bhclark Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 My son's Reatta is doing nearly the same thing. It gets better with a bottle of transx or Lucas stop slip. Haven't tried seafoam. The past 2 winters we've had the trans serviced or flushed after the treatment turned the fluid black. I don't think it's going to make it another year. Put a quart of Rislone in it today. Man, I hate sucking a quart of fluid out.... His is a Jasper transmission with about 75000 miles on it. 235,000 on the engine and it runs strong! I don't think the car is worth the cost of a replacement, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Not really of the "Mechanic in a Can" fix but I guess I could try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 does the reatta trans have adjustable bands?maybe the filter is clogged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 I've replaced the fluid/filter in the past with no improvement. This transmission is not the original, it is a GM rebuild with about 160,000 miles on it and by fall will have another 10,000 miles on it, which is pretty much the life expectancy of it. I had a neighbor who owns a transmission shop and he says drive it until you don't feel comfortable with it then either repair/replace it. This is where I am with it. I have sold a number of excess parts [mostly wheel speed sensors] and have the extra money in an envelope in my desk from these sales to do this, as well as the latest work I did on the headliner, console and sun visors. I also am doing front brakes today, so I am spending some cash and time on it but I am happy to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 I've completed the emissions work and passed the test. (Whoo-Hoo!) Now I'm performing a complete AC system job. As I'm working around in the engine compartment I'm removing all the crumbly and brittle wire loom wrap from the wiring harness. It is strange in the way that it got to this condition. (See attached photos) It appears that every place that the sun would shine on the wrapping, is deteriorated and brittle. The underside of the wrap is pretty much still resilient as is the wrapping that is behind or under some other component in the engine compartment. There is evidence of dripping or run marks on the shock towers which leads me to believe that some chemical was used to clean the engine and compartment. What say you? By the way, I'm in the process of ripping all of the crumbly wrap from the wires and putting on new. This is making the AC job take twice as long. If you haven't guessed by now, this work is being done on the '90 (WTF) Driftwood. John F. PS., I've included some bonus photos. One shows the missing bolt on the front engine mount. Nice. The other two show the remnants of some type of "Goo" that was jammed inside the ICM connector and of it's having dripped onto the lower radiator hose. Really Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 most of my engine loom wrap was in similar condition. Have replace most of it at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89REATTAJIM Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Sent my CRT unit to Eddie Voland on 5/4. Received back in today's mail, installed in dash, seems to be working fine. Will be driving in next few days for a through test. Update 5/20: Have put on a few miles; all is good. thanks to Eddie for quality service. Edited May 20, 2016 by 89REATTAJIM Update (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raleets Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Installed an AC Delco remanufactured alternator and belt today on the '89 coupe. Now, here comes the sad, bad story...........the wife and I drove over to Grand Rapids (about 125 miles) last Saturday to attend our grand daughter's college graduation. The car ran great, no problems whatsoever, until we got off the e-way to go to our motel. At the first stoplight the noise coming from under the hood sounded like an elephant stampede! With heavy heart, and light foot, I drove the half mile to the motel then raised the hood before going in to register. All the racket was 'up front and personal', coming straight from the alternator. When I touched it on top I could actually FEEL the grinding going on inside. Fortunately we didn't need to drive the car anymore that day since my son was also there and we hitched a ride with him to the party. It started right up in the morning and we proceeded to head back to Flint with all our fingers and toes crossed. Now, are you ready for this?.......that little bugger ran just fine until I turned into my driveway. Then, IT QUIT. I immediately hit the key and it restarted so I dropped it in gear and headed for the garage 100' feet away. Just as I was about to enter the garage IT QUIT again!!.....This time, when I hit the key, it cranked and cranked until a nice puff of grey smoke came out from under the hood announcing the belt had snapped. No sweat, I pulled it into the garage, shut it off, and said "Thank you, Lord". All is back together again and it's running just great. No question, Lady Luck smiled on us big time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shaleradon Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) took this off my engine since its broken, and the car wont start, now i have to find a new one. what ever it is called... Edited May 22, 2016 by shaleradon (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dashmaster Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Since my trip to the Charlotte Auto Fair, Just been driving the car and fixing small things since I have reached my budget on this car. I have decided to refinish the taillight, fix some other cosmetic things to make it look a little better. Items replaced or in the process. CRT bezel (Original was faded and warped from sun exposure), Passenger side seat belt, the one in the car for some reason was burgundy and should have been blue, I do not know how this burgundy one got in the car. Bolt was sightly stripped out so took me awhile to remove it and I will need a replacement one now, I had to cut the burgundy sheath at the bottom by the bolt to get bolt out, I was trying to not ruin it but could not help it, I did get the sheath off the belt and found the belt inside was blue. Replace left rear bumper guard. Original was broken off at the bottom, again not sure how. Since I had to remove the lower bumper cover I cleaned it and since its a painted part, it will need to be repainted. It appears to be gloss black. Replace the Hood Ornament, the one on the car is not correct. Trying to make it look as good as it can be, I have 4 shows scheduled to attend, they are the Mason Dixon June 4th, BCA 50th anniversary Allentown, AACA Hershey (Fall), and Rockville MD show this fall. At the BCA 50th Event I will be doing the Reatta Rendezvous Thursday evening, Forum Happy Four Friday and show on Saturday. Hope to meet you all that will be attending any of these events. I now have memberships in the AACA, BCA, and Reatta Division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordrodsteven Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 I ordered a replacement ECM through The Reatta Store. I got an E-mail telling me that it shipped today. I ordered new upper and lower Trans cooling lines from thewrenchmonkey.ca in Canada. I also took the seats out of the car and attacked the connections in the harness under the carpet. I had three corroded and falling apart. I cleaned and re-soldered them then put shrink wrap on them. I had two with light corrosion that I cleaned and re-taped. The others looked good but I gave them all a cleaning and re-taped them also. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) Earlier today I installed the rear sway bar mounts. It was easier then i thought it would be. I put floor stands under the rear frame mounts [in front of the rear tires], removed the rear tires, put a ratcheting strap on the sway bar to "pull it in" then removed the sway bar bolts from both sides. Then it was a case of using a small pry bar to get the sway bar end out of the bracket [didn't take much persusion] and installing the mounts. I did use the floor jack to raise/lower the sway bar end to help line up the sway bar end hole to the bracket hole. I then put the bolts back in, put the tires back on, and was done. It took about 2 hours to do both of them. The use of the strap is important as the sway bar will "expand" to close to the bracket with the new mounts and could possibly tear as the end goes back in the bracket. It was something an alignment shop showed me when I tried doing my daughter's Audi and was having trouble. Let the strap do the holding while you are installing the new mounts and lining things back up to go in the bracket. Edited June 1, 2016 by DAVES89 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Added two blue led "theater lights" in bottom outside corners of the rearview mirror, hot with ignition on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Got back from the alignment shop. My tires were starting to wear a bit "funny" so I had the alignment checked. Sure enough the passenger front was off, so the alignment went from a "check" to a full alignment. I also had them spin balance the tires again and the wheels also needed a rebalancing. The local mechanic I sometomes used doesn't have a good enough machine. This alignment shop's machine also measures "force". Turns out two tires were outside the force specs so rather then replace the tires [no warranty] I just had them mounted on the rear. The front two tires were well within specs so will work well on the front. So I am back with all the tires back in the same places they were in prior to my doing a front brake job/tire rotation. Also when the mechanic took it for a test drive the horn started blowing and wouldn't turn off. He disconnected the wire at the horns, so when I got home I discovered the previous owner had installed a relay when he installed a four note horn. Swapped out the relay and all is good. BTW I am less then 20 posts from 5000. That is a lot of posts in 9 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 i finally mounted the 92?riv trans cooler.the two holes in the latch support were already there.maybe a cooler was optional on the 89 riv.i bent the mount on the other side and self tapping screwed it to the other side.it took me around ten feet of hose to hook it up since the cooler inlets point toward the drivers side.if i ever find another riv in the junkyard i will get the lines to hook it up looking all factory.btw the cooler was a plate type made by the same company that makes the transdapt coolers.i compared to one i have it was identical only much smaller.the mounting holes even lined up.i tried to use the transdapt cooler but it was too big.i also took my ac clutch apart to change the bearing only to find the pulley was broken into two pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 I also used a factory hole in the hood latch support bracket to mount one side of my transmission cooler. I used a hole that was already on the fan and a spacer to mount the other end. Mounting an aftermarket transcooler on the Reatta is real easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 2 hours ago, Ronnie said: I also used a factory hole in the hood latch support bracket to mount one side of my transmission cooler. I used a hole that was already on the fan and a spacer to mount the other end. Mounting an aftermarket transcooler on the Reatta is real easy. i used the 393 fittings eventhough amazon said they wouldn't fit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 6 hours ago, handmedownreatta said: i used the 393 fittings eventhough amazon said they wouldn't fit. I did too. You can see my tutorial on how I installed my cooler here: Transmission Cooler Installation Instructions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) Went "shopping" at Gibson's. They just got in a 1993 Riv. It had a bad steering column and ignition so I had to test the IPC [Instrument cluster] on a different Riv. Lit up so I bought it. Tested it further at home [indtalled it in the 'vert and drove it]. Everything works but the "Service A/C" light so works for me. [And anyone who might be interested in it]. I left the headlight switch behind as it wasn't a 1990 Reatta foglight switch. It was in good working order but the headlight button was "worn" and the sliders worked but were missing the buttons. I can go back if anyone wants it... Edited June 4, 2016 by DAVES89 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltmail Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Painting the chips away and actually reinstalled all bumper covers and trim. Now I am rebuilding my cracked front end grill. That is going well using a 2 part epoxy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 We were promised high winds, thunder storms and some hail tonight so I redid my garage to get all 3 cars inside. Of course nothing really happened... but what if? At any rate my day wasn't a total waste as there was an offering of a new front ABS sensor lead [Made in Japan] on ebay. It wasn't listed very well and I had only one competitor and bought it too cheap. I will test it to be sure it is in good working order. Can't have enough sensor leads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wws944 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 A little late in reporting this. (Sorry I've been MIA. Been having too much fun with my new Volt these days.) In May, my wife and I drove down to Los Angeles for the All GM Car Show/Reatta Rally. In preparation for the trip, my Reatta got fresh coolant and an oil change. We took the "scenic route" down 101. Had a fun time checking out the cars. Won a door prize. Unfortunately Jay Leno didn't show up this year. (Thanks, of course, to Ervin/Bushwack for hosting the event again!) After the show, we drove towards San Diego and made some visits. Return trip was a fast burn up I-5. We put nearly 1000 miles on the Reatta, and it ran great. Do need to do something about the AC though. Maybe it is time to switch to R134a. Might also be time to think about new windshield wipers. The current ones came from the Craft Center 26 years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 1 hour ago, wws944 said: . Might also be time to think about new windshield wipers. The current ones came from the Craft Center 26 years ago... you can't change them.then it won't be original.lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Attended my BCA Minuteman Chapter/POIC annual Buick/Pontiac/GMC car show at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Merrimack, NH, with my '91 Reatta on Sunday. Peer judged and my Reatta was in competition with 2 Fiero's and 1 Solstice. Sorry to say my car lost to those (crappy) Pontiacs. Was a 140 mile round trip...Reatta ran like a top. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Finally! did something for the old Buick. An oil change with a new oil level sensor. Wow getting the original metal one to crack and turn was a miserable/worrying experience I wasn't expecting. Replaced with the newer plastic style and it now works perfectly!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 The 'vert is still tucked away along the back of my garage. No sense of urgency to get it out as it has been rainy all weekend and more coming this week. That front ABS lead arrived in today's mail. It has a dealer label on it so it is New Old Stock [NOS] and available to anyone who wants to buy it. I slit the bag at the plug end just to test it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Installed Bosch Type III injectors today. Even though they are 26% oversized, the idle and low speed running is smoother than even before. Also found a Mahle-Clevite 1988 cam which came in the mail yesterday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 12 hours ago, Guest of you all here said: WE LIKE PICTURES What happened to "lightly turbocharged? Pics of a fuel injector won't show much other than they are skinny and a blue-gray color (24#). Same for the cam, one looks much like another unless installed with a degree wheel and dial indicator in place. I guess the sig should say Re-lightly turbocharged, thanks for pointing that out. There is a continuing story behind that I won't go in to in this thread. Just for reference, I finally found another '88 cam replacement part number and that search turned up a new, in the box cam on ebay for a decent price. The Clevite number is 229-2211 and looks correct based on a quick visual and caliper check. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 AFter diagnosing the cruise servo some months back using the info on Ronnies site ...I finally changed out the servo with a rebuilt unit and now cruise functions perfectly. That was the last non functional unit in the car...now on to the half baked stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 My paint store color matches thru their computer, then puts base coat in a rattle can, then I spray clear over such from rattle can also. I get a deal $11.20 for a can, the can has great nozzle, wide fan spray. Dale in Indy P.S. My dealer is DuPont, but now under a different name. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Yesterday afternoon the Red turned 250,000 miles. Song on the MP3 player? Eve of Destruction... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 This weekend we have been experiencing high temps [low to mid ninetys] with humidity well above 60% I decided to get a reading on the low pressure side while driving. It read -1 to 8/9 and then cycle back down to -1 again which from what I was told is right about where it should be. I sure like the diagnostic feature of the Reatta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 This weekend wet took a tour of the Tail of The Dragon at Deals Gap today. 318 curves in 11 miles! And then we drove the Cades Code 11 mile Loop all in the same day.. Got some photos for you below.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 My wife took the 'vert to work yesterday and called me after getting there. Someone told her that the brake lights weren't working, so I drove over and picked it up. I had been having problems with a lot of the exterior lights so I thought today is the day to address this. One corner light didn't work as a running light but worked as a directional, so I swapped a relay from the Red and that worked. Took a relay from backstock and put it in the Red so all running lights work. Then checked the fuse box and saw that the emergency flasher/brake fuse was blown, swapped that and got the brake lights/flashers working. Noticed that two high mount brake bulbs were blown. Then on to the turn signals. Wasn't getting a "clicking" noise from the flasher so I went into the dash and swapped the turn signal flasher with the emergency flasher. Now they worked so I knew I needed a new flasher. Job wasn't bad because two years ago I swapped out the flashers and "pulled down" the connectors so had easy access. So off to AutoZone to buy a new flasher and two #891 bulbs for the high mount brake lights. Got home and installed the new flasher for the directional moving the original flasher back to the Emergency flasher plug. Didn't install the light bulbs as I decided to go "shopping" at Gibson's as there was no way I was going to pay $10.00 each for light bulbs. Found 7 at Gibson's and got all of them for $1.00 plus a Mountain Dew for the counter guy. Installed the bulbs, checked my work and everything is all good. Should have been more diligent on this, but at least it is repaired. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordrodsteven Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) I've been slowly taking the things apart to get into the climate control system to change out a bad evaporator core. In the FSM it said to remove a bunch of items under the hood and then go inside up under the dash. I took out the seat and the cover below the glove box getting ready to dig in under the dash then I went out under the hood. So..... I dis-assembled as per the FSM. Turns out I never needed to go under the dash at all. The procedure is to dis-assemble the AC module components from the firewall under the hood. It would be a much easier job if the engine was not in there but it is doable. I pulled out the (badly leaking) evaporator core today. Now I am cleaning and painting all the components to begin re-assembly. This job actually turned out to be kind of a PITA but I'm getting it done. Edited July 10, 2016 by fordrodsteven (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I'm glad you are tackling the core. I pulled one once but it was done while disassembling my '88 so I didn't have to be careful about getting it out so long as the core wasn't damaged. The engine was out and still, I remember thinking that I hope I never have to pull one from a working vehicle. I didn't want to say this earlier as I didn't want to discourage you in your attempt. Good luck and keep us apprised of your progress. Don't forget... we all like pictures. John F. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Tomorrow if it doesn't rain I will be doing a little detailing on the Red. It has to sit outside as the 'vert and my wife's car gets "inside" preference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordrodsteven Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Thanks John, I got it done. In total probably took me about 8 hours of actual labor. Tore up my forearms a little bit jamming my hands down in there but I got it done! I've done jobs that I consider a lot worse. I was just a little concerned I might have missed a bolt when I had to pry the metal AC module cover away from the firewall. I didn't miss any bolts and it just took a little persuasion. Now for the re-charge and I should have a nicely functioning AC in the car. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordrodsteven Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Yes. two covers. The inner metal cover and the outer plastic (visible when you look in the engine compartment). There was a rusted hole in the bottom of the metal cover. I welded / patched it then repainted the cover. Ergo - It looks new. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 New O2 sensor installed, 79k on the motor, replaced the original one. Car runs noticeably waayy better 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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