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What did you do with your Reatta today.


DAVES89

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Looks good and suits the car IMHO. Aside from ride, have you noticed any performance difference? The diameter is more than an inch greater than stock so has the effect of lowering the final drive ratio as well as making the speedometer read low. 

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Those are great looking wheels. I have always thought the Reatta needed more chrome. Good for you.

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On 9/28/2019 at 4:29 PM, Jay said:

You are making me homesick Ronnie!  Grew up in Knoxville but stuck down here in flat, hot Savannah. Looking forward to coming up when the leaves change.  I want to ride both my Reatta and my bike.  I wonder if I can put a hitch on the Reatta so I can do both?!

Savannah is a nice place. We have visited there several times. We usually stay in Hilton Head and drive to Savannah for a day trip.  When the leaves change Tennessee has lot of beautiful places to drive.   Doesn't look like the leaves are going to change this year.  So far no rain this month and 90+ degree temperatures.  It is possible to put a trailer hitch on a Reatta. Several people have done it.

 

Good looking wheels on your car.  I like 5 spoke chrome. I once had a set of 5 spoke Mustang wheels on my car.\

 

devils_triangle (3).JPG

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You can have some of our rain Ronnie! Just today they said we set a recorded history high of 39" and we still have 3 months to go...

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My yard looks brown like straw.  It might die out for good if we don't get rain soon. The best chance we have for any rain will be 20% on Friday.

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21 hours ago, 2seater said:

Looks good and suits the car IMHO. Aside from ride, have you noticed any performance difference? The diameter is more than an inch greater than stock so has the effect of lowering the final drive ratio as well as making the speedometer read low. 

1.  Speedometer: When comparing my speedometer to the GPS, I get about a 2 mph difference with the speedometer reading the lower mph as expected.  I went out to test it today to give you specific number, but of course my speedometer went blank.  I think I have a heat related issue in the IPC.  This is the second time in a week that it has failed to light up in the hottest part of the day.  Running in the high 90's down here in Savannah.

2.  Acceleration:  If anything the acceleration feels better than before. Since I am not really pushing it to the limits anyway, probably more of a hopeful mental suggestion than a reality.

3.  Handling:  The overall turning and tracking feels much better with the wider tires.   However, I am disappointed that there is still what I call the "Buick bunny hop" coming from the rear end.  At speeds greater than 55 mph I get a hop to one side or the other when I hit even a small bump.  I don't expect true sport handling, but I wish it was a little more firmly planted.

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Thanks for the input. Our 3800 is pretty torquey at low rpm so it may work just fine with more gear?  I have had cars that did the sideways thing too, and usually it was something mechanical, like a thrust angle (a misnomer in this case) or alignment out of spec, perhaps a bad rear shock? These cars are very softly sprung with a total load capacity of only 500# which I think magnifies any issue. I don't know if the increased unsprung weight from the new tire /wheel combo has any effect.

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With 225/60/16s my '88 seems a little sluggish compared to the stock 15" wheels and tires.  I usually drive around in 3rd gear unless I'm on the Interstate. Seems like the car has more pep.  With the 15" wheels I could squeal the tires taking off. Just a chirp with the 16" tires.  Part of the reason for that might have been the stock tires were pretty worn. 16" wheels have almost new Michelin's on them.

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I did  the seafoam engine cleaning of the intake, changed the IAC, and air filter.    Getting pretty good at this, and love how serviceable this car is, but still have a bit of rough idle when engine is hot. 

Edited by Red88beauty
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1 hour ago, Red88beauty said:

I did did the seafoam engine cleaning of the intake, changed the IAC, and air filter.    Getting pretty good at this, and love how serviceable this car is, but still have a bit of rough idle when engine is hot. 

Normally the 3800 is a really smooth when idling. Has the O2 sensor been changed?  It can effect how the engine runs after it gets hot. 

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Im not sure, I just got purchased the car and the O2 sensor wasn't in the list so I may give this a try.  Thanks!

On 10/1/2019 at 4:38 PM, Ronnie said:

Normally the 3800 is a really smooth when idling. Has the O2 sensor been changed?  It can effect how the engine runs after it gets hot. 

 

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Looks like I'm going to be putting the 'vert in storage tomorrow and getting out the Black for winter driving. Also coming out from my friend's shed is the '88 Black/Tan I bought about a month ago. It also will be going back in storage at my house as a back up winter driver. The Black I've owned for about 8 years is still a good runner but after 8 Wisconsin winters it may break down or rust through. Either thing happens it will get parted out and taken to Gibson's and it will be the '88 Black's turn. It's really a nice car and will be a joy to drive.

 The Red gets stored in about two weeks [first of November]. I park it cross ways along the back of the garage. The '88 Black/Tan will be in one stall and my wife's Enclave will be in the other. The Original Black will be outside full time, which will probably finish it off. It's been a great car with about 120,000 miles that I put on it, I think I will miss it.

 You might remember I also have that '89 Red/Tan I picked up about a year ago and stored at another friend's house. If time permits it will be parted out this fall. Too bad as it really is a good runner but the interior is about a 5 and the car is rusting and has some serious scrapes on the fenders. Bought it cheap and will do good on the parts taken from it. 

 

 

 

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Dave, How do the cradle bushings look on that black car after driving as much as you have in the snow?  Seems like they would be sprayed with snow and salt when you turn the wheels.

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Hope you didn't jinx me, but they looked good last spring when I put it away. Something to check.

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Okay both Black coupes are home and the '88 Black is in the garage along the front and my wife's Enclave and the Red are in side by side. Both Blacks had the same brake warning, telling me I had low brake pressure. I tapped the relay under the hood, but I don't think it was the relay, because the Red dash light was out by the time I got a screwdriver to do the tapping. The '89 Black's light stayed out but the '88 Black's light came back on while I was driving. Fortunately I didn't have far to go and I drove careful enough to not use the brake pedal and got home.

 I believe the pressure switch is the culprit and will take a look at that. I hope it is not the pump and motor as the '88 Black is an early car and I don't have an extra [pump and motor]. If it turns out to be that I will just swap out the entire Teves unit, and "hang it" in the '89 Red that I will be soon parting out. I already have a junk battery for that '89 junker.

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With that many Reattas there's bound to be something wrong with at least one of them. It's odd that two of them had the same problem at the same time. It's good that you have the parts and the knowledge to fix most anything that pops up.  I hope it's an easy fix.

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On 10/1/2019 at 4:38 PM, Ronnie said:

Normally the 3800 is a really smooth when idling. Has the O2 sensor been changed?  It can effect how the engine runs after it gets hot. 

Ronnie , do you happen to know where any instructions or tips on changing the o2 sensor could be located or any diagrams/pics of where it's actually located?

Edited by Red88beauty
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The O2 sensor is located on the top of rear exhaust manifold, nearest to the driver's side .  You should use a special O2 sensor socket to remove it. I recommend you spray penetrating oil around the threads of the sensor the night before to make it easier to remove. Below is a photo of the sensor.  As you can see it has a wire coming out the top. That is the reason you need a special socket to remove it.

 

AFS21_Primary__ra_p.jpg

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You can get the wrench as a free rental from AutoZone or Advance Auto. 

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On 10/10/2019 at 7:51 PM, Ronnie said:

With that many Reattas there's bound to be something wrong with at least one of them. It's odd that two of them had the same problem at the same time. It's good that you have the parts and the knowledge to fix most anything that pops up.  I hope it's an easy fix.

Yeah that seemed weird to me also. The other thing is that the CRT screen popped up "Low brake pressure" not "Low brake fluid level" but both cars did need brake fluid. As there were no wet spots around the wheels I am assuming that the accumulators are starting to get bad and brake pad wear which would account for the brake fluid. Bsfore checking the brake fluid I did "pump up" the brakes until I got a hard pedal and then checked and filled the fluid and then turned the key and both pumps ran for about a minute [didn't time it] and then shut off. I will monitor it. 

 Also the '88 Black throws an e041 code and then goes to history. I will need to check it out but won't until I put the Red away as the '88 Black is in the Red's winter spot. That will be in about 2 weeks.  

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