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What did you do with your Reatta today.


DAVES89

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3 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

That looks great! You did a great job.

Thanks… I was really happy with how close the paint match came out. 

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Looks good. What happened?

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3 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Looks good. What happened?

Previous owner was an older gentleman with a very narrow garage…

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     Decided to try and get some better braking performance on my Reatta. The brakes always felt kinda spongy and like the pads were sliding on the rotors. I have been changing the brake fluid every 2-3 years, but it never made much difference in the 11 some years that I have owned it.

     Last weekend I changed front calipers and rotors using Delco parts, and some Bosch QuietCast semi-metallic pads. The brakes are way better now. Brakes start grabbing much better without the slipping feel, and I think I must have got more air out because they engage with slight pedal pressure. I think the calipers I took out were originals. They were not leaking at all, but maybe just old and stiff after 35 years.

     I still have to do the rear pads, calipers, and rotors when time permits. Now that its getting warmer here in Nebraska, it should be soon.

 

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Replaced the 1990 (Black) Reatta's oil pressure sensor today.  Well, "today" is a bit of an exaggeration.  After seeing weird oil pressure spikes every few seconds, and doing some internet research on the Buick 3800 engine family, it seemed like the sending unit was the most likely culprit.  I ordered a "Universal" oil sensor socket, for 1" and 1-1/16" oil sensor bases.  It wouldn't fit over the replacement oil pressure sensor I had on hand, so I sent it back and ordered a 1-1/16" deep socket instead.  I wasn't sure it would be deep enough, but once on hand, it fit over the replacement sending unit perfectly. 

 

Unfortunately, the Reatta's oil pressure sensor is in an extremely awkward location.  No way my new 1-1/16" deep well socket was going to get lined up above the sensor enough to slide over and allow for removal.  Way too many hard lines and metal brackets in the way.  I was fearing having to remove the whole power steering pump assembly just to access the sensor.  Note that, as best I can tell, the 1990 service manual says absolutely NOTHING about how to replace the oil pressure sensor.

 

Finally, I resorted to removing the passenger wheel, one of the wheel well splash guards, and using a shorty pair of Vise-Grips to get the OEM sensor out.  It was a bit of a blind reach, but it worked, barely.  And lo and behold, the OEM sensor is 1-1/4" at the base, so the 1-1/16" socket I bought wouldn't have even cleared the sensor body, say less engage the base.  I installed the  new unit (1-16" base, for what it's worth) the same way, Vise-Grip from below.  Had I known this in the first place, the whole procedure would have taken less than an hour, instead of nearly a week of waiting on sockets that in the end contributed nothing to getting the job done.

 

If you have a crow's foot the right size (for both your installed and your replacement sensors) you just might be able to do this from above, without the hassle of jacking the car up, removing the wheel, etc.  But I've never seen an 1-16" crow's foot.  I was tempted to grind my 1" out to fit, but in the end I would have been disappointed since the OEM unit's base was a full 1-1/4" anyway.  

 

Test drive shows steady oil pressure, so the OEM sending unit does appear to have been the problem.  For which I am grateful, as all the other reasons that the oil pressure could be spiking the gauge to the max every few seconds would have been much more serious.

Edited by sarookha
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On 3/9/2024 at 8:10 PM, DPS.01 said:

Previous owner was an older gentleman with a very narrow garage…

I'm inspired!  My Black 1990 is very clean, inside and out, but suffered similar insults to the body moulding from a PO.  The paint overall looks like at some point, someone used a dirty rag to clean off an overly enthusiastic wax job.  Lots of micro-swirl scratches over the entire car.  And wax residue in every crevasse.  Looks great from 5ft away or more, but up close and personal it needs some love.

 

Anyone know of a handy way to get excess wax out of all the nooks and crannies?

 

Edited by sarookha
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27 minutes ago, sarookha said:

Unfortunately, the Reatta's oil pressure sensor is in an extremely awkward location. 

I guess it depends on how you look at it. When I changed the one in my '88 Reatta I removed the belt, leaned over the fender, and loosened the sensor with a pair of channel lock pliers. It has tapered (pipe?) threads on it. About 1/2 turn and it was loose enough that I could screw it out with my hand. Same method was used to put the new one in.  Maybe your '90 is different? The most important thing is to grasp the sensor with the pliers by the metal part at the bottom - not by the top that is made of plastic.

 

oil_pressure_sender.JPG

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Sarookha, the oil pressure sensor on the 3800 engines is notorious for failing.  Ninety-nine times out of one hundred the actual oil pressure is fine as is the instrument gauge.  In the eleven years I've owned my '91 Reatta, I've replaced the oil pressure sensor four times.  Had the same issue with my two previously owned '92 Rivieras.   

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The connector sometimes fails as well, in which case it will show a pressure a few bars below normal, and somewhat erratic.

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Thanks for all the input!

 

Sounds like I'd better get good at this!  Ronnie, I'll try the reach from above next time, though my channel locks are way too long to clear the abundance of hard lines and stiff rubber lines and metal brackets around that area.  I was surprised that the shorty vise-grips opened wide enough to grasp an 1-1/4" base.

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