sahein

I believe 97 was the last Riv, Maybee 93?

Since you were so good at finding the part number for the shift indicator, maybe you will be able to help me locate the part number / location for 86 - 87 Riviera door mounted illuminated seat switches. They are an excellent upgrade to 88 - 89 Reatta's.

So to do an 88 to 89 ECU prom update, it will be necessary to update the prom in the BCM also?

Typical problem is the relay.

Is is possible and is there any advantage to "Adjusting" an 88 prom to 89 code such as better performance or economy? My 89's seem to get a few more miles per gallon than the 88's. Have three Reatta's and a Riv. The Supercharged Reatta is still a while away because of work in the aerospace engineering industry and lots of honeydoos.

Thanks!

The capacitors are inexpensive and take me about a half hour to change. When the capacitors fail, the noise increases and the music loudness decreases. Typically one or two of the six capacitors fail, causing the problem. However I suggest to replace all six. This type of failure is the most common --- by far. I have seen other types of failures other than bad capacitors such as liquid intrusion(I don't even attempt to repair these units.) and interface or tuner problems. You get into the unit by removing all of the screws on the outside. Then after you seperate the case, It will be necessary to heat the two case grounding tabs from the circuit board with a soldering iron and slightly bend them out of the way. Now the circuit board will lift off revealing another circuit board. The second board is held in by another screw that must be removed. The two wire bundles between the boards can be seperated on some radios and not others by pulling apart the connectors. If they cannot be seperated, the work will be a little more difficult. Then the heat-sink must be removed by removing the four screws. This will reveal the two power amplifier IC's. Try not to disturb or remove the white heat-sink compound because it is necessary for propper cooling and longevity of the power IC's. Under where the heat-sink was located, you will see six short green capacitors. They are grouped as two and four. These are the culprits. They are 1UF radial lead. Notice the positive and negative orientation of each capacitor so that you can install the new ones in the same manner. It helps to draw a sketch. If you use NP(Non-Polarized)capacitors, the orientitation does not matter, but if you use polarized capacitors it is imperitive that the same orientation be followed. I have not been able to find a source for the exact replacements, but the ones that I have found are taller and cannot be stood vertically without interfering with the heat sink. So, they must be laid on their sides. I use a solder-sucker to help remove the old capacitors. Then I insert all of the new ones to make sure that I am providing the required space, before soldering and cutting the leads. Inspect with a magnifing glass to make sure that you do not have any solder bridges. A solder bridge or installing a capacitor in the wrong orientation can smoke and cause severe dammage to the unit. Be carefull. Just re-assemble in the reverse order.

Anybody have a part number or source for the 88-89 illuminated shift indicator?

I just use furniture polish such as Pledge.

If you do spin a nut like I did on my 85 Park Avenue, the required effort to complete the task will increase considerably. What I wound up doing was drilling a hole with a small hole saw that was just large enough to insert a box end wrench. It might be better drilling a smaller hole first to squirt in penetrating oil if it seems like the nut and bolt are seized. It's been a while ago , but I believe that I drilled the hole through the inner fender. Not the best place to drill a hole because of the potential for getting road dirt into it. I used several layers of metal tape to cover over the hole. The inner fender must be perfectly clean or the tape will not stick. Then I used several coats of rubberized undercoating applied over about a weeks time. The repair is still holding up and invisible and that was quie a few years ago. However it is not driven very much.

What it the risk in dammaging the paint using this device?

It may be best to soak the bolts with penetrating oil the day before. Jack up the front body and place on jack stands. Use safety precautions. A car falling on you will ruin your day. You may find it easier if you remove the front wheels. Then use a jack to hold up the center rear of the cradle and remove the rear bolts. Probably have to do both sides to get enough space. Probably not a bad idea to back-off on the front bolts also. Then slowly lower the jack until you have the necessary space --- keep in mind that the steering is connected --- don't drop it too far without disconnecting it or risk dammage. After the new bushing is in place, use the floor jack to lift the cradle back into place. Don't forget to re-torque all bolts.

I don't have a 90 Reatta so I am not 100% certain. But-- It sure appears to me that my 92 LeSabre Limited has the same steering wheel. May or may not fit but looks like the same design.

Use several coats of Oshpo over several days as stated above but; Do not paint over the Ospho!!!!The adhesion will be very poor and may cause extreme paint defects. Use solvent to wash and then sand the surface again before painting. The Ospho does it's job by neutralizing the chlorine by filling in the valance rings of the chlorine molecule. When it is no longer a free radical it is no longer a catalist. Once it has neutralized the chlorine, it is no longer needed and may harm the applied finish if permitted to remain.

Let's talk by email ----- sahein1@earthlink.net. Thanks for responding!

I have an 88 manual but also want an 89 manual. Anybody have one at a reasonable price?

Make sure that you use a rust converter product like "Phospho" (phosphoric acid)on the rusted steel parts to halt the cancer prior to coating.

The original front speakers are no longer available, but the very same speaker is available with the exception of the electrical connector. The replacement part number is 16062214 for $16.52. Just solder the old speakers leads to the new speaker and there is absolutly no difference. I believe that the rear speakers are 16052530 for $19.58. The prices were from gmpartsdierct.com at the end of last year. The speaker frame strength and magnet size are superior to anything I see at the auto parts stores and they cost far less. Can't go wrong with the originals.

The bad news is that these plastic parts are discontinued. I have a lot of new ones for the standard 6 way seats that I orded in disperation of hope.

You can just turn off the Cruse by pushing the switch on the left dash pod. The errors typically don't sppear if the switch is not activated. What is the error code? If it is a faulty valve, try replacing the unit under the hood. It is easy to do. I believe it is 3 7mm hex head screws, 2 vacuum lines, an electrical connector and spring clip for the throttle cable.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030130/autos_gm_transmission_1.html

I should have stated that I am looking for the metal snaps. I have the plastic covers. Thanks for your input.

Does anybody have any suggestions on replacing the missing floor mat snaps. I searched and found some snaps in Home Depot but they have a screw attached and are not the correct ones.

Lack of lubrication and accumulation of dirt is the typical problem. Spraying the door latch mechanism inside of the door and out usually works. I generaly spray it with teflon spray when I have the door panel off for some other reason. WD40 would probably be just as good. If your motors are weak from dissasembly or other cause you can remove the centering spring to reduce the motors workload. Do not dissasemble the motor by pulling the armature from the magnet housing unless absolutly necessary. Permanent magnet motors can be damaged by disassembly. The act of removing the armature causes a slight demagnetization of the magnets every time you do so. This in effect reduces the motors torque at a given current.

To determine if the the noise is generated by the speakers or the internally by the amplifier, on the 88 -89 you can mute the radio by pushing the up and down volume soft keys simultaniously. If the scratching, poping noise is still present while muted, the problem is probably the six capacitors located under the heat sink in the radio module. If the distortion only exists when not muted, The foam on the speakers edges probably deteriorated. The greatest probabibility is that both failure conditions exist and you need to repair or replace the radio module and replace the speakers. I recomend using oem speakers.