HNLCityLights

Thanks Barney for the quick reply. Ill send you an e-mail...will need 6 of them for 3 Reattas.- 88, 89, 90.

Hi All, Anyone knows where to get the headlamp steel levers that connect at the motor shaft to the headlamp housing ? The stock aluminum or pot metal ones are too soft for the steel shaft. Thanks for the tip...

Had a similar problem and went through the gamut trying to find the problem. My Reatta's clatter came from the crankshaft timing mechanism which is behind the crank dampner. It got separated from the dampner and I replaced the dampner which came with the crankshaft timing mechanism....clatter disappered. Getting that dampner bolt out though was a bear ....had to use a very long extension on my 3/4" drive breaker bar and practically stood on the bar to "crack" the bolt free. You will need a flywheel stop to keep the crank from spinning. Be sure to disconnect the battery to prevent engine starts when working on the engine...you don't want the breaker bar between your teeth.

Put some 100% acetone with the ratio of 1 oz to 10 gal. gas and it upped the milgage on our 88, 89, 90 Reatta and 82 Corvette. You could go 2 oz to 10 gal gas if your state puts 10% Ethanol in your gas. Gained about 5 mpg for about $0.02 worth of acetone at $3.25 @gal for 87 Octane here in Hawaii. Be careful not to spill any on your paint...

Aloha, Sound like the transmission linkage is loose and/or out of adjustment and when the stick goes to the park position, the linkage below is not engaging the parking tang inside the auto trans. If its not the shifter/transmission linkage, then it may be a broken parking tang inside the auto trans which happens when drivers don't use their parking brake but use the auto trans "park" to "brake" the car even on an incline. When doing this, the auto trans may get locked in the park position and the whole weight of the car is bearing down on the parking tang inside the trans and may break the tang which make the park feature disappear. Some people "rock" the car back and forth to get the trans out the park position, but this is not your case. Think its your transmission shifter linkage that needs adjustment. Don't forget to use the parking brake when parking your car....unless you have a lot of friends in the car to rock the car out of "park".

Bought a replacement antenna mast from the local Buick dealer here. Tip: You will need to drill out those rivets on the motor housing to pull the broken nylon mast cable out. I used 1/4" x 20 thread nut and bolt to put the housing halves back together again. My 90 Reatta's stock antenna works fine now....yours should too. As I recall, think the part was around $15 or so. Cheaper than buying an aftermarket one. The Reatta's plug-in lead to the radio antenna cable seems to be a metric size which the universal ones have too big a cable plug-in end so fixing your stock antenna is the best way to go.

As far as your brakes groaning and loss of braking power, I would check your brake calipers/hoses for any fluid leaks. Wet brake pads would make your brakes groan as the rotor is sliding in your wet brake pads. As I recall from the Reatta Service Manual,if your ABS accumulator is bad, when depressurizing your system, it would take only about 10 pumps or less to hit a hard brake pedal. Normal depressurization is 15-20 pedal pumps before a hard brake pedal is reached. In Hawaii, 90F road surface is normal and your brakes should not be giving out. I would pull the wheels off to check for leaking calipers, worn/wet brake pad lining, and hoses for wet spots which would indicate a leak. Flush the brake system completely out and replace with new brake fluid. Going back from the calipers, brake hoses and lines, it leads back to the ABS Teves pump assembly. Accumulator replacement part cost as I recall was around $100 and the ABS wheel sensors were about $80 a pop. Might want to check if the accumulator is included with a rebuilt or new pump or take a chance if you do have a bad accumulator to just replace the accumulator to see if it was the cause of the problem. I would pull the ABS pressure valve switch out to see in what condition its in and whether it needs replacement. Cost of the switch the last time I checked was around $125.

Might want to check the brake calipers for fluid leaks around the caliper pistons which would cause a low brake pressure indicator as fluid might be leaking past the O rings on the pistons. ABS parts come up for sale on eBay periodically if you need BCM, a complete ABS brake system pump unit, etc. A few months ago, an eBay member offered to overhaul the unit for about $200-$300 which I though was reasonble. By the way, if you have headlamp problems, I bought those nylon headlamp bushings as a cure to the brittle/soft factory bushings to cure those floppy headlamps. Usually its those factory bushings that cause headlamp motor problems and not the motor itelf. A very weak spot in the headlamp assembly is the aluminum lever from the motor shaft which connects the motor to the headlamp assembly. The electric motor's steel slotted shaft justs eats the aluminum lever up. I soldered a slotted copper bushing with locking threaded 1/4" bolts to lock the lever in place on the shaft as a cure.

Aloha Bill, You might want to physically check the ABS wheel sensors on each wheel. Its the one with an electrical connector inside the fenderwell that runs down into the wheel spindle where the ABS magnetic teeth is mounted to give an electrical pulse to the ABS Control Module. If the wires are frayed, its time to replace those sensors. Might want to pull them out of the wheel spindle to check if the end surface is cracked. If it is, moisture from rainwater/road salts have destroyed the sensor. Good time to clean the end of the sensor also as it gets some sludge deposits. Sensor is removed with a torx head screwdriver or use the torx tip with a ratchet to remove the screw. You can also pull the ABS pressure switch without draining the hydraulic fluid, but be sure to pump the brake pedal at least 16-20 times to depressurize the system. You can tell when it is depressurized as the brake pedal will bottom out and become very hard to press down. Moisture in the hydraulic fluid usually corrodes the pressure switch so it would be obvious with visual rusty internals that its time to replace the pressure switch. Did the above to my 88 Reatta and the yellow light is off and the ABS is working again. If the yellow light is on, don't be concerned as the brake system is working but the ABS is not. My 89 Reatta's yellow light is constantly on, but haven't had the time to pull the wheel sensors and/or replace the pressure switch. Might want to clear the ECM error messages by following the Reatta service manual procedure after doing any repairs so you get the correct indication if there are any electrical problems. The 88-89's CRT display is great as it shows the condition and voltage readings as well as visual error codes to see exactly what the sensor is reporting. The ABS wheel sensor is not in the CRT screen diagnostic realm so a physical check is called for. Be sure to periodically flush the brake system out so moisture doesn't build up in the system. Moisture = Rust and Corrosion. In topping off the brake fluid reservoir, be sure to depressurize the system, then fill the reservoir to the top-off line. When the system is energized, the fluid will be below the top-off line, but that is normal. Do not overfill the reservoir by topping off without depressurizing the system. You might have experienced fluid leak from the reservoir cap if you topped-off the reservoir without depressurizing the system. If you plan to keep the car, which I would recommend you do as the Reatta is a great sportscar, I would invest in a service manual to see the do's and don't's. I would see the dealer only as a last resort....