Leaderboard

I'd been having intermittent issues with rough idle, and rough running. I've cleaned the MAF sensor, I've cleaned the IAC, I've replaced the crank position sensor. No change. I was on the verge of replacing the ECM. But while I was under the car replacing the crank sensor, I noticed a foul viscous sticky goo on the frame, that seemed to have come from above. The slime was beige, with a greenish tint to it, really nasty looking, very sticky, and impervious to WD-40 and Goo-Gone. When I traced it uphill, it was leaking from the seam between the coil pack (Motorola) and the ignition module. I removed the coil pack, and sure enough, there was a crack on the bottom side with this gross slime oozing out. I had to clean a lot of slime off the wiring that connects the coil pack to the Ignition module. But replacing the obviously failing coil pack didn't change anything, which really surprised me. Inspired by Daves89 post about the ignition harness on his '99 Regal having been the problem, I thought I'd take a look at my Reatta's ignition harness. First step was unplugging the ignition harness from its socket on the ignition module, and that's when I discovered that the wiring harness connector and socket on the ignition module were both fouled with the slime that had leaked out of the old cracked coil. I tried electronic parts cleaner, but the slime was unimpressed. Lots of scraping and digging with tweezers and tiny screwdrivers got much of the goo off of the connector, but there was still plenty of sticky residue on everything. I was concerned that something as aggressive as carb cleaner might soften the wiring harness connector, but as it was useless anyway, unless I could get the slime off, I gave it a try. Carb cleaner did the trick. I wrapped a rag around the connector to keep the cleaner from removing paint or anything else important in the vicinity, and cleaned the socket on the ignition module the same way. Finally, I sprayed off all the goo that had embedded itself into the wiring bundle, hoping that carb cleaner doesn't soften wiring insulation either. After putting it all back together, she started right up and idled smoothly. A short test drive was similarly uneventful. As the problem has been somewhat intermittent, I'm hesitant to say I'm home clear, but it does look like the slime was actually the culprit.

Update: problem solved. It turns out that the blend door was sticking and with a bit of wiggling the arm back and forth, I was able to get it to the Max Cool position where it will stay for the summer. That How To Guide here was so helpful. Thanks again ROJ

This harness was for a 1999 Regal not the Reatta.