bobwhite

We have developed a hum that starts when the motor is running in our 90 Reatta. I checked under the hood and it is not coming from there. I checked to make sure the brake pump only came on if the brake pedal was pushed a few times. I listened in the trunk and under the car, no noise, only in the interior can it be heard. I took it to a Buick dealer and they had it for two days. They said it hummed all the time they had it, but where unable to locate the source. They suggested we change the fuel pump and gas tank because there is a old dent in the tank, but if that wasn't it, too bad. The radio is turned off as is all the other accessories. Any ideas? <p>[This message has been edited by bobwhite (edited 01-31-2001).]

As the owner of a Reatta and a Citroen CX I can vouch that the brakes on my Citroen are about the best I have ever encountered. They are not ABS, but the stopping distance is so short that I always look in the rear view mirror to avoid getting rear ended. My wife, the main driver of our Reatta has asked if we could put Citroen brakes on it.

You can get a master battery disconnect switch that will make it easy to shut off the battery. I can't remember where I got mine, but I saw one at <A HREF="http://www.texas-t-parts.com/electrical.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.texas-t-parts.com/electrical.htm</A> make sure they have the GM battery adapter to go with it. One problem is the computer has to learn proper settings again, but if it runs OK on startup, there shouldn't be a problem.<p>[This message has been edited by bobwhite (edited 01-29-2001).]

I was wondering if there is a list of service shops who understand Reattas? My two local Buick dealers don't have much familiarity with the Reatta. I would be willing to drive a longer distance if I could get someone who knows the car and its problems. Maybe we could start a list of good Reatta repair shops?

Just posted a incident with NHTSA. Lets hope we can get some action from them without first having fatalities like the Explorer Firestone episode.

PS<BR>It hasn't happened again after about 5 backups down the driveway.

The pedal was normal and no warning lights. It is a downslope driveway about 20 degrees and we were backing down. I've pumped the brakes after turning off the engine and I get over 10 to 15 pushes before the pedal gets hard. I'll check for bad calipers as soon as I can.

I also had a strange new brake problem different from the "normal" ones I have been having. While backing out of our garage thats has a steep driveway, the brakes wouldn't hold the car stopped even with full brake pedal. It very slowly backed down the driveway with the brake pedal pushed hard. When it reached the end of the slope it stopped. Of course I couldn't get it to repeat the problem. We had our Reatta in to the GM dealer a month ago for a full brake check and a brake fluid replacement. They could not find any problems. Maybe I can put in some nice reliable 1938 Buick brakes?[joke]

This forum is invaluable! My wife says the reatta is hesitating, I go to the forum, read the posts, pick up and install the sparkplug wire set, and the Reatta is back to normal.

Another aspect of the brake problem will be the loss of value of used Reattas'. Maybe that's the way to get GM's attention. It seems easier to force them over money issues than safety ones. My wife is becoming afraid of our Reatta. She doesn't want to sell it as it could give a dangerous problem to someone else. If only GM would investigate and come up with some answers. I don't expect GM to do free repairs, but I do expect them to investigate this problem.

I believe the transmission and the brakes are different.

My 90 Reatta oil pressure gauge has gone from normal to maximum for a second almost since it was new. I was told they all do and not worry about it unless the pattern changes, which it hasn't.

My Reatta requires about a pound every two years. If the loss rate doesn't increase, I will have enough R-12 to last 30 years. The dealers price to repair the system was over $1,000. Seems the seals have a slight leak.

I'm very troubled about my Reatta. Mine does the same thing, pulls to the left on braking and the pedal gets hard for a second or two. Trouble is it only does it maybe once every six weeks or so. We took it to the Buick dealer armed with copies of brake problem posts from this group. They tried everything, but found nothing wrong. My wife drives it about 90% of the time and she is a very defensive driver, leaves lots of room ahead and breaks early all the time. But you never know when an emergency will happen. I feel GM should be required to investigate and cure this problem. When we bought it new, we were told the car was built at a special center and that we were getting something special. I guess we did.

I had a Pioneer CD changer installed in the trunk about five years ago. I bought the RF model. It hooks up with a adapter to the antenna plug. It has three wires going to the front. One is the cable going to the small dsiplay box (2 by 4 inches) that is velcroed to the console, this allows operation and has a display to show what track and disc are playing. One wire goes to a continous 12v source and the other to a switched source (by the ignition key). Didn't have to remove the dash or existing radio. No trouble in five years