maark

Thanks for info on crt/touchscreen. Maybe you can help further. The crt and touchscreen seem to work fine except for the radio. Aerial goes up and channel is indicated on screen but no sound. Originally happened when it rained and I could thump the dash to get sound. Since the radio is so far below the crt I thohgt the "thumping" only affected the crt. Lately no amount of thumping can get it to work. I have had the crt out and cleaned connections but no help. Would you guess the crt or the radio? Local auto shop says the crt but they do not seem too enterested in working on it anyway. Thanksfor any input. maark

Some time ago some one on this site mentioned a firm in Texas (?) that rebuilds the touchscreen. I can't find the posting in the search engine. Does anyone on board have that info? Need to get back to a full functioning unit. Thanks.. maark 89 hardtop/red/tan

congratulations! Quick before you forget - how do you get the gear shift knob off a 89 Reatta? maark

I haven't posted in a couple of years but need some help. My 89 coupe is slowly losing functions. The radio hasn't worked in some time. Initially it would work intermittently when it rained! Then it just quit. I never used the tape player because it doesn't engage the tape drive. Belt I assume but not important to me. I do not think the tape cycle is interfering with the radio function. I originally thought it was a bad ground or something like that. However my fan quit last week and I am in the FL panhandle - I need AC. So I took the dash and console aprt looking for shorts. Then I read this site and discovered a bad fan module was the problem. But I am in the mood to fix the radio now. Any suggestions? Is there a relay in the console? The aerial went up and down until I got in the console last week. I dislodged something - should be easy to find. MAIN question after all this rambling - HOW DO YOU GET THE GEAR [@!#!$] KNOB OFF? Search of this site shows that you remove a horseshoe clip. Can't find a horseshoe clip. Intuition says to take the locking button off the top of the knob but how? Do you pry on the sides to compress the plastic knob? Thanks for help... great economical car. I have done paint and window controller, headlight morotrs, headliner and odds and ends. Any sources for new seat covers? thnks, maark

I too took the dash light switch apart to clean it several times. It worked fine outside the dash and was relatively clean. When installed the dimmer did not dim automatically when the headlights were turned on nor did the slide dimmer work. I think the circuit board is cracked and the pressure of the wiring pigtail against the back breaks the circuit somewhere. My buick dealers want $150 for the switch. With the fog lamps on everything works fine so i just use the fogs all the time at night. I'll find a new switch or switch board some time down the line. maark

Parts worked!! Had a spare relay. Passenger side on the firewall. Started right up. thanks all maark

Thanks all, it was the relay. passenger side of the three on the firewall. Had a spare. Cranked right up. thanks again maark

The 2 second interval did not help. Still had to grind about 3-5 seconds to get to start. What is a DVM? maark

I assume you are talking about the electrical relay on the firewall and not the pressure switch on th fi manifold. Which of the relays on the firewall is for the fuel pump? I have three -- passenger side, center & drivers side???? It seems the center one was the brake air pump. I cleaned it some time ago to get the light to go off on the dash. It also seems to me that if the relay were bad the fuel pump would never come on. Mine comes on and the car starts fine except when cold. Then the long crank senario. thanks, maark

Thanks much for VERY valuable and detailed info. This site is truly amazing...

Thanks much for VERY valuable and detailed info. This site is truly amazing...

I know it is probably in here somewhere but do you have to remove the door panels to replace the door speakers? Do the grill/speaker assemblies come out the front (snap out like the bottom of the door panel) Thanks for any help.

Sounds terminal to me. Unless you are doing your own remove and replace it is foolish to go the temporary route IMO. The REMAN at gmpartsdirect.com is $1,655 including $225 core and shipping. Net ($1,440) My dealer gave me the same price after I told him I would not pay the $2,400 retail. I am getting gouged for the R & R but I am replacing the coolant lines and right tranny mount while doing the job. With a 3.8 as clean as the kitchen table I should have 3 to 5 years with no drvetrain troubles. Next is cooling system flush and brake flush after two line replacements. Then a decent underbody cleaning and undercoating. Should be good togo. On the otherhand there is a good lookin select 60 with 38K on it for $7,500 for sale on this board. If it wasn't black I would buy it. (Never a black car again in FL) Good luck!!!

R12 availability myth is widespread. R12 is expensive but usually much cheaper than 134 conversion and it works better. 134 is more likely to leak according to what I have read. Molecular stuff. R12 is also much more efficient HP wise. Stay with the R12 if feasible but get the leaks fixed!! O-rings are cheap.

My Vega was a 71 GT. Great looking car. Dk. green. The mains wallowed out of the aluminum block at 45K. Something probably wasn't very well balanced to accelerate the soft block problem. As I recall that POS alum eng was the basic reason for the car making car of the year. A pioneer in alum tech. My 85 MB has a 5 litre V8 all aluminum. Truly great motor. The GM 3.8 is tops in my book too. Just the freakin throw away tranny that gets my wrath. Why can't or won't we build them as good as the foriegn competition? Beyond me. It is the same story with Briggs and Stratton. Honda has to show them how to build a decent lawnmower engine!!! B & S has been practicing for 50 years and still can't build a decent carburator.<P>Oh well, I'm going for the GM reman. At least another 75K before it gives out again.

I only drove the car two days so i do not know how the tranny was treated before me. My park Ave had the same problem at about 65K. The R&R is about $375. Core will be no prob since the defunct one is out. Would the stronger trannies need to have the internal controls from the Reatta? Anything stronger is fine by me. I have an 85 Mercedes with 200K on it and the tranny is still smooth as silk. Even pulling around an SEL stretch body. So I know that a long term reliable transmission can be made. The most I ever got out of a US automatic was 112K. The auto transmission has been the end of many otherwise good US cars. I also have a 92 Acura that is still smooth as silk at 180K plus. I wish the "Big 3" would apply themselves to producing a long term transmission that will last at least as long as the new engines. I was unaware that Reattas made a manual trans or I would have looked a little harder for one.

I've gone back five pages and can't find a "Burkie" post. <P>What color are selct sixties? What tips them off easily from the outside?<P>thanks

What is a select sixty?

Does anyone have a GM remanufactured tranny in their Reatta with over 50K on the tranny? Are you having any problems with the original pressure leaks that cause the car to slam, into reverse very hard. (First too when cold) GM was supposed to have corrected the situation .. just wondering if anyone can confirm .. Thanks

Thanks for all the replies! Had to make a living yesterday. Now back to more important stuff. I live in the panhandle of Florida near Ft Walton Beach. I did check on a GM reman and got a VERY good price of $1450 + shipping BUT my tranny man is skeptical about the GM reman. My 89 with 85K miles would SLAM into reverse and the tranny man says that is a cronic GM problem. Internal pressure leaks .. blah blah blah. (tranny talk) He is not convinced that GM addressed the problem in the new remans. I talked to both area Buick dealers and they said the ball was rewieghted and cylinder size adjusted to compensate for the problem (yada, yada, yada)and everything was hunky dory now BUT they could not pass judgement on whether any remans would have the new modifications. That was my tranny mans point. He WILL make modifications that will cure the problem and I believe him. I have been through several tranny shops and this guy is golden. He assures me his rebuild will be much better and will last far longer than the original BUT he only has a one year 12K warranty. Kinda contradictatory!! GM has a 3 yr 50K warranty on the remans. I can ask for a shelf date or reman date on the tranny i am getting but i do not trust GM to provide accurate info. Incidentally I am not a GM fan.. I tried as a kid with a Corvair, Vega and X body Skylark. All were TOTAL junk! The lifespan of a cheap watch. BUT I am a proponent of style and find the Reatta unique and well done from a design point of view. I bought this 89 coupe trade in last Thursday after talking to the original owner for several hours. Took it in for tranny fluid change and when they dropped the pan the left differentail gear was in three pieces in the pan. (That explained the pulling to the right) Still don't know how the diff locked up to get me to the shop. A normal diff would have free spun and I would have gone nowhere. Anyway should I believe the tranny man or go with the GM reman for $650 less? I do not want the "slamming into gear " thing to repeat itself 50K down the road. Thanks for any input.