enonwosdog

I'm the guy who wrote "dead in the water" awhile back. My black/ Grey interior 88 Reatta with 128000 miles, was a daily driver. One day it was hard to start, then minutes down the road it cut off. The mechanic said he could find nothing wrong, but there was no spark to the plugs. I can't afford to fix it , so I'm letting her go. The good: I have seven thousand dollars in the car including a two year old rebuilt Tevis system, and a brand new rebuilt display. I have head light bushings, (uninstalled), and a shop manual, recent battery, good tires, and the air blows cold. The body is excellent throughout, no rust, no dings. The bad: radio doesn't work, one headlight won't open, electrical gremlins in the instrument panel light controls. The ugly: Paint is faded,(not damaged, except some chips on bumpers, just faded), the drivers seat is apart at the seam about six inches on the drivers side, (I used sheepskin covers),the windshield has some scratches on the passenger side, the sun visors need to be recovered, and the back deck carpet is faded somewhat. This car is way too good to part out in my opinion. She is the third one I have owned, and I hate to see any of them die, I just can't afford to have it worked on, and the longer she sits, the less likely anyone will restore her. I'll take the first 900 dollars, "as is, where is". I live about twenty five miles from Columbia S.C. E-Mail Mikelssword@msn.com

Since I last posted, I have gotten my CRT replaced. Remember I had a perfectly good car that simply stopped running one day, and is getting no power to the spark plugs. The Service Engine Soon light is on, but when I go into dianostic, there are no codes reported. Could it be the ECM or mem-cal? Or perhaps something more simple?

I am in South Carolina, Leesville, about twenty five miles west of Columbia.

My 88 Reatta is way too good to part out, but her cumulative problems are beginning to overwhelm a non-mechanically inclined poverty stricken woodworker. The display is out, and I haven't been able to have it rebuilt yet, so I don't have that avenue for diognostics. She left us on the side of the road the other day. My mechanic says that the fuel pressure is good, crank sensor is OK, good pulse on injectors, coil pack and ignition module only a year old. No power from spark plug wires. No codes, No power. I had the brakes completely rebuilt last year, and the body is great, just needs paint. No rust at all, and only a little over a hundred thousand miles on her, so you see why I hate to think of killing her for parts. Also this is my third Reatta, and I love them. HELP!

I know that most of my questions really seem sophomoric to people who know what the heck they are doing, but: my Crt went out a couple of weeks ago. I mean like out, no flikkers, no fading, no nothing. I went to my handy dandy shop manual to see how to take it out so that I could send it to a repair person. The manual mentions a series of screws that are to be removed. Therin lies the problem. I really don't see any screws on my instrument panel. What am I missing? See, I told you that it was a dumb question (if you know the answer), but since I don't it isn't so dumb to me, and I really need to get the CRT out. HELP!

O.K., I know this is a retarded question for all of you reatta buffs, but I had an 89, and had no problem changing the headlight bulb. With my 88, I really don't have a clue. I even have the shop manual, and I didn't find instructions, unless I just didn't look hard enough. If I turn on my brights, my headlights go out completely, so I thought that maybe just the bright portion of the bulbs was out. Just looking at the sucker, without trying to force anything, I don't see how the bulb comes out. I told you it was a retarded question, but I really would like an answer from someone.

God bless you guys. I have $6500 in an '88 that still needs a couple of thousand or so to get to showroom, and you guys are talking about tweeking your sound? Hell, I just hope I can keep the old girl running.Of course you guys are asking why for that money I don't have a show car already? Well, just chalk it up to ignorance. I'm learning as I go.(PS this is my third Reatta. I'm totally hooked) [color:\\"red\\"]

There are scratches on the windshield of my 88 Reatta that look like someone had at it with a Brillo pad. Since these windshields are as scarce as hens teeth, and as valuable as platinum, I was wondering if, since the glass is in good shape otherwise, there is not some way to re-polish a windshield. Any thoughts?

I am having the complete tevis system replaced with a remanufactured unit from the outfit in Texas. (Mine is the '88 that had total brake failure a few months back.) My question is should all the lights, etc work normally once the unit is replaced, or will codes have to be reset, or something? Thanks.

Hey, love you guys for caring to watch, and answer these posts. I think you will hear from old enonwosdog(backwards) again. God Bless!

I have my car now at a place that the mechanic says he will replace the teves unit if I provide it for $130. However this is the same guy that said I needed a total replacemsnt for $1900.00. And when I asked him was it the Hydrolics part or the motor part he said he didn't know. When I told him I had a service manuel, and asked if he thought that that might be helpful, he said he didn't think so. I really feel a little hesitant about buying an entire unit and giving it to someone who hasn't a clue about what these systems require, although the only reason I took the car to him in the first place was that he said he "saw no reason why he couldn't fix it". Would I be better getting it back from him and trying to diognose it myself, or is messing with brakes something that an amateur shouldn't even attemt?(Thanks for the Charlotte tip. That is only an hour and a half or so from here. I may resort to that.)

I am a reatta lover. As I mentioned before I have owned three. My first one was an 89 that had a hundred thousand miles on it when I bought it, and two hundred and sixty thousand miles when a deer decided to commit sucicide on my bumper. I love these cars. I bought two more on e-bay. I paid too much for one, and got a pretty good deal on the other. If I had known then what I know now I would have taken the money that I spent on both cars,and bought one really awesom car. Live and learn. However, since I have two Reattas that are neither one ready to junk(ie good drivers), yet neither one a collectors car, I am stymied. I could make a lot more money "parting" them out, but I love them too much to do that to two strong, young,(100,000) cars. I guess that I really will have to become a mechanic, since no one in Columbia SC seems to have the intelligence to work on anything more complicated than the Dukes Robert E Lee

Thank you all for your prompt responses. I am a wood worker rather than a mechanic, however I did buy the '88 reatta/riviera service manuel when I bought my third reatta.(thought it might come in handy).As to what the car was doing before the failure, there was no stopping problem at all. The lights were on, but the car stopped fine, until that one time when they simply went away. My wife was not amused.I have gotten the brake diognostic steps off of the Buick websight, but iI wonder how much of that would apply to brakes that go to the floor?

My wife was driving our 88 reatta, and experienced total brake failure(pedal to the floor) while driving across a dam. Fortunately she was able to get the car safely parked without incident. The red warning light, and the amber lights were on, but the brake guy we had check it before the brakes failed and just the lights were on said he thought the brakes were ok, and not to worry about the lights. Apparently the problem is getting someone who knows what they are doing to work on brakes. One of the BUICK DEALERS here in Columbia SC said that they won't work on reatta brakes. What do I do? I have a wonderful reatta that won't stop.(By the way, I have another 88 reatta also, but its too good to use for a "parts car".)

I need a pump/moter assmbly, and the hydrolic unit for the brakes(in essence, the entire ABS assembly)