estimate was about $200 if I remember right. They said they were giving me a break because of the blown estimate. SURE

Solved the problem! Many Thanks. The TEST button still doesn't work, but my main problem is gone. Bob:)

When I started my Reatta today, the clock display no longer shows the time. It displays " Loc ". Everything else seems OK except the TEST button hasn't worked for a few months. I ran the diagnostics and got: no E code, no b code, and no r code. Has anyone had this condition?

The car show is held at Oakmont, a retirement community on Hwy 12, between Santa Rosa and Sonoma. It is about 8 miles from Santa Rosa. It will be on May 28th. About 50 cars are displayed. The show only lasts from about 9:30am until noon. Last year I remember a 1952 MG-TD, one of my old rides, some muscle cars, Packards, and even a Graham. About 5 years ago, there was a Reatta convertible! It is held at the main parking lot, about two blocks from Hwy 12 down Oakmont Drive.

I bought a pair from RockAuto in Feb 2010. They still work like new. I got the cheaper ones made by Sachs and saved $20 for the pair. These are the ones, SACHS Part # SG130013

Well the Reatta is home and I am $756.88 poorer. The price was all labor. I bet they hadn't done that repair before, so I was paying for their learning curve. Reading some of the posts show that it was not as easy as I thought it would be. The original estimate was $300 max. That shows that they had not done that job before. I knew that having a Buick dealer/service sign didn't mean they had worked on a Reatta. In my area the dealers charge well over $100 a hour for labor. My bill did not show a hourly rate, just some code. I did get a "free" loaner, a 2009 G8 Pontiac. I was glad to get the Reatta back:) I regretted losing my regular Reatta repairman, so now I have to try and find one here in wine country. That may be hard, as I haven't seen another Reatta in almost a year. The local annual auto show was glad to have me enter my Reatta. I'm sure they don't know it is a Buick.

My Reatta is at a Buick dealership to have the parking brake assembly along with the front parking brake cable that had broken replaced. I provided the part that I got from Jim as it is NLA. I looked at my manual, and the assembly is held in by three nuts. How hard is this part to replace? I was first quoted a $300 maximum. Now, they say that part of the dashboard has to be removed to do the job. The quote now is $700 and climbing. If this is legitimate, I'll accept it. My manual is not very clear on how hard a job this is. I'm worried that they might not know the Reatta that well even though they say they have a few regulars. If anybody has had to change this part, I would appreciate details. My long time Reatta repairman has moved out of state, so now I have to find a new one. Apparently, this Buick dealer is not the replacement.

I used to run 100 octane avgas in my Citroen SM that had a Maserati 6 cylinder high compression engine. Worked great, but it was back when there was higher lead content in avgas. I had to clean my plugs more often. Unfortunately, it is now against federal law to to use avgas in a automobile. It might have been back then, but I didn't know it.

I used to have an occasional brake problem. It sure caught my attention when I pressed on the pedal and not much happened, or the car swerved. I had to learn to press hard quickly when it happened. It rarely happened more than four or five times a year. About five years ago I had the brake system flushed, and the fluid replaced. I now do it every 12 to 18 months and I haven't had one scare since I started that routine.

A number of years ago I bought a heavy duty battery cable set for the Reatta from CustomBatteryCables.com. Here is a link to the page that has the Reatta set on it. vehicle applications If you buy a set, be sure to specify what battery ends you want on it. I got the non GM type to avoid future problems. They have been great and worth the investment. I noticed the starter motor was a little faster too.

My clock just started losing about 30 minutes a week. Car starts fine, so I think the battery is OK. I did a search and could not find a single similar incidence. Any Ideas?

As a car radio repairman long ago, I found out that poor AM reception can be caused by a bad antenna cable or bad antenna. This first puzzled me because FM reception was OK. It seems that FM goes through a poor connection better than AM does. I also found that some radios had terrible AM reception to begin with. If yours had good AM reception at one time, there probably is something wrong between the radio and the antenna or the antenna itself. I used to have a spare cheap automobile antenna around so I could plug it in to the radio to see if the AM was better, it usually was.