Car won't start

[Reatta90]

Hey guys, I have a 1990 Buick reatta, which I've spent lot sir hours working on in the past but basically it had transmission problems so a friend and I replaced the transmission. Although, not the best (considering we got the tranny from a pull a part) but it's way better than it was. So I had a functioning cluster with the fuel and voltmeter and all of that working. Well one day I made a trip and had the car parked and idling and it just shut off. So after a bunch of looking and poking around, I found a power steering line had grounded out the main starter wire. Which once found it made many functions stop working like cruise control, every thing on the cluster except the temperature, speedo, and tach. So I decided to replace the bcm a couple weeks ago to fix this issue, and nothing different happened, well about 2 days ago I went out in the morning to start the car and it tries to start but won't fire and the battery is draining very quickly. So I replaced the ignition module and nothing different, and it has plenty of gas. So I dont know if I need to put the old bcm back in or not and I've noticed the relays don't click on and off when I connect and disconnect the battery. Any help would be great. 

Edited June 7, 2017 by Reatta90 (see edit history)

[F&J]

I don't work on "smart" cars with needing newer testing units, in my vintage car repair shop..

 

You cannot keep swapping parts.  You need someone with a code reader.  If the car was sitting at AutoZone, they do it for free.  Find someone local that is kind enough to help you, as your car is stuck at home.

[fordrodsteven]

3 hours ago, Reatta90 said:

Hey guys, I have a 1990 Buick reatta, which I've spent lot sir hours working on in the past but basically it had transmission problems so a friend and I replaced the transmission. Although, not the best (considering we got the tranny from a pull a part) but it's way better than it was. So I had a functioning cluster with the fuel and voltmeter and all of that working. Well one day I made a trip and had the car parked and idling and it just shut off. So after a bunch of looking and poking around, I found a power steering line had grounded out the main starter wire. Which once found it made many functions stop working like cruise control, every thing on the cluster except the temperature, speedo, and tach. So I decided to replace the bcm a couple weeks ago to fix this issue, and nothing different happened, well about 2 days ago I went out in the morning to start the car and it tries to start but won't fire and the battery is draining very quickly. So I replaced the ignition module and nothing different, and it has plenty of gas. So I dont know if I need to put the old bcm back in or not and I've noticed the relays don't click on and off when I connect and disconnect the battery. Any help would be great. 

 

You will get answers if you post this information in the Buick Reatta forum. Those guys are very knowledgable in troubleshooting and repairing the cars. Go down a page into the Buick forums and then into the Reatta forum. You might even find something if you do a search and make sure it has the work "Reatta" in your search parameters. Just saying "Car won't start" gets you information from anything that won't start. (brass/ pre-war, classic and anything else that people try to get started)

[JACK M]

Might there be a fuseable link?

[Digger914]

6 hours ago, Reatta90 said:

Hey guys, I have a 1990 Buick reatta, which I've spent lot sir hours working on in the past but basically it had transmission problems so a friend and I replaced the transmission. Although, not the best (considering we got the tranny from a pull a part) but it's way better than it was. So I had a functioning cluster with the fuel and voltmeter and all of that working. Well one day I made a trip and had the car parked and idling and it just shut off. So after a bunch of looking and poking around, I found a power steering line had grounded out the main starter wire. Which once found it made many functions stop working like cruise control, every thing on the cluster except the temperature, speedo, and tach. So I decided to replace the bcm a couple weeks ago to fix this issue, and nothing different happened, well about 2 days ago I went out in the morning to start the car and it tries to start but won't fire and the battery is draining very quickly. So I replaced the ignition module and nothing different, and it has plenty of gas. So I dont know if I need to put the old bcm back in or not and I've noticed the relays don't click on and off when I connect and disconnect the battery. Any help would be great. 

 

I took a quick peak at the Reatta site before coming back to give you a few pointers.

 

One bad ground connection can give you all of these problems, check them all.

 

Gas in the tank doesn't mean that you have fuel pressure at the rail, that needs to be checked. The pump is electric, no voltage to the pump check fuses and relays.

 

Ignition modules cost more than crank position sensors and when they go bad the end result is the same. The ignition module is easy to replace, the crank sensor is a bit of a pain, always check for CPS signal.

 

The Reatta isn't your average old Buick, it actually has a useful driver information center, the owners manual will tell you how to use it. If you don't have the manual get one from the Reatta site. The Reatta also has problems and fixes specific to the Reatta, The guys on the Reatta site aren't regulars on the technical section and you could be here a long time before you get spotted by someone who can answer a Reatta specific question.

 

[Reatta90]

Okay, I will do all of that, thank you!

 

[Reatta90]

How do I test the CPS?