redhot91

I should have known my wife was right....she always is. Thanks for posting the picture. Mine looks even worse than that one. I can take my fingernail and flake pieces of the rubber off. Not good... Can I get one of the $10 repair kits from Napa to hold me over til payday? Has anyone had any luck with those? Also can I 'safely' still drive her with this problem? I limped her home 4 days ago when the the noise began and she has sat since. I'm craving my Reatta!!

If there was such a thing I am definitely feeling it now. With two high mileage cars on my hands I stay plenty busy with routine maintance. It really bites us in the behind when it is something we can't pinpoint. Like pesky coolant leaks, new squeaky brakes, etc. Thanks to this board it has made all those nagging problems easier to deal with, especially for the novice "weekend" mechanic. By the way, I have been coming to this site for years now, posting off and on. My memory is terrible I forget my username or password, sometimes I forget my own first name. I end up resetting everything with a new login. I'm always the mysterious newbie....so pardon my intrusion from time to time. I'm usually in stealth mode reading, lots and lots of reading and research. Most of my answers can be found with a pot of coffee and a the handy "search" feature of the post archives. This is my second Reatta I have owned. My first was a 1990 Maui Blue that began having more problems than I had time to put into it. It had a hard life with 270,000+++ miles, so it ended up someone's part car. I really miss my Maui Blue. Anyhow........... This one has me stumped.....my 91 red baby's engine compartment is rattling/knocking. The sound got worse with the A/C on. To describe the horrible "rattle" the best I can, it would be like dumping a bucket of bolts into the engine area. I have pinned the source of the sound to the drive belt area. After going on a hunch it was the power steering pump. Upon inspection of the PS pump I found the bearings were sticky and the fluid smelled burnt. It was a matter of time before it froze up, anyhow. After wrestling with the pulley on the steering pump for a few days....I got the new pump on,with a flush & new fluid....thinking I fixed the problem....I started her up. The awful sound was still there. My wife is betting it is either the alternator, harmonic balancer, or idler pulley. I went with easiest thing to test, I pulled the alternator off and had it tested at AutoZone. It was good. So my question is........now what? The noise is definetly on the drivebelt. I took the belt off, started it up and the rattle was gone. Any sugestions on what to do next?.... before I dive in deeper and spend more time and money on my much needed daily driver.... I would really appreciate any thoughts. Thanks, a Novice Weekend Warrior Mechanic with a 1991 Reatta 160,000 miles Biloxi, MS

Thanks to everyone. Many interesting points I never considered while doing something as simple as brakes. The rust on the hubs and of course my suspicion towards the rotors not being "true." The exact same sound is emitting from our Explorer brakes (which also got a new brake job with the works all the way around.) The '00 Explorer (140,000 miles) emits a sound at the end of a stop that sounds like a seal (yes, the large aquatic sea mammal. ) We've learned to live with marine life under our wheels.....now, I am thinking we now may be on the right track to fixing both brake issues thanks to the advice we got in this post. I'll give an update after I tackle some of the other major problems that just surfaced with the Reatta. (please see my newest post "The Wicked Wrath of the Auto Gods") Thanks again!

I didn't use the loaded calipers. I did place the anti-squeal on the back of the pads. Ahhh...but I didn't check the bearings. What should I be looking for when I inspect the bearings? Do you think that would be causing the awful "record playing" on the rotors? I've also suspected the pads are crap or the rotors could be off just a hair. I hate to think that because that would mean tearing it all off the Reatta, taking it all back to the parts store and starting again. *sigh*

I am hoping it is the thermostat housing! The T-stat was something I planned on replacing before summer anyhow. Unfortunately, I don't think it is that easy. My fear is head gaskets, intakes, all that expensive complicated stuff to fix. The Reatta isn't losing much coolant at all. The oil looks good and the exhaust is clean as well. It just passed emmissions with flying colors. (I'm guessing coolant burning through the exhaust system would fail emmissions.) One by one, the hoses are being replaced to rule out that possiblity. I'll clean up the engine real shiny and take more pics in a day or two. My camera seems to have better eyes than I do...hopefully I can pinpoint the leak source. These pesky coolant leaks....our other car is losing coolant, sporadically and we can't find its source either!!!

91 has 4 brand new calipers, rotors and ceramic brake pads. Why does my Reatta still sound like the calipers are hanging up? When I drive through a parking lot without applying the brakes I hear "squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak" coming mostly from the rear tires. The brakes do feel a bit more spongy than I would have expected from a non-teves system. The lines have been bled twice since the brake job. The 91 doesn't have all the fuss with an accumulator (we had a 1990 and learned all about the headache Teves) So what did we do wrong with the brakes? Is there some other problem not related to the brakes? thanks again!

pardon my dirty engine. We've tried everything to pinpoint the source of the coolant leak. I'm fearing the worse....what's your diagnosis and/or recommendations?

I ran the on board scan the other day. The coolant temp was reading (ED04) 82C. (=181.4 F) That was after I let it warm up (ran it to the store and back) and the engine running. Is that low? I'm not sure how to interpret all of those codes. I did download the service manual...(bless that wonderful person that posted it on the site!!!) It gave me some ideas as to where to start and most of which I have checked or replaced. How do you test the fuel pressure? I had our '00 Explorer's tested at AutoZone. I can't do the Reatta, they said it has to be a '95 or newer vehicle for their equipment. Is there any other way? A special gauge? $$$?! There is no SES light on. The only trouble code I have is B335-history...which I think is the air bag, right? Here's my other readings, because I am hoping someone can understand these better than I can.... (ED01)throttle position sensor: 36 volts (ED04)coolant temperature: 82C (ED06)injector pulse width: 3.5 to 11.8 ms (ED07)oxygen sensor voltage: 45 to 65 volts (idle) (ED08)spark advance: 24 degrees (ED10)battery voltage: 13.8 volts (ED11)engine rpm: 865 rpm (idle) (ED12)vehicle speed sensor: 0 MPH (ED16)spark retard: 0 degrees (ED17)knock signal: 9999 counts(***I thought this was odd, so I read this three different times) (ED18)oxygen sensor cross counts : 0 counts (ED19)fuel integrator: 128 counts (ED20)block learn multiplier: 133 counts (ED21)air flow: 4.9 - 5.6 grams/sec (ED22)idle air control position: 40 (ED23)manifold air temperature: 45C (ED98) Ignigtion cycle counter: 89 (ED99) MEM CAL number: 1484 (???) Please let me know if something seems off to you. I have been digging through the manual to interpret these codes...but the manual seems to be written for someone who has a little more equipment and knowledge about cars. I'm learning!! Thanks again, Joe

Any ideas? My Reatta is sick. First she's hard to start with a rough idle, and black smoke on startup....then it started stalled while at a red lights (low RPM) now it is stalling while I am driving!!! Anyone know what is going on or can give me some idea as to what could possibly be wrong? I have replaced hoses, pcv valve, cleaned IAC, new fuel filter and plugs. What else should I do? Help save my Reatta!! Thanks, Joe 1991 Red coupe...161,000 daily driver

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">B335: loss of climate control driver information center data E026: shorted throttle signal switch E061: cruise: vent solenoid problem </div></div> Are these general codes for GM? Mine are a little different, perhaps mine are wrong.... I'm looking at the 1991 Buick trouble codes B335 is history, which I thought had to do with the air bag system. I'm not too concerned about that one. E061 is also cruise vent solenoid...What exaclty is that? E026 is Quad-driver (QDM) circuit. Nonetheless, it's all the same to me, because I don't know what any of it means. I don't know a whole lot about cars, just the very basics. I feel like I am in my freshman year at College of The Reatta. Knowing the codes still doesn't help me understand what is wrong with my baby. I really, really don't want to take it to the shop. I know I will end up wasting a lot of time and money. The last place I took my '90 in for brakes the guy remarked, "Is that a Buick?" and then quoted me $5k for a brake job. Ha! Can anyone give me a push in the right direction so I can get this fixed ASAP? Joe

In my previous post I mentioned having problems with my 91 trouble starting, rough idle and stalling, black smoke at start up and slight engine surges... Well, I pulled these codes...what do you think? E026, E061 and B335H. Not sure about the 061...is that cruise control related? The one that concerns me is the E026....does this point to a bad EGR considering my other symptoms? Can someone tell me where the EGR is located and what I should do with it when I find it? Thanks, Joe.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Smoke and O2 sensors do not mix well. Did you clean out the manifold recess the IAC goes in as well as the IAC. Can get sticky crud in there that will affect the idle. Need to watch the IAC counts as well when idle is surging. Dropping idle while counts are increasing and dropping counts while idle is going up indicate a sticky IAC. </div></div> How do I watch the counts without the CRT? I have a '91, so life isn't that easy. Is it like taking its pulse? LOL. Right now this car is a real hazard. It keeps stalling on me. It died out on me in the middle of an intersection with my 7 year old in the car on the way to soccer practice! Did I mention it is my daily driver? I am going to get killed in it if I don't get it fixed today. EGR? Where is that? What should I do with when I find it? While I am in there I will try cleaning the recess again for IAC. I cleaned it once, but maybe there is some more gunk in there I didn't get out. I couldn't detect a vacuum leak by ear, but I did notice my S-belt is noisy, so that is getting replaced today before it goes out on the freeway. I'm going to be on this board searching and under the hood working all night until I get this fixed. Any tips or ideas would be very much appreciated. Joe

hmmm.....its gotta be something else.... I took it for a spin around town after I cleaned the IAC. And the idle still isn't quite right. Is it possible we have more than one problem going on? The IAC was fairly dirty. It was removed and hopefully cleaned by the previous owner, as the screws had lock-tite on them. The idle is still wobbly. It didn't stall out, thank goodness, because it likes to stall at the most inopportune times, i.e. getting on to freeways or in the middle of intersections. So here's the symptoms: Upon startup the it sounds like it is almost going to start, but then quickly dies. If you give it some gas while starting, it starts right up, both with a puff and choke of black smoke out of the exhaust. It doesn't smoke any other time. I am assuming this smoke is an indication of rich fuel mixture as I am not burning oil. I let the car idle in driveway for about 20 minutes and watched the RPMS. It was shaky...it would hold at around 6000-7000rpms then surge up to 1100-1200, when it went back down to 6000 or so it would sound the she was going to die out. While driving around town after the RPM seemed to be "skating" for lack of a better description. It would jump up ever so slightly while decelerating or holding steady speed. It made the car feel as though it was on roller skates...KWIM? I'm hoping that is what Pagett described as the idle recalibrating....and isn't something else going haywire. I am wondering if it could be a vacuum leak. Would this cause the problems I described? Anyone expeirence any of these symptoms with their Reatta or other cars that can help me diagnois and cure my sick reatta? Joe

Thanks for the reply. I did a search but couldn't narrow it down to what I was looking for. I knew someone could point me to what I needed. I'm heading out to try this right now. Do you think brake cleaner is okay to use? I'll let you know if this does the trick! Thanks again, Joe

My '91 with 160,000 has had trouble starting for a while. It has recently started stalling when I slow down or while idling. I replaced fuel filter, checked fuel pressure, and replaced spark plugs and wires. From what I read on the board it sounds like it could be the IAC. Where do find this thing? What should I do with it when I find it? What else could I troubleshoot before I take in into the garage? Thanks for you help in advance! Joe