88 Reatta CRT Distorted

[Rodjaxx]

Can somebody tell me if my many problems can be related:

#1 Bad mileage (12 MPG)

#2 A BAD shudder with the torque converter locked and cruise on(48mph/1350rpm real bad, 65mph/1750 not quiet as bad, even on level road and worse on a grade)

#3 CRT screen has developed (last week)a 1/2" distorted line across the screen, iteds in the destorted area still work when touched.

#4 Pass door ajar comes on when door is closed, if I open door and hand trip the latch I won't get an error

What I have done:

New coil

New Plat. Delco plugs

New plug wires

New Ox sensor

New Air filter

New Fuel filter

New Vacum lines (I had driven the car from NY to Illinois, about 1,000 miles with no cruise. When I got home and checked out the cruise I found a vac. line burned into)

From F14CRAZY's post "$1,185.98. Still not fixed" I suspect the ECM may be bad, but before I buy a reman. one and install it are any of my promlems going to screw up the new one?

Thanks

Rich

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Are you reading gas milage by the screen? It'll take maybe 25 miles of driving for it to get a reasonably accurate average.

I'm willing to bet that the shudder is from a faulty coil pack. I speak from experience, twice. Go to a salvage yard and tell them you want a coil pack from a '95 Park Avenue (a good benchmark). It'll be around $60. It looks different because it's a Delco coil instead of a Magnavox (round "towers" instead of square) but they're superior to the Magnavox coils. It'll bolt right in and the connector will plug in, and you'll be good to go. Maybe 30 minutes labor; it's pretty straightforward. If you prefer something that's brand new and/or you want the stock look, Accel makes a performance coil that's a direct replacement for the Magnavox (around $90 from Jegs mail order) which is what we have now.

If the coil pack is not bad (it's the cheap, easy, and most likely your problem) then we'll try the ECM.

If you can solder, you can remove the CRT and touch the joins on the power connector of the CRT. I haven't done it myself but I've heard it works. There's also a service (someone else here will fill you in, for I don't know the contact info) that will rebuild the CRT. It's likely that the joins are bad though, and that's all it needs.

Not sure on the door.

I've noticed that when the coil pack goes bad, acceleration isn't as good as it should be from a stop but isn't that bad. Then as you said, the car will shudder at certain speeds in overdrive/TCC lock (like cruising at 70 mph) but won't shudder if you shift out of overdrive. If I was there I'd bet money on the coil pack.

[padgett]

1&2 are probably related and if it were me, that would be a good reason to convert to the Delco ignition. See http://6007.us/coils.htm . 3 and 4 are probably unrelated. 4 is probably the door switch.