Classic Buick

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Well, I have my twenty year old Riviera running now. All I needed was a new fuel system and flushed jets The gal at the repair garage told me that after twenty years, it's considererd a classic. Is that the general thinking? Whatever, two tires, the rear, are good. The front need replacement due to dry rot. I also need a new muffler. The brakes seem good, but I'll go over them. In general, the interior is in excellent shape, but I know someone who can bring that up to snuff. Classic

[RivNut]

Before you go out and put your life on the line with old tires that look good, please check this out.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/27/eveningnews/consumer/main698335.shtml

[Rivieraman]

Was it the after market alarm that was not letting it start? How did it turn out? The factoy remote is a gray 4 button remote

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

The alarm didn't effect the start. It was the defunct fuel pump, basically, but the whole fuel system had been currupted by bad gas. I had a lot of trouble finding the right replacement sending unit and put the pump in myself. It required a part from the old sending unit. The owner of the shop couldn't come up with a sending unit. My brother located a guy who gave me a part number with CarQuest, but once the unit was delivered with a freight charge, it turned out to be the one for the Le Sabre (A class GM) I have a Le Sabre, but there's nothing wrong with it. Then we did a time consuming search at the part's counter and found the right part which was designated for the Cadillac Eldorado and DeVille, but not the Riv. The security system is after-market (your post, Rivieraman, confirms it) but I can't get the remote to work. I googled M.A.T. and couldn't find the name of the manufacturer. My mother drove the car for a long time, but being 80 years old her memory is totally shot regarding it. There's still a lot wrong with the car, but I can now drive down Ocean Drive in style. I'm also adding another pair of photos of the Riv and some of the '95 Le Sabre Presidential to my album. I've driven the Le Sabre from the Presidential Mountains of N.H. here to Florida, now. It's going to remain here while I hope to return to New England with the Riv.

[sosuzguy]

MAT alarms sounds familure. I bet you could show the key fob to someone at an alarm/stereo shop and they could easily identify it. Then you could go online and download the owners manual for your alarm or even buy a new transmitter if that's the problem. I had to replace one of mine.

[Rivieraman]

If the car has the 1SE package the car has factoy keyless entry. go back to that and get rid of the after market.Options that came in the 1se package is twilight sentinel pass side power recliner EQ on the radio power trunk pull down. If the car has those options then you have keyless entry. you can get a factory remote from E Bey or i have a copule and it is easy to program Let me know.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Your replies are appreciated. The auto doesn't have the power trunk pull down as I recall, but I'll check it. I have the provenance of the car documented. It was a repro when my Dad bought it and took off all the leins. He installed the M.A.T. and knowing him, he would not have done it if there was already a security system. He did because there was not one and by installing it his insurance costs would have been reduced. <span style="font-weight: bold">sosuzguy</span>, that's good advice, I'll see what I can do. By the way, I was wondering if I could replace the driver's side door panel at some time. I'm taking it off this week in order to fix the power window mecanism. The arm rest has been damaged. Can I find an aftermarket replacement? It seems impossible to match the color and more than likely very difficult to find a door panel going the junk yard route. What would be your opinions? Have most Riv's in this vintage gone to the crusher?

[sosuzguy]

There are a lot of those Riv's in yards in Texas. I don't know if Buick still carries them. There was a someone on ebay who sold caps to put on the armrest to cover up the armrest but I never found anyone who used one.

[Rivieraman]

That was very common for the arm rest on the doors to do that. the after market on e bay is not a bad deal. I think you may have mis understood you can have factory keyless entry without the Alarm

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

I have been looking on E-bay and found a yard that might be a good source. Right now, I'm not working on the security system or keyless entry. However, I don't see any reference to 1SE. I have found that the climate control function is defunct. However, the CRT Touch Screen module seems to be working for every other purpose. This was a winter Florida car before it was put in storage (also in Florida) and the connection to the temperature sensor that lied between the A.C. condenser and Blower motor had been disconnected. When I re-connected it, the blower motor went on and couldn't be turned off. In fact, I couldn't obtain any climate control. I don't know why they didn't just disconnect the blower which is what I did. I copied the Delco part number off of the electronic module of the sensor and if I am quoted a low price for it, may replace it. Today, I am going to locate the heater core. I wonder if sitting in storage hadn't currupted it. I also figure I might be able to jerry-rig the heater and blower so that I can run them without the electronic controls. Hopefully, I'll be driving it to Mass. in the spring and would like to have the heater functional by then. I also located a guy on e-bay that will do a factory reconditioning on the CRT Touch Screen if I remove it and send it to him.

[sosuzguy]

The blower motor running with the car off and being unable to turn off sounds ~so familiar. On my 84, the blower motor would kick on even with the key off and run the battery down. It was a bad blower control module. It cost me about $88 new and was a little difficult to find. Sounds like that is exactly what is wrong with yours. I wouldn't have that nice of a car and have it jerry-rigged. If you find out what the part looks like take a picture and let me know, next weekend I'm going to all the yards down here and might could find one in salvage. Keep in mind I have no way of testing it nor do I have the service manual to know how to test it when I get home. Personally I'd just buy a new one and you'll probably never have to worry about it again... Let us know what you find out.

[DAVES89]

When the blower control module goes out the touch screen cannot control it. Sometimes when the blower control module goes bad it runs and runs until your battery goes dead or it won't run at all.

It is located in the engine compartment and is on the fire wall almost directly above the bower motor. You have to take off the plastic trim piece that is held down by 2 thumb screws.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Thanks all for the contributions. I will look for the control module today. Is there any way to test it before replacement? sosuzguy, I'll photograph it and try to load the photo here before next weekend. However, you are right, paying for a new part, if I find one, may be the way to go. I try and stay out of the junkyards in my old age. By the way, I have determined that the failure of the driver's side door window to open was due to a defective switch (it's in the console between seats), and I bought a used one through e-bay. However, if you find one in the junk yard I wouldn't mind having a back-up as they seem rather rare. Finally, the cruise control doesn't work. The IPC shows Resume. I can't change it. The CRT gives me a message that states that it has been de-activated, and I should consult the manual. I did that, but can't bring it back up. Whatever, I took the car for a 30 mile drive yesterday on hiways. It runs rather well IMHO for something that has been gathering dust since the spring of '85. Nevertheless with 178K miles, I'm wondering about the transaxle. I had one re-built for a '95 Century a few years ago. It broke down with about the same amount of mileage. However, I believe this Riviera has had better drivers. The guy who rebuilt mine told me that trainees have progressively been getting lighter and less durable.

[sosuzguy]

If you have a Buick service manual for your year it should have test for the componet. Harry, Tim or Nathaniel know about these cars. I think your going to have to get in touch with Harry on the List server or the yahoo group.

Not sure on the cruise on your model. Again the service manual will have test for the cruise too to determine what componet is at fault.

[DAVES89]

Swiftbuick I think you should go over to the Reatta side. I don't want to start a controversy, but what you are experiencing are all common problems to the Reatta.

I just went thru what you experienced regarding the cruise. First check and replace all the vaccum lines. If that doesn't work replace the cruise servo. The servo is common to many mant GM cars and are easy to r & r from a salvage yard. I got mine from a junk yard [it took 2 trips to find one that worked. First one was from a '89 Riv. 2nd one from a Park Ave.]

I did the same with the blower control module [took 2 trips].

I am not a master mechanic by any means but both of them are easy repairs, and the parts were cheap [$5.00 -$10.00 each].

If you don't want to pull them there is a guy over there who deals in TESTED used parts and he will sell you what you need at very reasonable prices. His name is Jim Finn and his e-mail is jfinn@cpinternet.com

Good luck

BTW He can supply you with Touch Screens, Instrument Clusters,BCMs,ECMs,Ignition Models,Coil Packs,Switches and Relays. Anything common from Reatta to Riveria...

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DAVES89</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> W

It is located in the engine compartment and is on the fire wall almost directly above the bower motor.

</div></div> Actually, it was located in the duct system between the air and blower. It was the unit I was posting about here: <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SwiftBuicks</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> the connection to the temperature sensor that lied between the A.C. condenser and Blower motor had been disconnected. When I re-connected it, the blower motor went on and couldn't be turned off. In fact, I couldn't obtain any climate control. I don't know why they didn't just disconnect the blower which is what I did. I copied the Delco part number off of the electronic module of the sensor and if I am quoted a low price for it, may replace it. </div></div> I decided to buy a new one and paid $180 for it (definitely not the low price I wanted). However, CarQuest has been rather crucial getting this car running for me. The guy at the part's counter knew immediately what a blower control module was. When I went to another store, they didn't have a clue. I did not mind throwing CarQuest some more cash. They are expensive, but find the right part and deliver it quickly. I've had enough trouble with junk yard electrical parts. Often they will work, but just as often they will not work for long. Today I'll pick up the CarQuest part and see what happens. I thank you all for your helpful assistance.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

As a follow-up, I put the new part in and now have heat!!!! The CRT controls it as well.

[Rivman]

I'm not sure if would be the same on an '89 and I know I am also a little late! If you took out the blower control module and looked at the printed circuit there is a, diode, resistor, something, I'm not sure of the correct term for it, which is what in my experience goes bad. If you go to Radio Shack, they carry the replacement part, replace it on the module and that is normally the problem. That was what I found to be the problem on some of the ’79 to ‘85’s that I worked on in the past.

Sorry I’m so late with a reply,

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Yes, Rivman, I noticed that there might be a possible home rebuild. However, the part I bought was different (more improved?) than the old one. I'm sure this aftermarket shop did the alteration/rebuild about which you were posting, but they did it far beyond my abilities. Consequently, I'm happy with the results and don't mind spending the bucks. By the way, the new power switch I bought over e-bay for the windows arrived today. Unfortunately, I have to install it. It's a crappy job, but it isn't a technically difficult one and a grease monkey like me can do it.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Let me update my work on this '89 Riv. I spent all of yesterday putting in the replacement power window switch I obtained over E-bay. I am rather proud that I was successful and now have both windows working. In the process, when I disconnected the battery, I triggered the security system. This was rather surprising since I replaced the battery when I first took possession of it. I remember that the alarm was triggered, but I must have inadvertently turned it off. This time, however, I couldn't. Consequently, I sought out the device and removed it from the car. I'll keep it in case I want to use it someday.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sosuzguy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There are a lot of those Riv's in yards in Texas. I don't know if Buick still carries them. There was a someone on ebay who sold caps to put on the armrest to cover up the armrest but I never found anyone who used one. </div></div>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rivieraman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">That was very common for the arm rest on the doors to do that. the after market on e bay is not a bad deal. </div></div> Roughly $100. As a further update, I saw the buy-it-now after market armrest on E-bay, bought it, installed it and am now enjoying quite the posh interior. If you guys hadn't pointed me in the right direction, I may never have done the job. The guy who sells the interior caps spent a lot of time installing them and was helpful over the phone with my work. He sells various interior parts on his ebay store. I'm going to try and put up a series of photos on this URL of the interior, but for now I will give you the before and after ones he requested. I don't know if any of you have followed my posts on the Reatta board, but after doing a lot of work on this cool machine, I drove it back to Cape Cod from Florida. It runs like a top, looks great inside/out and just passed 175,000 miles.

[sosuzguy]

Swift, that's great that the kits work. Now I'd like to see one done on an 85 and in some sunlight.

How well do you think the caps you put on will hold up to years of elbows, sun and heat?

Let us know & Thanks

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

This guy that sold me the cap works out of Arizona if you know what I mean. I have no real experience with cars that have been driven for a long time in heat. Everything looks good for this armrest here in New England. The cap didn't fit perfectly, but I was careful about installing it solidly. I will be putting in A.C. freon myself but if the system needs more than that, I am not so sure I will fix it. That's the kind of climate I live in. The car is now garaged most of the time and I won't drive it much, especially in extreme weather, winter or summer. Moving on, I have taken that after-market fake spare off and am trying to restore it. It was hit once and isn't right. The hardware has rusted as well. The wiring for the back-up lights also has been corrupted. It won't pass inspection this way. I made some progress yesterday. Definitely the car doesn't look nearly as good now that I have removed the decorative spare. The chrome on it also needs touch up. Already, in Fla. it has gotten a lot of work. I'm including a photo which was taken after I removed a lot of rust and painted the chrome.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

The funny thing about that rear spare tire would be that it was manufactured by E & G Classics of Maryland and is called a >>Classic Spare Tire<<. They are still in business but only list product for late model cars. I took mine apart and found the label. I tried to find some of the hardware at Home Depot yesterday, taking the Riv down Cape for a drive to Hyannis. They don't carry what I wanted. However, I found it at Bolt Depot and ordered on-line. (It was a great day for a walk by the Hyannis Harbor down to Kalmus Beach and back.) I'm including some photos of the dismantled Classic Spare.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Well, I finished the damn job, working from three until sundown on the longest day of the year. Now I have all my light bulbs lighting up nicely on the fake spare in order to see the inspection rejection sticker removed from the windshield. It was a beauty of a Saturday, I could have spent it outdoors, but no, I had to work. At least it means some admiring stares when I drive along Grand Ave., the beach drive by the Casino, in Falmouth. Nevertheless, I polished off a 40 oz. bottle of beer and ate a hearty supper.