knjake

Two posts above I should have referrd to the manifold that woulda needed physical abuse to cause your symptoms....but guess you figured that out. Several years ago had a Buick 3800 sputter home (40 miles) started ok next day, following day same problem, removed ignition & coil pak & had local parts supplier test and found ignition under coil pak was the culprit, replaced both, prefer the upgrade to the Delco system as I had done last month on the Reatta, securing from local boneyard @ $20.......best twenty bucks spent on the beast.

Sputtering, intermitten hard start, a coil pak on its way out will do this. Kinda doubt intake needs replacing unless it has been beat severly with a sledge hammer!!

Have been using WD-40 since mid 70's to remove glue and other types of sticky substances from all types of material, have found WD will not harm dashboards and other hard surface interior pcs, usually purchase by the gal. about 10 to 12 bucks at any big box hdwe outlet........a good industrial spray bottle will cost about 6 bucks,cheaper sprayers leak. On the really stubborn jobs may have to repeat several times.

RangerRick, Just sold my 88 w/78K after 4 months on the market, a total of 4 people looked at car, one was a dealer so subtract him and I had a total of 3 lookers plus one person sending a deposit w/out seeing and forfeiting dep. as they were a "non-performer", was it because my asking price of $4800 was to high or because lack of interest in Reatta's???? Anyway I was patient and held firm, $$ received in the mid fours, plus the forfeited dep. I didn't notice on this thread any info on your car...color,miles,condition,etc.....Once they get near 100,000 miles the (price) bottom falls out.....condition, color, etc won't be much of a factor. What it takes is to be patient or lower the price.

Having owned many Special Interest Cars, I'd say Padgett is on the money....drive it and enjoy!

Any paintwork? How long have you owned?? Any known history is also helpful in selling........yak yak

What kind of equipment, color(s) etc.

Car was sold last week for more than the $4295.00 quoted in the Daytona News Journal

Padgett, I am retired with time on my hands,reside in Daytona at end of I-4,somewhat experienced in these matters,helped form and Charter Member SCCA "Misery Bay" Region 104,yak,yak,yak.......don't want to push you as am somewhat familiar w/your availability, but all good General's need Lt.s and I hereby volunteer for duty.

When you replaced coil module were you able to have the ignition module checked? Beleive I'd look there.

For the $20 at the bone yard you are getting 3 Delco coils, if you get 2 ignitions as Padgett suggests, you now have 3 spare coils when one conks out,whereas when the 1pc. magnavax or its 1 pc. replacement dies you must purchase all 3 coils as they are one unit......besides the orig ignition is trash after 50,000miles. THRIFT THRIFT

$80 is decent......I would suspect that many a Reatta are sold at firesale prices due to the customer(no-nots) being put on the elevator by repair people when in fact it was a simple fix..............thereby driving down the prices of these cars as they then DUMP'EM. For folks owning a Reatta that have not discovered this forum,life must be verrrrrrrry painful!!!!!!!!!I say to all of the steady contributors to this site, "THANK YOU"

Round coil are the Delco, I just came from "Advance Discount Auto Parts" buying new plug wires and had them check the price of the individual coils (thats how the Delco is sold, magnavox 3 coil unit is one pc) and individually the replacement coils for the Delco are $44.95 each X 3 equals $145.00, a far cry from those "telephone numbers" from GM, the magnavox replacement 3-coil unit was $50 or less. At a 150 bucks I can buy 7 used Delcos at the bone yard and pick-up a six pack of GUINNESS EXTRA STOUT, but being thrifty I opted for one at $20 and grinned looking at my checkbook balance,(remember when we were young our elders would say "A fool and his money are soon parted") ......once again, thanks Padgett!!

Don't know if your problem is in fact the coil pack, but do know they are prone to failure producing the symptoms your Reatta is showing, one of the best improvements I made is to follow Padgetts step by step procedure (tried to locate post this AM, maybe Padgett will jump in & direct to info) for changing over to a late model Delco system. Last Fri. I did this conversion @ a total cost of $20.00 and approx 30 min in time, my reward; improved performance, smoother engine operation, improved gas milage. You could have other problems not coil related but having owned a dozen or so of GM's bullett-proof "3800" I would start here considering the cost/reward factor of the other benefits gained not to mention that the Magnavox system is sub-par.

Florida is georgous in, but not limited to, October,November,April & May for such an event as many auto enthusiasts & their groups already know. Stretch those Reatta legs. Sharing of info via seminars and the like are priceless.

My 88 Reatta sputtered the other day causing me to search this forum, and once again you folks have come through in spades, I followed Padgett's post from a short time back detailing how to make this conversion, once I had the parts in hand ( secured from local boneyard) total R&R time 30 minutes, total cost $20.00, car runs stronger, smoother. Padgett, thank you once again!! This forum makes owning a Reatta a joy!!!

I have listed on AutoTrader site $4800, clean carfax. 1988 White Coupe, owned since fall of 2003 and thanks to this site it's been a pleasure to own(my 3rd 88 Reatta). The only item not working, cassette player. Orig. window sticker,Milage 78,000, blue suede/leather,factory floormats. The following maint has been completed, Teves replaced just before I purchased, struts, bearing plates,swaybar link, B.F. Goodrich 225/60's w/4k miles, front rotors,calipers,pads,flex brakelines,powersteering rack, rear brakelines,battery,plugs,plug wires,ALL hoses,clamps,belt,transmission removed and all seals,gaskets replaced(no fluid stains on floor!!,Headlamp rollers replaced. In addition to window sticker, factory shop manual, orig sales brouchure. Interior is A-1, no rips, tears, snags, leather on steering wheel excellent, all glass is perfect no chips, scratches, crystal clear. This car has had 3 owners, all retirees. Couple more items just thought of, replaced Instrument Panel (IPC), blower motor control on firewall underhood UPDATE: 6/23/05 Converted magnavox triple-coil ignition w/late model Delco unit, total time 2.5 hour as follows; 2 hrs spent going to boneyard sweating in Fla sun, locating a Delco unit and removal of same, actual time to make conversion 30 minutes, fired right-up, appears to run smoother, as of this post only drove around block.....total cost $20.00.....thanks to a prev. post by Padgett detailing this procedure. Again this forum makes owning a REATTA a joy!! THANK YOU PADGETT.

After 10 months (whats the hurry,Daytona's a good place to loaf)) of daylite driving only, I decided to replace the headlamp "rollers",after the completing the job the motors had no power to them, after checking the motors, fuses,wiring etc.,etc. I pressed the headlamp door button on the center console, now they work, musta been sometime in the past 10 months I pressed that button and of course w/bad rollers there was no way of knowing what position it was in, problem solved!!

After a year plus of dealing with a intermitten(wants to stay on) amber ABS lamp, this baffler was appears to be corrected. I was having to add approx 1 ounce of brake fluid maybe once a month in the past 2 months(no telltale stains on garage floor) so after a very close physical inspection of the entire system to locate the leak, I found a "Pin" whole in the lines at the rear and center. Once I replaced all lines from drivers door back the RED and AMBER lites now go out in 11 seconds.

Having sold many a vehicle, I have always requested and received "real money for a real car", meaning when you get my car & title I get your cash, the last I knew you could stop pymt on a cashiers check!

Monday this wk (7-19) I had experienced this very same problem...refer to this site...emailed JIM Finn tues....thurs 9am part arrived from Jim...9:05 problem solved.....total cost under $25.00.....thanks to this site and special thanks to JIM FINN !!

As I was responding to "awesome mechanics" concerning leaking trans. topic I thought I'd start a new thread.... I have been having this same problem and here is what I found in talking to qualified trans folks; (a)trans. side cover is stamped aluminum,( side cover gasket is cork which has a tendency to seep (leak) ©when we get an oil change a well intentioned person draining the oil spots the oozing and applies a wrench to tighten and stop the leak, when in fact what has happened in the stanmped cover gets bent, pinched, torqued...apply your own description here...end result is a gasket that has just been damaged and its down hill from there!! Should that gasket need replaced the gear box must come out, if its and axel seal then just the shaft comes out. So I guess we have to watch(instruct)to be sure they don't tighten this cover or do oil changes ourselves. Later this week I'm having a new gasket installed One other item to note from a prev post concerning balkey transmissions and the like....I had commented to someone who just purchased a Reatta with this problem and related on of my vehicles (1986 0lds ceria GT 3.8) with over 200,000 miles was giving me fits w/trans slipping etc. and used a "LUCAS" product in trans and it solved my problem.....WELL..its a temp fix and have been advised by more than one trans shop that this will last approx 10,000 miles and I will probably lose 3rd gear(says to shift man. and run out in 2nd then shift to 4th if 3rd goes) At 200,000plus car owes me zilch! Its going bye bye this week...I might add that these are really great cars,late 80's came in 2 & 4 drs w/3800 & roller lifters, if you can find a clean one.....not only can you LIGHT-UP the tires but you will leave a lot of people scratchin their head after you smoke'm!! Maybe that was my problem "boiling the hides" to much Gettin back to biz @ hand, how in the hell can someone sell a product that is supposed to fix the problem then eats your trans....I suppose this has transended from used car dealers?????????????

Jeff, If it wasn't the side gasket, just where was the trans leaking and what did he do, what does the invoice say?? Thanks, Jake

Well...the 1st quote is from an indep. trans shop $450.00, says its the side gasket and will replace all seals(@axels etc.)gaskets,screen, fluid..,will have 2nd opnion from friend of fam w/20yrs in trans biz....Hey.."two heads are better than one even if both are cabbage"

Jeff, I'm currently having my "#1503" checked out for the very same problem, leaking side gasket, certainly glad you brought up the fact that it might not be the side gasket 'cause can be labor inten$ive.........will let you & this (GREAT) forum know re$ult$. Depending on what I'm told(1st guy saying side gasket) and quoted I just might cruise on down and see Jerry as I'm probably 2.5 hrs away, HEY! it's cold here in Central Fl (corner of I-4 and The St. Johns River) give me a reason to go south , besides I got this car in Oct last yr, put 200mi on, need to drive it, hadn't planned on a Garage Queen! Since I had the brakes done several weeks ago put on 12mi, still gotta get back to this forum on ABS light staying on after brake job, I think I know what it is....it just seems there's always something else pressing....I'm kinda retired (entrepreneurs never really retire,just hangin out waitin for the next gig )it's amazing how one can really pass the time doing nothing if one works at it ..........jake