2seater

I think I remember a thread some time ago about the internal workings of the programmer but a search didn't turn up what I am looking for. The FSM doesn't really list any definitive tests for the internal workings. Specifically the operation of the solenoids for the vacuum actuators. Any insight?

Ronnie, I must correct myself on that forward-rear positioning. The drivers seat plug was easy to get to from the rear when forward, however, the passengers side was not easily accessed until the seat was tilted back off of the mounts. I can also see the other option if the floor studs are rusted badly and not removable. I had one that required tender care to get the nut off without breaking the stud.

Just a suggestion on the seat removal order. Seat all the way back and remove front attachment, slide seat all the way forward and remove the rear last. The power plug is easily accessible at the rear of the seat, requiring only one move. I also find it easier to face straight down to remove the floor nuts rather than something under the seat.

The ECM doesn't contain proprietary software except what is in the EEPROM which gets switched to the new ECM. The ECM does need to be for the Vin C engine and are commonly available used, or at a FLAPS. What you describe sounds very much like what happened to mine. There are basic tests for proper Crank Sensor operation in the case of a "no start" condition but what you describe is just what happened to mine with a bad CPS. Connect a voltmeter to the green connector on the drivers side of the engine compartment. Turn the key on and you should see battery voltage for a few seconds and then drop to zero. Without turning the key to off, crank the engine and observe the voltmeter. If you get a voltage reading, the CPS is likely sending the correct signal. If not, replace the CPS. You have hit most of the other major players already. I don't know of any reason the ECM would cause a failure of the ignition module, but is generally just age and is not uncommon.

Barney is right, they are two different things, however I had a somewhat similar experience, which turned out to be the Crank Position Sensor. Before it would either quit or not start, it would momentarily shut-off the engine while driving, like a hiccup. The erratic behavior was not what I would have expected from a bad CPS, but is another possibility if the MAF and Ignition Module appear to be okay.

Not from direct experience, but from what I do know, the closest thing to plug and play is a S/C conversion. The transmission change is not strictly required.

Thanks Greg. Any revealing what the new direction might be?

I suspect the only way to know for certain about the airflow issue would be to test it, maybe a scale model if the car isn't operational. The air dam should form a lower pressure area under the car, which would be good, in general, but forward of the radiator maybe not so much? I do like the look of it. Perhaps a horizontal pan from the rear of the air dam to the bottom of the radiator to form a large duct to the radiator from the grill??

Interesting write-up and it sounds very similar to what I did about 12 years ago. No doubt he went to a lot of work but I couldn't get the photos to open up for the oil feed mod done at the mains? Not sure what he means about dual feed unless he drilled into another oil gallery? The pistons used are from an L27 engine, '93-95 I believe, but, aftermarket pistons are de-stroked assuming decking of the block. I used the same compression height pistons, 1.443", except Silvolite brand, #1744h, which are actually +.047" or .003"-.005" proud to the deck. I learned later that the approx. .055" piston to head distance is actually in a sort of danger zone if boosted. N/A it works just fine, but another .020" off the block would be better. I think the stated compression ratio is overly optimistic. It will be closer to 9:1 or slightly under, with a 38cc combustion chamber and about 36cc in the piston cup, +a .060" head gasket. I may have missed it but the head gaskets should be the stock GM or Victor Reinz which are identical. Do not use Fel-Pro headgaskets or you will lose compression ratio. The other thing I may have missed is reversing the pistons (point the notch to the rear) which decreases the rod angle slightly. The piston pin is offset from the centerline approx. .025" so the total change is .050" when reversed. They are offset to reduce the possibility of piston slap when they reverse direction but if a hypereutectic piston is used, the tight piston to bore would make this a non-issue, plus the rods are approx. 6.5", over a 1.9:1 rod ratio. Opening up the oil suction feed holes and chamfering sharp corners is a good idea. One other area that can benefit from some work is the passages in the oil filter adapter, which loop around inside. Easy to do on the bench. The engine appearance looks to be an '88 so the symmetrical lobes on the regrind make sense. The '90 cam uses two different lobes which are smaller so a regrind will likely be different. I have mentioned this before but will do so again. Make sure the new timing chain has all of the links at the same level where it rides on the tensioner. Stock is a Morse brand chain. I used a Cloyes brand chain and the new style tensioner which is a bad combination IMHO. The tensioner wore through in only 38k miles, twisted the chain and destroyed the front cam bearing. Again, this is only my experience in one engine, but I will be installing the original style tensioner, which can be hard to find. Lastly, this is what I found on my flowbench regarding head flow and is an excerpt from a letter I wrote regarding a possible new cam: " These are the average flow rates from the stock heads, although they were massaged a little 38k miles ago and untouched or cleaned up since. They were not ported or flow benched at that time. My bench was recently reconfigured from pitot to orifice style and I do not have an appropriate orifice for the initial very low flows. The inlet port had a 1/4" radius bellmouth and the exhaust was flowed a bit differently. The actual exhaust manifold stub was used to connect to the bench under vacuum with a 6" long open cylinder adapter bolted to the head on the chamber side. This is what I obtained: .150"- I=72cfm. E=71 .200"- 104 95 .250"- 124 111 .300"- 153 120 .350"- 171 129 .400"- 186 135 .450"- 192 141 .500"- 196 145

Ronnie, I am tardy on this but I used to have a device like a syringe that clamped over the cable end to force lube through the assembly. I think I found it in a motorcycle parts list a long time ago.

I believe that is normal, at least it is on my car. I believe drtidmore made reference to the multiple switches inside the pressure switch. There are lower pressure thresholds for the warning lights, which would seem to indicate the actual required pressure, otherwise the light(s) would come on every time the pump ran.

I made my own pressure tester for somewhat the same reasons as have been stated. Not the Kent Moore tool, but a simple connection to the pressure port where the steel line connects, a pressure gauge and a valve with return line to the reservoir. I had noticed my pump would turn on for a few seconds on one firm pedal application and the fluid drop was about 5/8", so I purchased a new accumulator through the Reatta store and installed it. Fluid drop did decrease to about .45", but the pump will always turn on with only two pumps or one very firm one. It still runs only a few seconds and shuts off. I surmised perhaps the pressure switch was out of range, but checking with the pressure gauge indicated it is exactly per book values, 2600 off and 2000 on. To be honest, I have begun to question the accuracy of some of the test results previously posted. I have never experienced any anomalous brake warning lights, even before the accumulator change. Either the brake system on my car uses more fluid per brake application, my pedal push is "different" than the standard for the tests, the tests have a wide acceptable range, or, the new accumulator has an insufficient charge? The brake system has always performed well.

Ditto on what Dave suggested. My wife's Chrysler has a cooler mounted low on the steering rack. Having said that, the best place is still forward of the radiator where it can get the benefit of fan air flow at low speeds and is a relatively clean area. Can certainly use a different style cooler to tuck it over to the side or wherever it looks better.

I am pretty certain it was a Goodyear GT+4. Not a very good tire, even at that time.

Very nice. I suspect the pure red light of the LED does help preserve night vision even though quite bright.

Mc, I didn't really guess, but I thought perhaps it was another clue as to the malady. It sounds like you confirmed my additional info. I am not sure GM was concerned about brightness of twelve brake light bulbs all at once, but possibly so at that time. If you follow a Chrysler model with the full width LED tailights (and probably others) today, they are WAY brighter than anything we might be capable of. Too bright IMHO. My best guess as to why two lights on each side operate in a conventional manner (from the front) is as conjectured, it probably matches the Riviera rear lighting. The cost to add two relays at the rear, one each for the third bulb on each side would seem to be relatively costly for what gain? I haven't looked at the power capacity feeding those relays, but I would guess it could certainly fire more than one bulb? Perhaps they wanted to maintain a clear seperation between the turn signals? Probably never know what they were thinking? It would be relatively simple to add a heavier power wire to the rear and use a higher capacity relay to power more bulbs but again IMHO, movement draws the eye more effectively, such as the sequencing turn signals. Pesonally I would like to see four bulbs on each side, but as drtidmore pointed out to me, the sequencing must take place in the time for a single normal flash, so the number of bulbs in the sequence will make a difference in the appearance. A small amount of amperage (about .2A each on high) could be be saved by installing all 1034 bulbs in the rear but I believe the rated life is less and the savings doesn't even add up to 1/2 of one additional bulb even with four on each side.

I don't know if this confirms or is a different issue, but the drivers door lights (red/white at bottom), don't work either. Bulbs tested good. All other interior lights work as they should. It's sort of funny, but in over twenty years of ownership, I've had almost no electrical issues, many of which have been reported over the years. I never joined in to help as I had precious little experience, but it looks like the shoe is now on the other foot. This has been a summer only car for over two decades, and never had any real moisture issues on the interior, so it will be interesting to see what the problem is. It's now sleeping fifteen miles away. Thanks for the help as always.

Mc, many thanks. The rear trunk release is also non-functional. I don't know about the door remotes as the batteries are dead and won't be replaced until spring, but, the door locks have been acting oddly. The lock/unlock with the trans. shifter has been getting erratic. I guess this repair will have to wait until spring as well, so it will be added to the list. Must get it into storage before it snows again.

I realized the inner turn signal bulbs do not work on my car. I thought it rather odd that the high filament for the inner left and right turn signals would burn out at the same time, but stranger things have happened. The outer two bulbs on each side work fine as well as the flash rate. All tailight bulbs also work correctly. New bulbs made no difference and the originals test good in any case. After consulting the FSM, I see the outer two on each side are controlled through the turn signal flasher in the dash. The third bulb (inner) on each side is operated from a micro-relay in the trunk activated from the turn signal wire for the outer bulbs. Checked the relays on the bench, all good, and can hear/feel them work when installed. Wiring continuity from the relay sockets to the bulb contacts and also ground check out good. The one item that does appear to be failing is the available voltage to the relays in the trunk. I had a bit over eleven volts to start with, voltmeter load only. I thought the battery was running down due to the other things I had been doing to get the car ready to put away for the winter, so attached a charger. The 20A fuse that feeds the relays is good also. While testing the relay sockets, I noted the voltage was showing a steady drop, down to 8.5 volts at the end with the battery @ 14v. I don't "think" it is a ground issue as the voltage at the #3 terminal for both relays read the same using three different ground points in the trunk area. Apparently something is amiss with the power feed, at least that is my conjecture. Additionally, I also seem to have lost the trunk light, even though the bulb is also good. Checking with a voltmeter to the trunk light socket also shows some voltage but I believe it doesn't hold up with any real load. I am looking for suggestions as to where to look. Is this one of the infamous connections under the seats? Any thoughts appreciated.

If the left one works, both should work. Does it run and not rise? The link above will get you to the repair of the motor and yes, you can do so yourself. If this is a late production '90, there will be a relay wire tied to the harness at the front of the interior relay center on the drivers side of the console. The hi-lo switching relay is in the right side relay center on the passengers side of the console. Again, if one light works, both should activate unless there is a break in the motor wiring harness to the right side. You answered while I was answering. Does the light itself turn on? I would imagine that it does, but that is a seperate system in any case. Can you manually raise the light? Check for power at the motor connection when trying to activate the lights.

I agree with Daniel that the CPS is the likely culprit. I had almost the exact same experience with mine about two years ago. I always thought a failed CPS wouldn't heal itself for days or weeks at a time, but I was wrong. If it just stops like the key was turned off, I would bet on the CPS. Usually a fuel issue will give a tiny bit of warning, such as a miss, loss of power or something else before dying. Neither the CPS or fuel pressure issues will set a code. Good idea to check the ICM for softening of the potting material and also check the connector on the end of the ICM. Can't hurt to disconnect, clean and make certain the connecor is firmly seated. Don't just rely on the bolt in the enter to pull it in.

Tensioner wear is a greater concern as mentioned. It is a non-interference engine.

If replacement Reatta specific formed pipe is not available, the Riviera pipe will fit but must be shortened due to the different wheelbase.

First class looking job. Nicely matched set by the looks of the flow chart. I will bookmark them for future reference. Thanks.

Where is the hole? The exhaust system from the rear manifold all the way back to the muffler is 2.25"O.D. on a 1989 model. The dual tips on the muffler are integral with the muffler (welded assembly) and are 2" O.D. IIRC.