charlie1

If anyone wants a perfect fit top notch set of front floor mats I would strongly suggest they follow Barney's recommendation and use Jim Carter on the west coast. I have a 1989 Riviera with a Rosewood interior. Barney put me in touch with Jim Carter where I snipped a small piece of carpet from under the dash and sent to him to match the color. I purchased two Reatta logo's from Barney and shipped to Jim Carter. Seems They have the perfect mold for Riviera Reatta and Toronado. Well I just received the finished product today. They are the best you can buy. It was a bit of a effort but everyone was very cooperative and the finished product is well worth the effort. If you are fussy about fit and color I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE EFFORT! Charlie

check out duracool. blends with r12 do a search charlie

are you using a fm modulator for your cd player? a bad one will cause poor am reception if you have one try bypassing it. good luck charlie

Should not be a problem as long as you do not let your oil level run low. Personally i would replace the sensor with a new one get a new wire connector from junk yard and hook it up. Chances are the sesor went bad and insted of spending the $30.00 or so to replace it they took the cheap way out. Good luck Charlie

As Info my GM Rebuilt came with a 3 year warranty 50k fortunately did not need it. I paid $1379 discounted at my dealer and friend installed for $300. Yes comes complete with a converter.purchased October 1997 part number 8676910. By the way i think shipping from gm parts direct shipping is about $250. but no sales tax(unless you live in nc.) Do not know about return of core? Charlie

I put a GM rebuilt in my 1989 Riviera at 125k. Still going strong at 255k. Just keep that fluid changed! Charlie

check CV (sonstant velocity) joint also known as half shaft. good luck charlie

Not sure but may be cooler lines in that area that are under pressure when running. Leaks can be found if throughly cleaned off and someone wants to take the time to look for it. Do yourself a favor and check that fluid ASAP. Not good to run low on fluid. Good luck Charlie

If you need to replace transmission pan gasket I highly recommend Three layer pan gasket offered by gm part #8678681 for about $50.00 GOOD LUCK Charlie

In my area the tankers all pull from the same tank farm in Marcus hook Pennsylvania. Spoke to a driver at my local Sunoco station and he said all brands the same only difference when they load their tanker is the octane. For whatever it's worth! Charlie

Thanks for the memory. He was great! Charlie

My local Pep Boys carry NEW Bosh with LIFETIME WARRANTY. Worked well for me at reasonable price (Save your receipt) Figure one about every 50k. Good Luck Charlie

If you really want to find the leak it can be done. Start off by throughly washing motor top and bottom. add some oil dye. have mechanic use black light to locate leak. in my case i could not live with oil even a teaspoon full in driveway or garage. Charlie

For whatever it's worth my 256k miles Riviera has run on Mobil 1 for about 250k miles. no oil leaks until recently. Time to change to conventional oil until, the old girl quits. already priced a goodrench rebuilt. hoping for 500k miles. Charlie

update. had felpro oil pan gasket replaced and went back to conventional oil. driven 500mi. and no leak. charlie

long shot, but check front strut upper bushings in the strut tower. good luck let us know Charlie

Thanks Gentlemen. car is over at Buick dealer. Going to have just New style pan gasket installed and change oil using my old stand by Castrol GTX 10 30 Conventional motor oil. Did some research and the best chance you have in suceeding with the old style two piece rope seal is to remove the crankshaft! (no way on this motor with 253k on the old girl) also if the crank is scored in the area of the rear main will continue to leak. Goal is to go 500k and replace with a gm rebuilt motor. Only major work on the riviera was gm rebuilt transmission at 175k amd replaced timimg chain and gears at 125k.I tend to over service this car. thanks again for advice Charlie

My 1989 Riviera with 253k (Mobil 1) has started to leak motor oil. Had Dealer replace intake manifold gasket. Now Dealer tells me that rear main seal and oil pan gasket is bad.(This motor has the old style Two piece rope type seal)While I have one of their best people working on my car I am very concerned about having someone mess around in the crankshaft area! Was thinking about just having oil pan gasket replaced with the new style Velpro pan gasket and skip messing around with the rear main bearing. ALSO THINKING ABOUT NO LONGER USING MOBIL 1.(Castrol GTX my brand) any comments welcome. Charlie

Thank you for all the good information! We look forward to delivery of the car. What prompted the question was the article in USA today advising Regular will work in any car. We have a 1999 Cadellic Northstar equiped STS. Which requires Premium. Checked with the Cadillac dealer his comments were if we were going to keep the car any length of time to use the Premium fuel. We did try regular just for the fun of it and it ran like Crap and fuel mileage was worse. As Barney said The increase in operating costs is minimal. So not want to ruin a good motor either in the Caddy or the Regal. Will stay with Premium. $1.59 in our area. THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD INFORMATION! Charlie By the way my favoriet is still my 1989 Riviera 253k going strong!

I agree with everyone. Enjoy the season! SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR THE TROOPS FIGHTING THE WAR ON TERRORISM. My thoughts are with them and their families. Especially those who paid the ultimate price! God bless Charlie

Pardon for posting on the Reatta web site but this site appears to have most experienced people. We are looking at ordering a 2004 Regal GS. The only concern is the need for Premium Fuel. Recently read article in USA today saying most cars can run on Regular even if manufacture says to use Premium. They say the computer will retard timing to compensate. any thoughts appreciated Happy Holidays Charlie

the piston on rear screw in. you can get tool at pep boys for a few bucks that attach to your ratchet. or try and turn in with large needle nose plyers. charlie

my dealer located a special fel pro gasket for the 3800 motor that had dried up the motor entirely. do not know part number only that it listed for $60.00 and made by fel pro. sorry that is all i know (it worked) charlie

we have a 1989 riviera. heaver than a reatta had sensi track which gave a firm good ride and lasted about 75k changed back to oem delco's that gave a smoother (buick dyna ride) but got soft after about 40k. will most likely replace again with oem. good luck charlie

yea on my 1989 riviera(which has lousy brakes) you have to use a tool you can buy at pep boys for your ratchet that turns pistons back into rear calibers! no way just to push straight back. good luck charlie