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I got the starter changed and it started without hesitation after sitting for two weeks in -30 / -10 degree weather. Pretty cool. I had to drop the vented plastic panel to reach the bolts for the positive and negative connections and the short bolt on the starter. The job wasn’t too bad, I only needed a few different sockets, and two socket extensions to reach the two bolts holding in the starter. They were pretty locked in place though. I ended up putting my biggest socket on the 18 inch extension and putting it over the handle of my ratchet to make an on the spot breaker bar. The only other thing that gave me trouble was reaching the 10mm bolt on the dust cover more toward the front of the car. The bolt holds down the cover and a little wire clamp. The wire guard housed inside the clamp is right in front of the bolt and hard to move. In total, in the snow, it took two hours to get the old starter out, a cup of hot chocolate, two old ladies asking me what I was doing outside, and about fifteen minutes to put the new one in and get everything back together.

This is a thread from this previous summer about coolant temperature and closed loop. Maybe it will shed some light? Coolant Temperature for entering closed loop - Reatta Owners Journal Forum - Reatta Owners Journal Forums

That was your opportunity. Stand up and take a bow like yah planned it. Those 15 minutes of fame can come in small increments🤣

Get into diagnostics immediately upon a cold start to watch for the indicator it has achieved closed loop operation. I suspect that is what is happening and the heater fan engagement is coincidence. The closed loop temperature is programmed into the PROM but there is also a timer and other modifiers that kick in if there is a fault in that system.

Most of the snow is still here because the temps aren't getting above freezing yet. Tomorrow it's supposed to get up into the 40s and continue to warm up to the 60s by the end of the week. The snow will be gone soon... I hope. Day before yesterday we got just enough freezing rain that it froze to the top of the snow. The snow is now like a solid sheet of ice. You don't even break through that frozen layer on top of the snow when you walk on it. You have to stomp really hard to break into the 6" layer of snow below the ice. I learned that the hard way today. I was walking around on my driveway and decided to try to break through the ice by stomping my foot really hard. When I stomped my foot, it broke through the ice and went deep into the snow, throwing me off balance. I started falling forward face first. I hit the ice with my my knees and the palms of my hands at the same time as I stretched out, ending up on my belly as I slid across the ice. I looked like Superman flying through the air. 🤣 I wasn't hurt at all. I was embarrassed because I'm sure my neighbors were looking out their window at this fool in a red t-shirt (no coat) sliding across the ice on his belly. I won't be doing that again.

The 88 I have brought back from the dead (sitting since 2010 covered in a garage) has been having slight issues. My goal is for this to be my daily driver, and I have just recently started to drive it in town only. I'd like to be able to feel confident going anywhere in it. Most everything is performing perfectly, but on occasion it will idle very high around 2000 rpm, the speedometer reads 0 at all times (assuming VSS needs replaced), the oil pan gasket has a slight leak, and the AC needs work as its disabled for low coolant. Any tips or information on those things would be great. The last thing I need help with is knowing what to go ahead and replace. I have done some replacing already ( I'll put a list down below). I have some ideas on what I think need replaced at some point, let me know if I'm wrong, if it needs replaced immediately, or if there's something you think I have missed. Things I have replaced coolant/did a flush oil change (doing another one within 300 miles or so) plugs and plug wires tank and everything in it fuel filter blower motor all the vacuum lines I could find Things that I plan on replacing trans fluid and filter? oil pan gasket serp belt speed sensor brakes (it brakes just fine, figured it needs to happen however) Let me know what you guys think you would do, or do differently. Thank you for your help.

You can buy a kit to rebuild the headlight motors. The kit includes bushings, that tend to crumble over time, as well as new crankarms. The crankarms are made of a soft material that tends to wear out in the hole that fits on the shaft. The new crankarms are made of steel and will last the life of the car. I was thinking about rebuilding the headlight motors as preventive maintenance. If they have already been rebuilt you can check that off the list Thanks to Barney Eaton for the photos.

Starter comes out of the bottom. Sent to you from Hanoi, Vietnam...

Basically the same. On a Reatta, there is also a removable vented plastic panel in the space between the crossmember and the radiator. It is hard to know for certain based on those camera angles, but I am pretty sure there is less space available forward of the crossmember on a Reatta. That appeared to be standard type starter and all of the Reatta's where I have accessed the starter are a bit smaller gear reduction types. Both types appear in the FSM, al least for 1990. I honestly cannot remember if there is sufficient room to pull the starter out the bottom as shown or if I had to take it out the top after removing the puller cooling fan😖