Big project this spring

[Frogware]

So he isn't a distant cousin or relative? How popular is your name out of curiosity? At least the guy has a good reputation.

[DAVES89]

There is about a dozen Dave Lemke's just in Wisconsin. One lives less then 10 miles from me. I have never met him but I did talk to him once on the phone.

[Frogware]

Wow

My last name (Bell) is one of the more common one's like Johnson and Jones and almost on a weekly basis I get people asking me...Do you know so and so Bell are you related; It is a little funny at times, but most of the time they act like I said something different. I then have to clarify it and say something like, You know ding dong door Bell.

[DAVES89]

A lot of Germans migrated to Wisconsin in the 1800's so it would stand to reason that our name would grow in numbers.

[DAVES89]

Okay over the last few weeks I made a concentrated effort to get some more Teves pump/motors. I have three units that work in all years 1988-1990 and one that is a 1988 early Reatta only. I bought that one from a yard in Chicago but I didn't buy it for the pump/motor. I bought it as I was sure the accumulator and pressure switch were good.

I am fortunate that 2seater lives in my area and he came over with his Teves Pump/motor tester. That 1988 unit has a excellent working ball and switch. The other three all work fine [pump/motor and pressure switch] but the accumulator balls are weak.

For 2seaters efforts I gave him the 1988 early addition pump/motor not so much for the pump but for the motor. He now has a back up motor for either one of his two Reattas should either one go bad.

I will leave it up to 2seater to explain what he designed. I thought it was impressive.

Thanks 2seater!

[2seater]

Yes, Dave and I ran through several pump accumulator combinations today. This was my first try with the three indicator lights connected, yellow abs, red pressure and blue for pump switch, which turned out to work pretty well. Thanks to Dave I now have the plugs to connect pump and pressure switch wiring more easily and quickly. I won't detail the results specifically but I did notice the trends of estimated gas pre-charge remain consistent with the amount of fluid pumped in. While we did not find a totally depleted accumulator, there was one that was down in the 150-200 psi range and held the most fluid @ 217ml. and had <12ml within the working range. It definitely would trip the pump on with approx., one pump or less. Two were in the sort of barely acceptable range of 400-500#. We did find one with over 800# of charge and would be acceptable as a decent backup while a new one was procured. This one should yield 2+ pumps and contained about 25ml. in the working range.

 

In conjunction we also tested four pressure switches and including the three tested before, on and off car, all seven total turn the pump on and off within the book values of 2000psi and 2600psi. I have not found a failed pressure switch yet. The other parts of the switch operate the yellow and red warning lights. These were slightly better than  the beater switch I was  using on my test pump, but fall just slightly low on the pressure required to turn the lights on and right at the low value to turn the lights off. In my opinion they were all good operational switches with the pump operating pressures spot on and the indicator lights very slightly out of range. A small caveat would be that observing the light and pressure at the same time is very difficult as there is always a lag between seeing the light and checking the associated pressure. With this almost doubled sample size, the original conclusions are confirmed and predictable.

 

As Dave can attest, the pumps run a long time before any real action happens on the pressure gauge with a failed accumulator, so it would seem the wear on the pump isn't just from the lack of reserve but also from excessively long run times on startup.

[Ronnie]

Good work guy! It's really good to see people working together like this to develop ways of testing the brake parts, repairing A/C temp sensors, and finding replacement parking brake cables. This type of work is needed to keep our Reattas on the road. I wish I had more to contribute to the efforts.

 

A small caveat would be that observing the light and pressure at the same time is very difficult as there is always a lag between seeing the light and checking the associated pressure.

 

If that is a real problem perhaps an audible indicator like a buzzer, bell, etc. could be added to the testing setup so you don't have to take your eyes off the pressure gauge.

[2seater]

Good work guy! It's really good to see people working together like this to develop ways of testing the brake parts, repairing A/C temp sensors, and finding replacement parking brake cables. This type of work is needed to keep our Reattas on the road. I wish I had more to contribute to the efforts.

 

 

If that is a real problem perhaps an audible indicator like a buzzer, bell, etc. could be added to the testing setup so you don't have to take your eyes off the pressure gauge.

 

Ronnie, you already do plenty with this site and everything associated with it, plus your seemingly inexhaustible ability to answer questions or redirect as needed. We are just trying to add to the database.

 

The setup I am using can be improved by moving the lights so they sit just above the gauge. A team approach worked pretty well and similar to your suggestion, Dave acted as the buzzer, calling out the lights while I observed the gauge. :D  The testing is somewhat roughcut but is sufficiently accurate for our purposes. Probably the easiest way to home in a little better would be to bump the pump up a little at a time in the approx. range of expected switch activation.

 

All of the testing described can be done on the car with a pressure gauge setup like I use. It was originally put together to check the pump switch points since I have been chasing the lack of "pumps" available, so it is a little more ungainly than one designed for bench test only. You would need a helper to watch the dash indicators and call them out as we did yesterday. The early '88 with the flex hose and banjo bolt is problematic right now, and would require a donor hose to make an adapter for the gauge setup.

[DAVES89]

That hose with a banjo bolt bleeder is like that on both ends. AZron has an extra hose. Maybe he might want to help...

[Ronnie]

I think you guys are on the right track and I hope it leads to the average Reatta owner being able to estimate the condition of his accumulator by using the fluid level drop in the reservoir.

 

 

Ronnie, you already do plenty with this site and everything associated with it, plus your seemingly inexhaustible ability to answer questions or redirect as needed. We are just trying to add to the database.

 

Thank you. I enjoy helping out when I can. Due to situations beyond my control, I will be limiting my participation in the other Reatta forum. I will still be reading the posts but I intend to take the, "only speak when you are spoken to", approach on that forum to avoid controversy and disrupting that forum. I will still be here to help Reatta owners when I can. Thank you for being part of this forum.

[DAVES89]

Looks like the Red won't let me go. I have another burned out bulb in my cornering lamp [replaced one two weeks ago] and I am going to swap out the Maf sensor. I am developing a bit of hesitation on acceleration. I am at this point ruling out the Idle Air Control as the engine was just cleaned when it was rebuilt. The RPM gauge reads 675 rock steady as it should which is another reason why I don't think it is that [iAC].

Good quick project for a Friday afternoon.

[ski.dive]

Looks like the Red won't let me go. I have another burned out bulb in my cornering lamp [replaced one two weeks ago] and I am going to swap out the Maf sensor. I am developing a bit of hesitation on acceleration. I am at this point ruling out the Idle Air Control as the engine was just cleaned when it was rebuilt. The RPM gauge reads 675 rock steady as it should which is another reason why I don't think it is that [iAC].

Good quick project for a Friday afternoon.

 

How boring life would be, without having an old Reatta that needs something fixed often...hahahah

[DAVES89]

Well I just got back in and it turned out I had another project. I had a "Red" light come on warning me of an electrical issue. I went to the gauge apge of the CRT and saw the alternator was only putting out 10.9 amps. So down to the basement for another alternator to swap in.

So swapped out 2 each 194 amber bulbs in my cornering lamps, 1 each MAF sensor, and 1 each alternator. I have 2 each alternators that have bad front bearings so I am going to try swapping the front part of the alternaor.

[Ronnie]

Dave,

Rebuilding the Reatta alternator is something you could easily do if you want to install new bearings. I rebuilt mine several years ago.

[DAVES89]

I appreciate the idea but I think first I am going to swap the "front end" which is the fan and the bearing shaft and see if that works. Hate to say it publicly but that seems the easiest way and has I have so many alternators why not try it.

[DAVES89]

Okay got the alternator issue sorted out. After running some high RPMs to see what my HP is the car started running real rough. It wasn't the MAF sensor as I swapped it with a known good one. I checked the spark at the coils with a spark plug tester it wasn't the Ignition Module/Coil Pack but I still swapped that with a known good one. It turned out to be a spark plug wire. I didn't swap them when we did the engine swap [but I did swap the spark plugs] as they didn't have many miles on them. But I guess the Red wants all new so on they go. I had bought extra sets of wires when Rock Auto had a close out so I already have them in inventory.

Then I took the car out to do a Horse Power test using 2seaters recomendation to use the ed21 page which is the MAF sensor flow page to get an indication. My first runs it would go up to 98 and start over. It took me a while to realize that it was only a 2.x digit format so I then read the numbers as they "started over". The next time I ran it I got 127.9 the next time 129.x. Using 2seaters formula of 1.32 x the reading I come up with about 170-175 HP. So it cost me about $100.00 a horse. I was hoping for 190 or so but that is what I get.

[2seater]

Okay got the alternator issue sorted out. After running some high RPMs to see what my HP is the car started running real rough. It wasn't the MAF sensor as I swapped it with a known good one. Ichecked the spark at the coils with a spark plug tester it wasn't the Ignition Mdule/Coil Pack but I still swapped that with a known good one. It turned out to be a spark plug wire. I didn't swap them when we did the engoine swap [but I did swap the spark plugs] as they didn't have many miles on them. But I guess the Red wants all new so on they go. I had bought extra sets of wires when Rock Auto had a close out so I already have them in inventory.

Then I took the car out to do a Horse Power test using 2seaters recomendation to use the ed21 page which is the MAF sensor flow page to get an indication. My first runs it would go up to 98 and start over. It took me a while to realize that it was only a 2.x digit format so I then read the numbers as they "started over". The next time I ran it I got 127.9 the next time 129.x. Using 2seaters formula of 1.32 x the reading I come up with about 170-175 HP. So it cost me about $100.00 a horse. I was hoping for 190 or so but that is what I get.

 

What was the temperature and barometer when testing? It needs to be cool, in the 60-70*F range, and 30ish on the barometer for best results. Cooler is better but the above is closer to what would be called standard conditions. It does get scary running it full throttle all the way through a gear and past the shift. There is a small lag time as the data is converted to the readout so the peak may show slightly after when it is expected.

[DAVES89]

It was warmer when I tried it so I will try again tomorrow. It will be cooler and the humidity won't build until tomorrow afternoon. I'll go about 6-7 am.

[DAVES89]

Today was 136.4. hard to know exactly as I am trying to watch the road and also the CRT. Maybe a couple of points higher but still close to 175 HP. Coming from an engine that had 260,000 miles on it to this is an improvement.

One other plus don't have to worry about blowing out the tranny either.

[2seater]

Today was 136.4. hard to know exactly as I am trying to watch the road and also the CRT. Maybe a couple of points higher but still close to 175 HP. Coming from an engine that had 260,000 miles on it to this is an improvement.  

One other plus don't have to worry about blowing out the tranny either.

 

Hmmm, if the calculation is close, that's 180hp. I know there are several "ifs", and lacking a baseline reading from before, that's a 9% increase. Cool air is a big plus.