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The following is an update to my Reatta situation. Taking the advice of the experts on this forum, I put my adopted 1988 Reatta in the shop on this past Friday. Mentioned to the mechanic who has been trying to figure out what the issues were, to check out the fuel system, check the codes, and possibly it could be the cam sensor. He responded "it could be, I'll do my best to get it fixed." Picked the car up that night close to 9:00 pm. It started up nicely drove it about 13 miles and was feeling good, thinking that whatever he did, it worked. On my return back home, Ms. Reatta was cruising nicely hitting sustained speeds up to 50 mph--a first. Noticed the date had reverted back to January 1, 1987! Assumed they reset it back to factory settings. Interesting! Just as I'm cruising, thinking good thoughts, and feeling good, I hear beep beep. Look at the control panel and got a message saying "Vehicle Computer Communication Problem Detected." The beeping went on for about half an hour. But when I checked into the subcategories under "Diagnostics" button, Climate, Fluids, Vehicle, Engine all said "ok." But each time I pressed the button to go further into the main category, each item was saying there was a problem. Like: Climate Control-Low A/C refrigerant; A/C Refrigerant overheated; brake fluid low; fuel very low: Now this made me think--wait a minute. The care was just filled up, so this can't be true. Then Washer Fluid low; Not true: Engine Oil Level low: Even said passenger door ajar; Definitely not true. I wondered could these all be false alarms? After about a half an hour the beeping stopped. I parked the car and didn't get back in until Sunday. I drove the car another 13 miles one-way. Experienced the same beautiful, smooth ride with no beeping. On my return trip it was the same. Drove the car again today and had the same great experience: crisp start, smooth ride, quiet engine, no beeping. I'm really happy with how the car is driving and since the beeping stopped, I'm thinking it's performing the way it should. Please tell me if I'm correct and if there's something else I need to inform my mechanic of to clear up the error messages. (At least I think they're error messages.) The mechanic did replace the cam sensor and on the work order he mentioned codes 26 and 42?? I want to thank Daves89, Ronnie, and Padgett for reaching out to assist me. Right now I'm a happy camper and my 96 year old stepmother is too!

Having purchased my '89 two years ago, I've found it both challenging and rewarding making it roadworthy. The many members of this website have given me much advice and support. I plan on having it back on the road next summer.

You just proved how dumb I am again. haha

And the correct spelling is "BYRDS"...

I'm so dumb when I read this I thought of a band from the '60s called "The Birds" hanging out there. 🙂

Hitchcocks "The Birds" was filmed in 2 locations. The town of Bodega, which is several miles inland from the coast, had scenes from the old Potter School House and the Catholic Church of St. Teresa. Both structures still exist and are tourist stops. The other location was the coastal town of Bodega Bay where scenes were taken from the existing Tides Restaurant. The picture of my car was taken in Bodega Bay on the street in front of houses which have that view. In the background are Seal Island and the Bodega Head which is famous for whale watching. I may take a picture from that vista which is breathtaking. Also, I was tempted to wait for dusk as the sunsets are legendary. Bodega Bay is 40-50 miles north of San Francisco and west of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Daves89 and Ronnie, I can relate. My mother passed away when I was 12. I was the middle child of 7. My father also worked away in the heavy construction industry, so he couldn't take care of a brood of children. My two older siblings were young marrieds with infant children of their own, but they stepped up and took me in, as well as some of my brothers and a sister. I lived briefly with my older brother, but as a soon to be teenager, it was decided that I would move in with my maternal grandparents. They were a caring and nurturing couple that saw me through HS graduation. I soon moved out on my own. Then, they later took in two of my younger brothers. I learned a lot from my grandfather about work ethic, etc., but they still gave me a lot of rein. My father remarried and was a distance away. I turned out OK and consider myself to be lucky that my grandparents opened their hearts.

I am not sure what to think here. I have a couple hundred miles on the combination that apparently failed? It is just a piece of hardware, a rather heavy duty version of a printed circuit, with no actual electronic parts. If you look at a stock Memcal, it is made of two parts, easily visible with the cover removed. There is a circuit board with many typical electronic components and at one end is the “chip”, in our case, a 28 pin, 256k integrated circuit. This is the part that we can erase and reprogram. The hardware piece has pins on one side that plug into the circuit board section of any MEMCAL and another section for a socket for the IC chip. Just dumb wiring to route the two items to the connection in the ECM. With no evidence to back this up, at least not yet, the most likely is the Memcal presently installed, is possibly damaged from the removal of the IC chip in the failed attempt to install a chip socket.

Maybe this needs to be a new thread "rebuilding rear struts".