New? instrument panel repair source found.

[Barney Eaton]

I received a flyer from BBA Reman in Taunton MA this last week. I finally got around to calling them to see if they can repair Reatta instrument clusters.

The say they can rebuild both the '88-89 and '90-91 versions. The price is $99 plus shipping and they come with a limited lifetime warranty.

They also do newer cars and other electronic devices for newer cars but were not sure they could do Reatta ECM or BCM repair.

Their web site is www.bba-reman.com and the phone is 866-573-2740

If anyone tries them please post your experience here and/or call me and I will remove this post if there is any problem with them.

Also if anyone feels this should be in the Buy/Sell section, I will also move it.

[Guest 89 Maui]

Barney -

I think you should put it in the buy/sell section.

When the panel cluster goes, there is an immediate need to know where and who can give them service.

I always feel that anyone wanting to try a new source should give a company that chance to prove themselves. If a bad experience is encountered, depending on the circumstance, then the forum should decide whether to keep the company in the buy/sell.

Woody

[Guest RaverReatta]

If they actually do what they claim, then awesome!!!! I'd send mine there.

[KDirk]

I'll add that $99 with a lifetime warranty seems like an exceptional deal. Most places offering repair of these clusters are getting $125-150 typically, and with a warranty from 30 days to 1 year. Sounds like it is worth a shot.

KDirk

[Barney Eaton]

Now you are getting the point, I would not have posted it if their price was $250.

[Jim]

Digital Dash Solutions, who I had been recommending recently raised their price from $ 150 to $ 199.

One of the posters on this forum just emailed me saying he sent them his and the bill was $ 209 including return shipping.

After hearing Digital raised their prices I spent about a half hour calling other places I found on the internet and none of them were lower than Digital and most quite a bit higher.

Over a year ago I sent 16 bad ones to a repair place here in MN and then his guy quit so he couldn't finish them. I sort of forgot about them until last week and gave the guy a call. He was glad I called as he had just moved and also sort of rediscovered the IPCs I had sent him and he thought he could maybe do something with them. I was supposed to call him back late last week but kept forgetting and the same this week. I will contact him and see how things are progressing and let everyone know if he will be a good option.

[Guest William Vernon]

Barney, I sent bba-reman a dead cluster and they found something fried (like maybe the power supply or transformer?). Anyway, the part was no longer available so I had them toss it or use it for spare parts. That was my experience

[KDirk]

William,

Most of the commonly failing parts in the 90/91 cluster are available, but you need to know how to cross reference these. GM/Delco used "house numbers" on all the transistors and IC's, so unless you know what the industry standard part number is, you are out of luck on sourcing a replacement. There are a couple of transformers in the power supply, though it would be quite unusual for these to fail open or short, unless some other component failed spectacularly and heated up the transformer to the point it melted the windings internally. Not impossible, but very unlikely.

The vast majority of 90/91 IPC failures can be traced to cold (cracked) solder joints that result in loss of data (this is the "00/error" display that one gets) or a few burned out transistors, resistors and capacitors (oh, and 1 or 2 diodes) in the high voltage grid/anode power supply that drives the vacuum fluorescent displays. This failure causes complete black-out of the digital displays, though generally the telltale lamps continue to function when this happens.

I would figure BBA reman has the expertise to recognize these issues and troubleshoot accordingly. Having not dealt with them myself, I've no idea of their track record. I keep hoping someone here will post about a successful transaction with them, so we know what the status of their service is.

KDirk

[Barney Eaton]

Parts availabity is a problem we will continue to be, descrete components are not a problem, but custom chips often make repairs impossible.

As the electronics in automobiles (and everything else) advances, we need to keep post like this alive so that we will have sources for our cars parts.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)

[KDirk]

Barney,

agree with that fully. Also need to reiterate that bad IPC's, CRTs, and other modules should not be chucked even if not repairable, as they may contain the part needed to repair another unit with less serious problems in the future. Kind of doubt I will ever have a problem on 90/91 IPCs myself as I have over 40 non-working ones sitting here in storage awaiting my free-time to repair them. Some will not be repairable due to major damage, and will be parts donors.

The items that may become a problem are climate control heads, AC programmers, CRTC's and other special purpose stuff that, unlike the BCM/ECM and ABS modules, are unique to only one or two models, and are not rebuilt by any of the usual suspects.

For those of us with grand plans on keeping these cars on the road in the long term, we will need to be sure to stock our own spares as future availability will be an issue.

KDirk

[DAVES89]

That's a good point Kevin about not throwing away any units when they go bad. I will gladly pay freight to send them to anyone who wants them. As you know I sent some to you, and I also gave some to Jim just to keep them in circulation.

Good idea for us junkers to grab CCRT's, and PCM's as well...

[KDirk]

Dave,

I know salvage yard pricing can vary wildly, but if things like CRTC's (88/89), climate control heads (90/91) A/C programmers (all years) and RKE modules (89-91) can be had cheap enough (and in many cases they can) they are worth grabbing, even though some are difficult to remove due to the amount of dis-assembly and acrobatics involved in getting to them. At around 23-25 years old, these modules are still showing a remarkable track record of reliability, but I am not so sure that will continue to be the case in 5 years from now.

Many of these modules could be saved for the longer term by simply replacing the original electrolytic capacitors contained therein, as when these go bad [i.e. out of spec] they tend to damage other components in the circuit. If the capacitor induced failures can be averted by replacement in advance of such an event, most of the rest of the electronics in these modules could/should last almost indefinitely. Presently, I have a CPS, BCM and A/C programmer I am preparing to re-cap so as to have good spares in reserve. At some point, I should put these in the car and re-cap the ones currently in use.

It is worth noting that in solid state electronics, most components are very reliable over the long term. The one notable exception is electrolytic capacitors. These are of a design that dates more or less to before World War II, and while they have been vastly improved upon in the intervening decades, they still have a lifespan limited to about 3 or 4 decades tops, and that is under ideal conditions. The temperature extremes of the car are far from ideal operating parameters, so they can be expected to fail sooner.

Should also point out that other types of capacitors (ceramic, film, tantalum, etc.) are not generally susceptible to these shortcomings, as electrolytics contain a liquid paste form electrolyte (hence their name) that can and does dry out over time. Once this occurs, the operating characteristics change - usually quite rapidly and substantially - and that is the point at which the "magic smoke" is dispatched post haste. The key point here is to avoid that outcome by getting out in front of the failure, as a preventive maintenance item. Simply doing that can probably eliminate many if not most failures of these modules.

Mechanically, we will have our challenges going forward. That said, I think my over-arching concern with the Reatta, more than anything else, is the electronics. These will all fail at some point, and without good spares to replace them, the car becomes a boat anchor. Relying on working used parts is not a panacea, as these are of the same age and condition as what is being replaced. For this reason, and the fact that Reattae and related models will become much more scarce in junk yards over time, in the next few years we can expect the supply of original, unaltered modules that work to start drying up.

Of course, if one were industrious and knowledgeable enough, most of the electronics could be stripped from the car but this would require a lot of re-work and in turn the loss of one of the key design elements that makes the Reatta so unique. Not sure it would be worth keeping a Reatta that was lobotomized of it's technology, even if could be made to run ok.

KDirk

[Guest William Vernon]

They wanted $35 to send back my dead cluster, so I said it's yours now.

[bobwhite]

I had BBA repair my IPC back in January of 2013. They did a good job and I got it back in five days. Turnaround time for repair was just 1 day. Considering the price of $99, and the fast and excellent service, I recommend them strongly for IPC repair.

[KDirk]

Bob, thanks for passing that along. It is nice to have some kind of validation regarding the quality of service for a new vendor that has not established a reputation among us (yet). Obviously, someone needs to be the first to give any new outfit a try, and to report back whether the experience was good or bad. I had some reservations about BBA at first only because their price seemed rather low for a 90-91 IPC. Other vendors are offering this service at $150-200 now, though I cannot say if perhaps they aren't doing additional work beyond the basic required repairs just to get a unit working.

In any event, nice to have some solid feedback on this outfit.

KDirk

[Guest tonypowell]

Kevin,

I just had the IP smoke and go to black on my 1990 today. When I took it apart, i believe i found the culprit. Unfortunately, I dont know what to call them (resistors perhaps). They are flat, silver, Motorola, and have a hole thru each one of them. Maybe a half inch high? They are what failed and smell quite toasty. I will try to get a pic for you. They are near the lengthwise edge of one of the boards and you can see where the solder got hot and these 2 "items" are now slanting in the board instead of being upright. Also, evidence of solder loss and I'm guessing the merge of solder across both connections caused the burn.

Having said all this....any ideas on avalibility if I can get the numbers off these?

Also, what are the chances that after these are replaced all will be well with the IP? Has it been the experience of guys on the forum, that other parts of the IP are damaged when this failure happens?

Thanks, Tony

[Guest steveskyhawk]

It is a shame that this new IPC overhaul has mixed reviews. My guess is there is no profit in this kind of service. If in time it turns out to be an unreliable shop, a good solution in my opinion to fix this problem is to replace the IPC with a good tested used unit. If anybody needs one I have them in my eBay store. Link below in my signiture.

Edited March 28, 2013 by steveskyhawk (see edit history)

[Machiner 55]

To all,

I wasn't looking for this but ran across this outfit while perusing a regional rag selling cars and trucks. I know nothing about them, only what's on their web page but it says that they can fix Reatta ('90-'91) and Riviera ('90-'93) speedometers for $110.00. Includes a lifetime warranty and unlimited mileage. Here's the link: Speedometer Repair Guy Speedometer

John F.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Machiner 55 (see edit history)

[Guest tonypowell]

Kevin,

I just had the IP smoke and go to black on my 1990 today. When I took it apart, i believe i found the culprit. Unfortunately, I dont know what to call them (resistors perhaps). They are flat, silver, Motorola, and have a hole thru each one of them. Maybe a half inch high? They are what failed and smell quite toasty. I will try to get a pic for you. They are near the lengthwise edge of one of the boards and you can see where the solder got hot and these 2 "items" are now slanting in the board instead of being upright. Also, evidence of solder loss and I'm guessing the merge of solder across both connections caused the burn.

Having said all this....any ideas on avalibility if I can get the numbers off these?

Also, what are the chances that after these are replaced all will be well with the IP? Has it been the experience of guys on the forum, that other parts of the IP are damaged when this failure happens?

Thanks, Tony

Bad news for my IP. After the bench work and the new parts, we reinstalled the IP and the screen is still black. I ordered one from Jim Finn. Update.....the new IP from Jim Finn works like a champ and he is an honorable guy as well.

Update....The IP that I installed also failed today 6-30-13. Was in the car just under 3 months.

Edited June 30, 2013 by tonypowell (see edit history)

[Guest reattacascada]

HI ALL

 

HERE ARE COMPLETE PICS AND SUMMARY:

 

VEE’S 1990 BUICK REATTA W SUN ROOF

 

1.

BURNT DIODE ON IPC / INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/ DIGITAL DASH

 

SYMPTOM: WARNING LIGHTS ONLY AND BUTTONS ON DASH SEEM TO RESPOND AND BLINK UPON TEST…NO DIGITAL DASH DATA THOUGH…IE NO SPEED, GAS, MILEAGE...ZERO...NADA...

 

2. DETAILS:

MIDDLE PCB – PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD WITH RIBBONS AND POWER SUPPLY LABLED:

 

PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ETCHED NAME:

 “ 25-67513-1

REV C 34-90

ASSEMBLED IN MEXICO “

 

DIODE IN QUESTION: (TOO BURNT TO SEE / WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?):

 

DIODE LOACTION CR5 – NEXT TO POWER SUPPLY – SEE IT’S ODD SYMBOL ON PCB PICTURED

 

LEADS GO TO:

 

DIODE’S CATHODE LEAD….TO CAPACITOR C15 (POS +..SPECS 35V/ 330uF )

 

ANNODE LEAD GOES TO POWER SUPPLY ..APPEAR TO BE SECOND FROM LAST TERMINAL

 

THATS IT FOR NOW...THANKS AGAIN FOR HELPING ME EXPLORE A SOLUTION ...

 

VEE

[uwcharliet]

I will try this new $99 source for my 1988 Reatta coupe that needs cluster repair.  I will report back on this thread regarding my experience.