3 issues, any suggestions?

[Guest jcrules78]

Hey guys,

91 Reatta owner here with close to 128000 miles. I have three current issues. I will lay them out and please feel free to reply about any that you may have a good idea about.

First, my car has done this strange stalling thing a few times lately. It typically happens when I go to take a left turn from a complete stop. If I hit the gas in this situation, sometimes the car will completely stall. No loss of electrical or anything like that. There is a correlation between this event that happens from time to time and a intermittent code 13 I have in my computer. Every time this event has taken place, I have checked the ECU and found that intermittent code 13 flashing. I know it has nothing to do with my Oxygen Sensor, because I recently replaced the old one with a brand new Bosch. Someone has mentioned that this code could have to do with the emissions canister. Any ideas on what would cause this phenomenon?

Second issue: When I first start my car and set my climate control on a cold day for heat, it takes a while for the heater to finally kick in. The other day, it was like 40 degrees out, so I pumped the temp up to 90 degrees to try and get the fan to blow hot and when the heater fan kicked on full blast, it was extremely loud. I had a 93 Pontiac Grand Am that had an extremely loud fan like that as well, so I was curious as to if that is normal, or if maybe something is going soon (fan, core, etc.). Numerous times while the fan was running full bore, I heard loud clanking coming from my firewall. It sounded almost like if you threw a wooden stick into a box fan. Is there a way for crap like that to get caught up near the heater fan, and if so, how do you get in there to clean it out?

Finally the last issue. I was placing a new AMSoil decal on my rear window, and I leaned hard against my parked car. The car moved forward a GREAT deal while in park. There was a lot of play if I pushed on the back of the car repetitively, and I didn't know if that might suggest that my tranny is getting weak or something to that nature. Any ideas/suggestions?

Sorry for the ultra long post guys, I just figured that I would cram it all in one post instead of polluting the forum with three separate posts.

Thanks for any suggestions,

JCRULZ

[jonlabree]

The heater "problem" is normal. The heater will not come on until the temp. comes up. As long as you have it set on "AUTO"

[Guest steakneggs]

Check the CV joints for play by twisting them back and forth with the car in neutral. Or have somebody look for movement between the halfshaft and the joint while you push the car back and forth in Park. While you're under there you can see how much the joint rotates before the Park gear engages. Don't know how much is acceptable. I wouldn't worry about slop in Park as much as I would the drive gears, which would be noticed when you accelerate/decelerate. If you are worried about it slipping out of Park on a hill I would test it on a steep hill. Steak

[Barney Eaton]

On the left turn stall.......

I'm going to guess that you have bad motor mounts and the engine is moving, causing a short or similar problem.

The transmission slipping and the motor stalling could be related..... as in things are worn...badly.

[padgett]

I agree with Barney about the mounts though I'd check out the TPS readings as well. If it goes from considerably open at low speed to zilch the ECM could get confused. I'd also check the harmonic balancer for wobble.

[Guest jcrules78]

Thanks for the replies guys! So possible issues for the sudden stall could be bad motor mounts, a faulty TPS or a harmonic balancer issue. Knowing my luck with this car so far, it will probably be all three. So you guys don't think there could be a correlation between the stalling and the intermittent code 13? Oh and how do you check for a wobble in the harmonic balancer, is it a very obvious visual thing?

JCRULZ

[padgett]

I can usually feel cracks/chunking with my fingertips (engine off please).

[Guest MauiWowee]

Here ya go.....................

[Guest Mike_s]

"I know it has nothing to do with my Oxygen Sensor, because I recently replaced the old one with a brand new Bosch"

FWIW Not too long ago someone posted that they had a problem and it was due to a defective "new" o2 sensor.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

For the second issue, the HVAC fan is a bit loud at full blast but since its hard to diagnose over the internet, I would remove it and see if any insulation is caught in the squirrel cage...It's under the hood on the firewall attached to the black heater box. 9/32'' socket I believe...I never bothered with figuring out what the metric equivalent was

[Guest jcrules78]

Hey thanks for all the great suggestions guys! This forum is one of the best car forums that I have been a part of, because there is very little to no bullcrap to sort through when a valid question is asked. People here take their Reattas and this forum seriously, which is very refreshing. I just read the post above mine about "rattling under the hood" and that is another thing my car does. It is the loudest at idle. Just another clue pointing to a faulty harmonic balancer. My mechanic thought that the rattling was a loose exhaust manifold shield, but I think it's a bit more serious than that. I will take your suggestions about the CV joints, balancer and squirrel cage, and check into these parts next time I can get out of work early enough to make use of sunlight. I really wish I had looked over this Reatta a little better before I bought it, because the woman who had it before must have beaten the daylights out of it. I've had to sink quite a bit of cash into this baby already! It is worth it in a way, because it is very unique and I love to drive it. I have seen one other Reatta in my hometown area since I bought the car in July, and it was an out-of-stater mint white convertible. I get some interested looks because a lot of people don't know what it is and, let's face it, it's a sharp looking car. Plus it's pretty cool to tell people that it is one of 1,214 coupes made in 1991!

Thanks again for the help guys!

JCRULZ

PS Phil, what are you doing with that Century cruiser? Any project plans for that? I've always wanted to get my hands on an LT1 Roadmaster wagon, but the wife thinks it is ugly. I've tried to explain to her that it's what's inside that big hulking monster that counts.

[Guest jcrules78]

A little update... I just came in from checking my car out today, and the harmonic balancer looked great. No wobble while running and no pieces missing or cracks that I could feel. I think the next thing will be to check the TPS sensor readings. I did find another issue arising however. When I moved the car back out of the garage, I noticed two small and recent stains under the engine area. I have never noticed any leaks under that car before. I looked underneath and it seemed a bit extra wet on the back edge of the transmission fluid pan cover. I felt the cover and tasted the fluid (I know it's weird but it works) and that sweet taste of antifreeze was present. All I can think of is the fact that perhaps there is a gasket seal leak in the rear of the engine. God I hope not, because I will probably lose all hope for this car if that is the case. Anyone ever have antifreeze leak from that spot?

JCRULZ

[Ronnie]

I would like to give you some good advice that may help you.

You're never going to get any good quality help here for your car the way you are going about it. You need to start new threads for each problem. Stay on topic with each one until the problem is solved.

The shotgun approach of throwing out a half dozen problems one day and then adding more problems the next day and then never mentioning some of them again is very confusing. It is hard to follow a thread like this and comment appropriately.

Just my 2¢

[padgett]

When you say "back of the engine", what do you mean. If around the center of the car you are going to have to put on a lift and check the freeze plugs. It is possible to replace them withut pulling the engine or trans but the mech needs to have the right tools and really know what s/he is doing.

If it is on the driver's side, check the heating tube that connects under the air meter.

The good news is that what you are talking about are not Reatta problems, they are shared with the millions of Park Avenues, Regals, Ninety-Eights, Delta 88s and Bonnevilles that came with the 3800/4T60(E) powertrain.

[Guest jcrules78]

Hey Padgett,

Since the engine is mounted transversely, I guess it wouldn't be the rear of the engine, it would be the firewall side. The reason I believe the leak would be located in that part of the engine is because the fluid is collecting on the rear edge of the transmission fluid pan cover, and that is directly underneath that firewall side of the engine. Sorry about all the problems listed at once, but it seems like something new is happening every day with this car and I'm not too happy about it. I guess I can't blame anyone but myself; I should have investigated the car more before I bought it. I wish I had more mechanical ability so I could do a lot of this stuff myself.

[Guest Bobby Valines]

The first thing in mechanics is patience take one thing at a time. If you don't want to learn how to fix things on your own, or have a lot of money to wast, you probably shouldn't have bought a 18 yo. car. But if you want to learn how to, you came to the right place. That's what this place is all about. Take Ronnie's advice start a new subject for each problem, trust me its easier for everyone.