Ok, things are going downhill....NEED HELP

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Alright, I'm a kid fresh out of high school, and I was looking for my first car. I came across an ad for a 1990 Buick Reatta coupe. I went and saw the car, and instantly loved it. My dad took it for a drive before we bought it, and he loved it too. The features are amazing for a 1990 car.

I had finally got my license, and was very comfortable with the car. Then a little while later, I noticed an oily substance had leaked on my driveway. I checked the motor oil, and it was fine. It was the transmission fluid, because the seals in the transmission has become defective. I paid a lot of money to get that fixed, and it was. I drove the car home, and it was great. The car was driving perfectly, and there were no leaks anymore.

But within the past week and a half, the car has been making strange sounds from the engine, and I'm told it's the "lifters" in the engine that are malfunctioning. There was another transmission leak, which I just got fixed today. But there's still two major problems.

1.) There's a loud, fast, and constant click-click-click sound coming from the engine. The transmission repair guy told me it was the "lifters" in the engine. The car wasn't having that problem before I got the seals fixed the first time.

2.) When going about 25-28 MPH, when the car hits that speed, the acceleration almost stops completely until it reaches 30 MPH, to which the car jerks and shifts to the next gear, then drives normally. Before it shifts, I can have my foot all the way down on the gas pedal, and it will accelerate BARELY any.

I'm really worried that this beautiful car was a bad idea to get. I hope it's not, because I love the car, and so does everyone else who's seen/been inside it.

If ANYONE can help, it would be appreciated to the FULLEST. I'm so frustrated that this rare car would start messing up on me right when I bought it.

Thanks

Oh, also, I forgot to mention, the oil gauge is reading LOW, and there are no bars on the gauge to show that there is oil. I had the oil changed last time I got the transmission fixed, and made sure it was clean and full. Is there a problem with the electrical system? Or is the oil pump messed up? It might have something to do with the other problems, as it showed up at the same time as the other ones.

[padgett]

Well, the good news is that the drivetrain is shared with a few hundred thousand other GM cars.

First thing I'd do is to check the spark plug wires, a pair of swapped plug wire will make a strange sound.

Second thing to check is the harmonic balancer, most are ready for a new one by now (check the surface for cracks, it should be smooth.

As to the oil pressure, if you did not have at least 6 psi it would not run for long - the sender is notorious for going bad. Even GM says to use a mechanical gauge to check.

Third thing is to check for any trouble codes - more than you ever wanted to know including the complete parts book and service manual for your Reatta is at www.reatta.net

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Hehe, I'm not anywhere near understanding what any of that means...What do I do with these codes?

My dad might however. I'll make sure he sees your recommendations.

I have a few minor other issues with the car, but they're nothing important (CD player staying on when the car is off).

I have all the manuals, as well as a service manual (HUGE binder full of pages). I don't know if the mechanics that worked on my car should've had that or not though.

[Ronnie]

Clicking lifters and low oil pressure go hand in hand. If the oil pump does not supply enough pressure and volume of oil to the lifters and rocker arms then the hydraulic lifters will not "pump up" and take the excess clearance out of the valve train. The excessive clearance is what is causing the clicking sound you hear.

Now for the lack of acceleration. Does the engine RPM increase while the car stops accelerating? If so the transmission is slipping between gears. The big jerk you feel is when the transmission finally goes back into gear. IT can be caused by low transmission fluid. Spool valves sticking in the valve body and lots of other things. Sounds like you really need to talk to your transmission repair man. What it is doing can really damage a transmission.

Sorry that I don't have better news.

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Well, I took the car to the Precision Auto shop. They easily noticed that it was a problem with the oil pump, as the oil pressure was almost none at all.

Today, they called me, and informed me that they found something odd in the oil pump, a service rag. Now, the only people who did ANYTHING to my car before, was AAMCO. That means that the idiots at AAMCO sabotaged my car. They changed the oil when I had brand new oil in the car, the transmission seals they installed the first time leaked, AND they almost ruined my engine.

I'm most likely taking legal action now. I'm upset beyond belief right now, and I'm going to keep the rag they found in the oil pump, as well as the damaged pieces of the original oil pump.

Thanks a lot for trying to help, I don't think anyone could have predicted this. You guys definitely know your stuff when it comes to cars, Reattas specifically.

[Vincent Vega]

How could a shop rag get there? The oil pump is part of the front cover. This will be interesting to find out what happened. Another black eye for AAMCO.

[Guest TommyH]

Thats too bad!!!! I hope the best comes of this, and that you keep your Reatta!

[harry yarnell]

Something's wrong here. There's NO way a shop rag can get into the sump unless it was placed there if and when the pan was off. Sounds 'almost' impossible. As for the transmission shop; no way. They're no reason a tranny guys going to be in the engine sump. Something doesn't add up.

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Does AAMCO generally have a bad reputation? Just wondering...

I'm going to go talk to the owner tomorrow morning, and I'm gonna lay out my demands and the "or else".

I really hope things work out as well, I absolutely LOVED the car when it was working fine, beautiful car.

Either they're going to rebuild my car's engine and anything else that was damaged, or I'll sue them for almost completely destroying my car's engine, as well as inconvenience for not being able to drive anywhere.

[Ronnie]

I hope everything turns out well for you. I'm on your side. However, as an experienced mechanic, I know for a fact that there is no way a mechanic got the rag in the pump by working on the transmission only.

It might be possible but very unlikely that the rag could be crammed down the oil refill hole when the oil was changed. To make it to the oil pan the rag would have to navigate past all the valve springs and rocker arms, go through the holes where the oil drains into the lifter galley and then down into the oil pan. I just don't see how it could make it all the way to the pump. I don't think they would go to all the time and trouble to take the oil pan off and put the rag in there.

I don't see how the problem could be blamed on the Aamco man without having more information on what took place while the car was in for transmission repairs. If you have not owned the car very long as you allude to in previous posts I would highly suspect some type of repair might have taken place before you got the car that resulted in a rag in the oil pan. I would like to know what other mechanics here think.

I hate to be negative at a time when you are looking for sympathy but I want to give you an honest opinion from an outsiders point of view.

I DO NOT know anyone involved and have no interest in this other than wanting to help by giving you an honest, unbiased opinion.

[Machiner 55]

Below you will find an excerpt from an email I sent to the previous owner of an "89 Reatta that I purchased near Cinci OH. He told me prior to my purchasing the car that he’d had the transmission serviced at Aamco. Prior to the servicing there was no Tx fluid leak but now there was a good sized puddle of fluid accumulating on the garage floor. When he contacted them about the leak they said that they would have to get into or take down the TX to service it. I guess that was the last straw for the guy. Maintenance on the car was getting out of hand and he decided to sell the car.

"I believe that in my last email to you I said that I was about to change the output shaft seal that was leaking Tx fluid. Well, I did change it but I found that it wasn't the seal that was leaking. The six Side Cover to Channel Plate nuts were loose. The one at the bottom wasn't even finger tight. You can see in the photos where the leak had washed away the grime from the Side Cover. Torquing the nuts to spec. stopped the leak. Did the fine folks at Aamco Tx loosen the nuts or was it coincidence? Hard to tell. Guess we'll never know for sure. Guess it doesn't really matter now."

I guess it’s another method to drum up business at Aamco.

As for the shop rag… I agree with the others that it’s impossible for the rag to get into the oil pan from the top of the engine. In one piece that is. We’re assuming that the rag in question was found intact. It’s possible for the cloth of a shop rag to get from the top of the engine to the pan if it were shredded first.

On the other hand, it may be possible to force a rag through the oil drain port during an oil change. But why would a Tx shop do this? Do they also do major engine repair? Do they, for some reason, have a grudge?

Just my 2cents.

[Howard]

I have to agree with Ron on this one. Really, I can see no way that a rag could have found it's way to the oil pump from a transmission repair. Someone would have had to go way, way out of their way to pull that off. I doubt that anyone would have gone to that much trouble to piXX you off. However, I know that Aamco does not have the best of rep. in the nation, but I still don't think the shop you took your car to had anything to do with it. Since you are a new comer to the site, you most likely have never seen any of my posts. I mention that only because for many years I worked in auto dealerships and have told many stories related to them. You would not believe the things we have found in engines and interiors of brand new cars. We pulled from oil pans, pop top tabs, (remember those?), a cigar, and the most odd thing, a complete set of keys!!!. The funniest thing we ever came across was a bottle. We had a new 1976 Ford Thunderbird come back to our dealership a few days after it was purchased. The customer stated that there was a loud rattle somewhere in the back of the car. We found where the noise was located, and removed the rear interior quarter panel to find a Coke bottle tied with a string. In the bottle was a note that said "you found me" it was signed "Leroy was here". Anyway, it's possible that the rag may have been floating around the pan all these years from when the engine was built. I can't say for sure, that's what happened, but it is something to consider. Anyway, I hope you get everything ironed out and you can start enjoying a really great little car.

[Guest neroco2]

Here's what I would do about the shop rag.

Send it to us at the CSI Lab and we'll run a mass spec on the contaminants and a fiber comparo on the rag itself. We'll also lift prints. We'll match it up to what shop it came from with our data base and identify the tech who did this. We will then force him/her to drive a Yugo for the reat of their lives.

Seriously, things can get wedged in interesting places and hide there for eternity. They can and will free themselves when the proper external/internal force is applied.That rag may have been in there for a long time.

Now think about this: If this car led a relatively easy life and had a potenetially catasthophic fault that would only show after, say, drag racing or hitting the 'Hills' in downtown San Francisco, this might explain it.

On the other hand, it could also be sabatoge.

neroco2 with help from your friends at CSI

[Ronnie]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> We will then force him/her to drive a Yugo for the rest of their lives.</div></div> From what I know about Yugo's they would have a very short life.

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Well, the guys at Precision Auto Tune said that it was possible for it to happen. They said that they might have stuffed it somewhere to prevent a leak from happening, and forgot about it when they put the transmission back in. They DID change the oil pan gasket, so that's how we suspect that it ended up in the car.

The rag was NOT completely intact, but MOST of it was found in the oil pan. Some of it was found in the oil filter, and the rest was in the oil pump. There may be more still in the car, but we don't know for sure.

[Guest TommyH]

Thats too bad. I hope this all works out for you in the end, and that you stay with the Reatta, unlike Brian........not that I am mentioning any names...

[jonlabree]

AAMCO has a terrible reputation. I would not take a

kidie car into one of their shops. I have heard more horror stoies about them than any other transmission shop.

Not only do they rip you off, but they will screww up the job as well.

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Well, their insurance company has arranged a rental car for me for the time being, and have asked us to get quotes/estimates on the prices of engine rebuilds/ replacements (with a re-manufactured GM engine). So I'm calling around, but there aren't many places nearby that do rebuilds/replacements.

I want to keep this car, because from the time it was driving normally, I loved it, everything about it, aside from a few minor issues (passenger manual lock is broken, passenger side speaker buzzes, lighter doesn't work).

And as for the rag, it's not in one piece, it's in quite a few pieces, and not all of it was actually found. I have a large piece of it by itself (from inside the oil pan), I have the pump parts it destroyed, and the filter (which is clogged with pieces of the rag).

Thanks a lot for the help guys, I'm glad you guys told the truth reasonably, not sugar-coated it. Hopefully this is all gonna work out soon.

[Ronnie]

I'm glad to hear that things are going to work out for you!

You must have the best insurance in the world. I have never heard of regular insurance paying for mechanical repairs. I have a hard time getting body damage paid for. My insurance would not even consider paying for anything under the hood.

Would you mind sharing the name (not local agent) of your insurance company? I would just love to have that kind of insurance. If the answer is "no" I fully understand because there might be a privacy issue to consider.

Good luck with your car!

[DAVES89]

I think it is AAMCO's insurance that is paying. I think AAMCO is recognizing they were in the wrong.

[Ronnie]

Right you are. I failed to read the key word "their" in his post. My mistake.

[Roadster90]

Hey Guy...you made out GReeeat !!! New (well rebuilt...whatever) Engine...that is how I like situations as this to end

[Guest The_Kameleon]

Well, the situation is not over unfortunately...There is a new engine now, which is awesome. But now there's an oil leak, and I gotta take the damn thing back to AAMCO to get them to fix it (I have a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty on engine parts and labor).

Now the problem, is with the front wheel bearings, they've somehow gone bad (maybe dry? I don't know exactly), and the mechanic I go to, said that I need to replace the entire wheel hub assembly, for both front wheels. They said it would cost around $390 for each one. Now that's just the parts, not the labor. I've checked the labor time, and it's generally around 1.7 hours, and the parts costs $207.18 each.

I just want this nightmare with car problems to end, this is getting ridiculous. I can't imagine what's going to happen next with the damned thing. I'm regretting having bought the Reatta at this point. I just hope things work out without me having to spend too much more money on it.

And yeah, AAMCO's insurance paid for it, as they well should have.

[Guest EDBS0]

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[Barney Eaton]

Don't panic. You do not need to purchase the wheel bearing from GM. They are available from auto parts stores.

Depending on your mechnical skills, you could replace them yourself. The front is harder than the rears, but not a big deal.

Also depending on how much you drive the car, you can probably drive it for a while with bearing going bad.

[Vincent Vega]

I'm surprised they are both bad at the same time. Who diagnosed this? The drive train is very common and should not require genuine GM parts to repair. I would not trust AAMCO's diagonosis on any new repairs at this point. Have them fix the leak and don't go back unless it's for warranty work. Also, read the fine print on the warranty. It may say you have to come back every xxx miles/months for an inspection or the warranty is void.

[DAVES89]

I'm guessing that the "leak" is tied to the half shafts/drive shafts. The engine is new, the tranny has been worked on, they shouldn't be leaking. Unless of course it is tranny lines. Both half shafts can be put in in less the 2 hours and I am guessing less the $100.00 ea. on the half shafts.

[Guest The_Kameleon]

well, I had the hub assemblies replaced already...but not by AAMCO, it was a different place, the bearings were bad and it damaged both hubs assemblies...

AAMCO fixed the leak(s)...one was in the transmission and one was in the engine's oil sending unit. It's good now.

But now, since I got the hub assemblies replaced, the ABS light comes on almost all the time. Precision Tune generally does a good job, and they have worked on another Reatta in the area. They said that they replaced the ABS sensors in the front, and I suspect that they messed something up. I'm gonna take it to the shop I'm taking classes at, and check it myself.

Now, I only have minor things to do with the car (replace the front bumper, fix the door locks, fix the passenger side window, get a paintjob, get new wheels).

If I had known that the hubs were that cheap, I would have done it myself. I got them replaced before you guys posted this stuff. It's alright though, if they messed up, they will fix it for free. But now, I'm going to handle most of the repairs myself (other than the engine/transmission).

[Guest ChevroletR]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: The_Kameleon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">They said that they replaced the ABS sensors in the front, and I suspect that they messed something up. </div></div>

I'd like to know where they got their ABS sensors. New or used, do you know? I had to find mine in a salvage yard and buy the entire knuckle/bearing/sensor assembly for $60 and wasn't guaranteed if it will work or not! Thanks

Ryan