1989 Buick Reatta Needs some help New Owner

[eglfan22]

I was curious what size fuel lines are on a 1989 Buick Reatta Coupe Mine are rusted and leaking wanted to pick up some line to start replacing them before I rip everything apart I like to know what sizes to pick up. 

Also has anyone had steering column thats loose I can move the wheel around alot it feels like its going to break off or something. 

Also wheres best place to get a Fuel Sending unit I like to replace it since it looks like its rusty I ordered new tank from dorman but no luck on a sending unit. I was reading on forum somewhere you could use a 1988 Cadillac Eldorado sending unit which is dorman # 692-102. 

Is there any special way you have to bleed the brakes on these I'm going to replace all 4 calipers, rotors,pads and couple of lines that are starting to leak  

 

I emailed Marck Barker "NCReatta" and Jim Finn about good sending that wasn't rusty waiting to see if email me back. 

Any help with this car would be great. 

[Barney Eaton]

The forum allows you to do a search for past items..... everything you ask about have been covered in the last 30 years. 

Start with a search on the reatta brakes and you will find a weeks worth of reading.    I am not trying to avoid your question but 

there is a lot of info to cover and there is no need to try and retype it when it already exists. 

Also try Ronnie's site... reattaowners.com  lots of info there organized into different sections of the cars.

[DAVES89]

The Dorman 692-102 is an exact replacement. I had one installed on my Red '89 last summer.

[padgett]

Are three screws inside a tilt column that get loose. Problem is you need to disassemble most of the way to get to them. See section 3F2 in the 1989 Factory Service Manual.

[eglfan22]

daves89 thanks what I needed to know if it was or not before I order it. Also do you happen to know what the 3 fuel line sizes looks like pressure and return have nuts on them and vapor line is just rubber ? I like to buy some tubing to replace them but I'm trying to have everything so my shop isn't stuck needing to order parts. Also I found rear brake lines are m10 x 1.0 nuts double flare with 3/16 lines does anyone know if front are same or not 

[2seater]

Brake lines are not double flare, they are bubble flares, far easier to make. The fitting dimensions of m10x 1.0 is correct as is the 3/16” brake tubing, front and rear. The fuel pressure line is 3/8”, return is 5/16” and the vapor line is 1/4”. All are steel tubing on an ‘89 with a short rubber transition hose at the rear by the tank.

[DAVES89]

42 minutes ago, eglfan22 said:

daves89 thanks what I needed to know if it was or not before I order it. Also do you happen to know what the 3 fuel line sizes looks like pressure and return have nuts on them and vapor line is just rubber ? I like to buy some tubing to replace them but I'm trying to have everything so my shop isn't stuck needing to order parts. Also I found rear brake lines are m10 x 1.0 nuts double flare with 3/16 lines does anyone know if front are same or not 

I had a shop install the sending unit. It must have been easy access tubing as they didn't charge me for additional parts. I also had them install a new fuel pump, as it made sense as they were already there. I also need to tell you that in my case the gauge reads different. In my case it shows about 4 gallons less then what is really in the tank. I believe that is the reason why it is not listed as an exact replacement. No problem to me as I like the idea of having more gas in the tank then what is shown on the gauge.

Edited February 23, 2021 by DAVES89 (see edit history)

[eglfan22]

Daves89 thanks that won't bother me either

2seater i meant bubble flare, so front and back brake lines are both the bubble flare with m10 fittings. The fuel lines are standard steel fittings nothing special i can just buy tubing size with normal standard ends 

[Jim]

19 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

I had a shop install the sending unit. It must have been easy access tubing as they didn't charge me for additional parts. I also had them install a new fuel pump, as it made sense as they were already there. I also need to tell you that in my case the gauge reads different. In my case it shows about 4 gallons less then what is really in the tank. I believe that is the reason why it is not listed as an exact replacement. No problem to me as I like the idea of having more gas in the tank then what is shown on the gauge.

Dave,

Interesting you mentioned your gauge is now off. i am sure you are correct that that is the reason for the different part numbers. A while back I was getting some sending units from other Buicks and noticed the resistor that the slide rubs on was different on different models. I remember one was about 350 ohms.

The correct resistance for all year Reattas is about 200 ohms so it must be that Cadillac probably using a different BCM and definitely a different instrument cluster will require a different value resistor on the sending unit.

[Jim]

Bleeding the brakes.

I believe you can also find this same info on Ronnie's site.

 

1. It is HIGHLY recommended that all the fluid in the whole system be
changed with new fluid to eliminate any built up moisture in the system.
2. Any time the brake hydraulic system is to be opened the brake pedal
should be pumped 25 times with the key off to bleed off the 2600
pounds of pressure in the accumulator.
3. Siphon out as much of the old fluid as possible from the reservoir and refill with clean fluid to the top. Another good way is to cut the rubber hose that comes from the reservoir right where it attaches to the ABS pump and let all the fluid in the reservoir run out. Then remove the piece of hose still attached to the pump and reinstall the rubber hose. It is long enough to do this. I like to cut it rather than try and remove it because the hose sticks really hard to the plastic fitting and you might break the fitting trying to take the hose off. Doing it this way you get all the fluid out of the reservoir before putting in new clean fluid.
4. When doing the rear wheels only let out about a half of a cup and then refill the reservoir. This is to make sure you don't take out too much and get air into the system.
5. To bleed the front brakes have the key off and bleed in a conventional
method. Have someone pump the pedal a few times and hold it down while the other person opens the front bleeders.
6. To bleed the rear brakes
A. Turn on the key and allow the system to pressurize
B. Have an assistant slightly depress the pedal and hold it.
C. Open each rear bleeder, one at a time, and hold open until clear
fluid comes out. (The pump and motor will do the bleeding)
When you are done there are high and low marks on the reservoir and after the system pump and motor has run and the lights are out the level should be at the low mark. When you have pumped the brakes with the key off 25 times the level will be at the high mark.
 

[Ronnie]

38 minutes ago, Jim said:

The correct resistance for all year Reattas is about 200 ohms so it must be that Cadillac probably using a different BCM and definitely a different instrument cluster will require a different value resistor on the sending unit.

I wonder if the fix for the incorrect reading could be as simple as bending the float rod a little to compensate?

[Jim]

On 2/23/2021 at 3:39 PM, Ronnie said:

I wonder if the fix for the incorrect reading could be as simple as bending the float rod a little to compensate?

That is a thought but would be pretty difficult. How much would you bend it and which way. Then you have a problem testing to see if you got it right.

This could be done with the tank out of the car and with a known amount of gas in the tank and then a temporary extension assembly of the wiring so you can plug it into the car and use the IPC to get the gauge to read correctly while bending.

All this having been said,   I am guessing you would might be able to get it near correct at maybe the low fuel end but then the full tank would be off my more.

The BCM and IPC are designed for a variable range of about 200 ohms.

[Ronnie]

Jim, In that case it would probably be better to just leave it alone. Like Dave said, it is better to have 4 gallons remaining on empty than run out of gas before the gas gauge reads empty.