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When you want to use a generic automotive floor jack, but don't want to mangle your Reatta's sheet metal...

Good idea. I recently purchased a rubber pad for my floor jack that has notches molded into it that might serve the same purpose. I can't jack up my Mustang using the pinch welds because the pinch weld area has fiberglass ground effect parts attached to it. The main reason I bought the rubber pad is because the K member (cradle) where you jack up the front of a Mustang is slightly angled making it easy for a floor jack to slide off if you don't use a rubber pad to provide some grip. Using the jack metal to metal is dangerous and using just a block of wood isn't recommended on the front of a Mustang like mine. The rubber gives the jack a better grip on the K member, and the the pad has a lip on the bottom to keep it from slipping off the jack. For only $8 on Amazon the rubber pad is a good addition to any floor jack.

Returning from my trip to Arkansas for the recent eclipse. Lucked out with perfect weather and clear skies. Attached are three photos, one is my poor cell phone photo held up to the eyepiece of my small telescope and the others are from a kind lady from Texas who shared pics from her nice camera and lens combo. Bet you can guess which might be which😜

It really wasn't until I put my known good ignition module on that I thought it was something to do with the wiring. Before I was swapping first coils and then the ignition module and old coils and finally a known good module/coil set up that I knew something else was wrong. First test was just disconnect the harness and reattach it and it would fire. Next time wiggle the wires at the ignition module without removing the connector and it would fire. I then took a close look at the harness and saw it was only a 3' harness with 5 connectors. Went to the Buick dealer and one left in the country at $200.00. Went to Rock Auto and a Dorman was $85.00. Amazon was $110.00 for the same Dorman. The Dorman was a nice replacement, looked to be of good quality. Only connector that gave me trouble was the crank sensor. It started going on so hard that I had Kendall make the connection as I didn't want to damage the pins on the crank sensor causing more work. Only things I had to remove to get at everything was the engine shroud, serpentine belt, and water pump pully. Front to back time about 45 minutes. Gotta love the 3.8!

Doing it on a Ranger makes no sense but doing it on a Mustang that is supposedly a "high performance car" is just plain crazy. It's got a fiberglass hood and trunk lid, aluminum overhead cam heads, limited slip differential, dual exhaust from front to back and huge roll bars for handling. Then they install a fake oil pressure gauge? Whoever came up with that idea should have been fired.

I generally follow whatever recommendations I see from GM, but this time it failed spectacularly. A service bulletin from the '90s said to upgrade the oil pan gasket to their new design from AC Delco which is supposed to be so good that you can even reuse it. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't fit very well. It was floppy, hung over the edge in places, and getting it to stay in place while installing it was like trying to make a fish sandwich while it's still alive. The instructions that come with it and in the bulletin say to torque the bolts to 10, then 16. This seemed to squeeze the gasket out, and deformed my new pan. It started leaking and progressively got worse, so I ordered a new gasket. This time I ordered the Fel-Pro PermaDry Plus. This gasket is a solid piece that doesn't flop around or squeeze out. It comes with 4 handy helpers called SnapUps that you screw into 4 bolt holes, and they hold the gasket and the pan in place in exactly the right spot, freeing up your hands to put the bolts in easily. Once you get a few bolts in, the SnapUps just unscrew and you can put the last 4 bolts in. Incidentally, I tried doing a search for "oil pan" on this site, so as to avoid make a duplicate thread, but the search doesn't seem to be working. It returned zero results, even though there is another thread on that very page about oil pan bolts.

Like most things, it sometimes makes no sense. People are repairing, or at least trying to repair, Reatta's that should be parted out and others are just the opposite. Seemingly decent cars that deserve some TLC are being scavenged and discarded. Definitely well under $1k for a running parts car, much less than that for a lawn ornament, unless of course it has exactly the stuff you need. Mixing and matching colors, inside and out, or model years with incompatible content really limits the usefulness.

I'm almost there myself. I still do it but my body is starting to say no. Working on the Mustang to get it into great condition has been harder on me than I expected. All I still have to do is change the oil in the differential and hopefully I will be done working on it for a while. I think it will be the last car I ever buy to work on myself.

I'm no longer able to tell stories about troubleshooting my Reatta but I do have an interesting troubleshooting story about me wasting several hours of my time by making an assumption about how something works. Since I got my GT I always wondered why the oil pressure gauge went up half way to the "normal" position when I started the engine cold or hot and stayed there all the time no matter what the RPM. That seemed odd to me so I temporarily installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge on the engine to make sure I had good oil pressure. The mechanical gauge showed 75 psi at idle on a cold start and then it went down to 35 psi at idle when fully warmed up. Spec in the repair manual is 20-45 psi at 1500 RPM when hot. I had 49 psi at 1500 so oil pressure is great. So, in typical Reatta thinking, I assumed the oil pressure sending unit was bad and replaced it with a new one. Still the gauge in the instrument panel read "normal" all the time. Bad gauge? NO. After reading on the forums I discovered all GTs of similar model years as mine have the same "normal" reading without the needle ever moving just like mine. The gauge isn't a real oil pressure gauge at all. IT'S AN IDIOT LIGHT in the form of a needle on the instrument cluster gauge. The oil pressure sender I replaced is just a switch that closes above 6 psi and tells the needle in the gauge to move to the normal position. Either the gauge reads "0" as it does when the engine is off, or "normal" no matter what the real oil pressure is as long as it's over 6 psi. For me, the oil pressure gauge is the most important gauge on the dash of a car. You can't even make the gauge on my GT work as a normal oil pressure gauge that actually reads pressure by installing a real oil pressure sending unit. It wasn't designed to do that. What were the fools at Ford thinking when they put a oil pressure gauge like this in a Mustang? Even a real idiot light would be better than this stupid gauge design. Rant over 🙂

I ended up having the compressor, dryer and the little valve in the line replaced. As I was sitting on about 10 cans of R-12 I stayed with the r-12. Also had the antifreeze flushed and filled as the radiator is in the way of getting the compressor out. Ready for spring!

2seater, one place to check for a leak is inside your car, on the drivers side floorboard. My previous Reatta was leaking from where the rod from the brake pedal goes in the back of the Teves unit. Ended up swapping out the whole Teves unit. Never heard of any other members here having this problem, I'm just lucky I guess.

The usual springtime startup ritual, actually two days ago, but a May 1st target. This is the first time I left the battery in the car, in a history dating back more than three decades, and used a battery maintainer instead. The car is stored in an unheated garage/shed six feet in the air on a lift. I still found a couple acorns, chewed, on the vents at the base of the windshield. The varmints must be ninja's 😁 Started and ran perfectly as there was no learning to be done like after a battery disconnect. One item did appear that will bear watching and that is brake fluid level. I have the larger Hydac accumulator purchased from Spinning Wheels several years ago and it does drop the fluid level in the reservoir more than the standard amount. I noted the level was a little low at startup but everything was normal for the first mile or so, then the red brake light came on. Tried the parking brake, that's not it. Checked the brake feel and if the pump ran, all okay, but the level was much lower in the reservoir than I have seen before. I tried rapidly pumping the brakes to deplete the accumulator and the light went out, indicating to me that the low level warning light was the cause for the warning. This has not been a problem in the past but I suspect as the accumulator ages, and greater fluid is required to fill it, the actual fluid level will become more important. From a topped off level to fully pressurized, the fluid level will drop from the top of the level tag to just below it, so the capacity is substantial. I guess it is time to bring out the test rig and estimate the gas precharge and health of the accumulator. Oh joy👍

Still having intermittent ignition issues and believe it is not the ignition module or coils. After doing a bit of online research I have determined that there is a short harness that goes from the main harness splits to go to the ignition module and ignition module ground, goes on a bit farther and splits again ending at the crank sensor and cam sensor. It is discontinued by GM but Dorman makes a replacement. I have one on order and every indication is that this is the issue. I had a no start situation yesterday and rather then swap out the module again I thought I would jiggle the wires between the harness block and the loom protecting the wires. Tried a start and no go. Then tried jiggling the harness block that igoes to the module that the wires run through. That did the trick and car started like nothing was wrong. So I think that is my issue. Hopefully the new harness will do the trick.

I'm going to get an alternator and serpentine belt and have them in the trunk as well. Thinking about a crank sensor also. Don't believe I need a MAF sensor as I replaced that with a new one about 3 months ago.

Those two items saved my butt in 2014 in the middle of eastern CO when my '92 Riviera's transmission decided to let go.

I still carry my tools and test equipment in the 25 year old car I have now but I don't know what parts to carry at this point. I put the old belt in the toolbox when I installed a new one but that's it so far. Maybe a MAF would be good to have. I guess a cellphone and a AAA card are the best things I can carry that will help me get back home if I break down.

Lately I have been having an intermittent ignition failure where the engine would die while I was driving. On attempting the second start [after playing Pickleball] I had a total failure. As most know I carry extra parts and 15 minutes later I had the pretested Ignition Module/Coil Pack installed. I believe the failure was the Ignition Module, the original one to the car. I had thrown away the old coils as the terminals were badly rusted/corroded, but I reused the ignition module. That got thrown away too. I then went to a You Pick yard and got another Ignition Module/Coil Pack and installed it taking the prior spare and once again put it in the trunk as back up. While I had a break down I was not stranded as I carry both tools and tested parts. To me this is a requirement when one attempts to drive 25 year old [and older] cars on a daily basis.

That bar installs under the area covered by the oil filter adapter. It bridges over one bolt hole that is difficult to access and consequently you will be one bolt short of the total number of tapped holes in the pan rail. That bar should have a slight kink in it to apply pressure to the missing bolt. You can install a bolt in the open hole and delete the bar if desired. I think they are 1/4” SAE thread

Rock Auto shows different part numbers for the left and right seal 1991 BUICK REATTA 3.8L V6 Output Shaft Seal | RockAuto

The brake hose that connects to the brake caliper could be collapsed internally shutting off fluid going to the caliper. It's not unusual for that to happen to old rubber brake hoses. That is where I would look first. You can tell if that is the problem by by breaking loose the hose from where it connects to the metal line coming from the master cylinder and see if fluid easily flows out of that connection. If it does, the hose is likely the problem.

That looks like the connector for the transmission. If so, it's not unusual for it to move around in the transmission case. It's not actually a sensor. The wires in the connector go to switches inside the transmission to tell the ECM what gear the transmission is in. One of the wires in that bundle goes to the lockup torque converter solenoid to lock the converter when it gets a signal from the ECM.

Today (4/2/2024) I took the '91 Reatta out and had it run through the MA State Safety Inspection (annually @ $35) and an oil & filter change (10W30 full synthetic @ $70.53). I also had them check the headlight alignment since I put in the LED headlights...all was OK. The oil change price is worth it to me only because I can no longer get under a car for any repair work. Reatta has been in hibernation since October 9, 2023, and is now ready for 2024 cruise-ins and car shows.

I have acquired this Reatta back in September of 2023 and have been steadily working on it. Got it with 224000 miles and it’s up to 231000 now. Just replace all my burnt out bulbs in the front and back. I just did some vacuumed lines, and the nipple off the cruise control Modular’s is broken. The headlights don’t shine to far ahead of me as if they’re just slightly drooping and only come up fully at 60mph, as the wind catches it. Just rebuffed all the paint. So it’s looking bueno. The trim on the side door is broken off and the metal part of the trim was hanging off. I had temporarily secured it. End goal is I’d love to put a super or turbo on it without changing any of the ecu or that. I’d love to keep the screen as I have an 89. So if there’s any suggestions let me know, and sorry if this a terrible sentence as I’m using text to speech. And to ronnie you’re now a well known name amongst my friends and I as we look through all the old posts from the aaca forums from 03-09 and the post here. They’ve all been amazing sources. -ian 23yrs daytona Florida

Alright the final form of the intake is installed with the maf sensor in place. Just gat a long bend pipe and cut off the excess and she fits great under that support bar!

Update on the brake fluid level and pressure test. At this point I do not see any leaks at the suggested areas so I am in monitor mode now. I did break out my test gauge and as near as I can tell, my Hydac accumulator is in the 750-800psi precharge range. Not perfect, but still pretty good. The gauge flashes to ~800psi when the circulating valve is closed on the way up and drops off completely at ~750psi on the way down. The operating pressures observed for pump on and off are in the correct range at ~2,650psi shut off and ~2000psi for pump on. All appears well at this time.

Makes sense, appreciate the feedback. I figured since there's a lot of things that could be related together it would help to keep it together. I'll try to break it down into at least related pieces. Thanks Ronnie!

Welcome to the forum! You have packed a lot into one post. That is OK, but I would recommend you start a new topic for each problem, beginning with the one that is most important to you, and work your way through each one until you have resolved the problem. That will avoid a lot of confusion. With one large post that has multiple problems it is hard to follow what is being said about each of the problems you listed as people start offering suggestions.

Update - Ronnie hit the nail on the head with this one. I pulled the brake hose on the left front wheel and the new hose indeed fixed the problem. It is so nice to have correct brakes again! Thanks so much!

I usually use Google to search this forum (and others), by adding ::reattaowners.com (or whatever site you want to search) after my query. That forces Google to prioritize hits from the site you are interested in. e.g. Oil pan gasket ::reattaowners.com brings up two threads

I think this is a better pic, of course not in stock. Maybe try Ebay. ACDelco 18020180 Valve - Walmart.com

Went to my first cars and coffee today, meeting up with my friend Kendall and his wife. He has a 1971 Roadrunner and his wife drives a 1972 GTO, both great looking cars. Too cold to hand around so I left after an hour or so. About 100 cars.

And actually 2 seater the switch he is looking to install were from my tested backstock inventory that you also tested with your "homemade test rig" so it's good. However from his post changing the accumulator is more likely what he needs to do. I have replaced the pressure switch twice in my 333000 miles on the Red. The switches can be hard to remove because they are in tight, which is why I bought the specialty socket [they are thinner wall because of the lack of clearance] years ago for this purpose.

Ronnie, after seeing your thread, I purchased the jack pads from Amazon for the two portable car jacks that I have. They're out for delivery today... thanks for the info.

That explains the missing bolt! Thank you 🤨

Gregoryb, read below from previous posts on this topic: "Because I didn't want to cut and ground one of the headlight wires as mentioned in previous threads, I bought the H4 9003 Canbus Decoder (noted above) and installed one of them to the drivers side LED headlight harness. I didn't have to install the other one to the passenger side since the current harness for this side is actually a spur from the main headlight harness. The decoders do come as a pair, so I now have an extra. The LED headlights now go up and down as they are supposed to. Yea!! I want to thank everyone for your help and guidance." "I bought the LED headlights and Canbus Decoder from Amazon. Headlights cost $39.95: Amazon.com: H6054 7"x6" Chrome Housing Diamond Cut Headlights Replacement Glass H4 " 7x6 : Automotive D-Lumina H4 HB2 9003 LED Canbus Decoder Anti-Flicker Harness cost $25.99: Amazon.com: D-Lumina H4 HB2 9003 LED Canbus Decoder Anti-Flicker Harness, LED Bulbs Resistor Error Free Decoder, LED Warning Canceller Capacitors Resistor (1 Pair) : Automotive Handling, Shipping and Tax extra."

You may want to pull the bleeder out to and check it for obstruction, especially if it did not have a rubber dust cap on it to keep dirt/ water/rust out of the nipple.

Thanks, Ronnie! I have heard of that, never experienced it first hand. it probably would not hurt to just replace the brake hoses on that car while I check that, they look like they might be original.

This writeup is intended for engines that will not start but you should be able to use it to test the 3x and 18x signals. Reatta Owners Journal - ICM & Crank Position Sensor Troubleshooting

I uploaded a video at the link showing it’s “wiggle.” so it’s normal and nothing to be concerned about?

I've experienced the same thing myself. In my case it started out as a poor idle before the engine went into closed loop. I caught it before it progressed to the point the engine wouldn't run by unplugging the MAF and saw that it improved the rough idle. This happens so often that unplugging the MAF has just became a routine part of troubleshooting a poor running Reatta engine. Just like testing the fuel pressure and looking at the ICM for the green/gray goo on the side, disconnecting the MAF to see if it improves how the engine runs is just something you learn to do. Just checking the MAF readings in diagnostics undoughtedly doesn't tell the whole story of what is going on inside the MAF.

1) My original ECM looked brand new and only had 20K miles on it. But it kept giving the dreaded E042. Manual said to replace it. 2) The first one I received from Blue Streak on Rockauto acted totally strange. It set off chimes for no reason and made the throttle go crazy. Car wouldn't run unless I kept foot on the gas. 3) Second Blue Streak "remanufactured" ECM from Rockauto was corroded inside. I didn't even try that one. 4) Fourth ECM from Swanauto (I assume is a salvage yard) looked like it got run over by a truck, but it worked beautifully and I haven't had a problem since. Code E042 is gone. As you can see, it took four tries to get a good ECM but I eventually got lucky. Since you purchased it on Ebay, you should be able to let the seller know it didn't work and they will send you a replacement at no charge or refund it so you can buy another.

Unplug the MAF and try it.

Could be the fuel pressure regulator has an internal leak, causing the attached vacuum line to suck gasoline straight into the throttle body. or a leaky fuel injector dumping gas directly into a cylinder.

This is off the wall but... I'm wondering if the problem isn't with the crankshaft position sensor or associated wiring. It puts out two signals to the ICM. A 3x signal and a 18x signal. It can start and run on just one (don't remember which one) but maybe without both signals it can't go into ECM control of the spark and would throw a code E042 when it senses the RPM is over 600.

The good thing is that the 7th generation Rivieras had many mechanical parts that will fit on our Reattas. They made a few more Rivieras than Reattas.

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.

And, Dave gave me two complete Magnavox coil/ICM setups as spares for my sons two cars. Can't beat that with a stick👍 Mine runs the Delco style.

What I did for my Reatta today: Started the thermostat replacement ordeal. An 11mm crow's foot on a 3/8" drive universal joint and extension, or a 1/4" drive 11mm socket with a 1/4" universal joint and extension are needed. It helps to unplug the vacuum hoses, being careful not to break the plastic manifold fitting (oops...). Parts needed: the thermostat, obviously, but also the following two Fel-Pro parts: Fel-Pro 35608 Engine Coolant Thermostat housing O-ring Fel-Pro 35126 Engine Coolant Thermostat Seal I found both on Amazon, neither of my local auto parts stores could source the seal. BTW, I don't understand why folks replace their OEM 195 degree thermostats with cooler units. The engines run more efficiently at higher temps, as long as they were designed to function that way. You are no more prone to overheating with a hot thermostat than you would be with a cooler thermostat, or even no thermostat at all. The ability of your car to avoid overheating is determined by the health of your radiator/fan/waterpump setup, along with the degree of corrosion buildup in the cooling passages. Let her run at design spec, those engineers had good reasons for doing it that way. As for the engineer who decided the thermostat housing retaining bolt needed to be nearly inaccessible with standard tools, that's a different story! May he/she be destined to have to access basic necessities on a regular basis with a similar level of frustration!

Today I put on the Red in the last 16 years 215,000 miles of my own on top of the 111,000 that were on it when I bought it. So I am up to 326,000 miles. My Reatta has treated me well. I am on the second engine [bought by me] and the third transmission [last one bought by me] but surprisingly other then that I am on the 4th rack and pinion it has been pretty straight forward on repairs. Brake pads/rotors, wheel bearings, tie rods, ball joints, struts, fuel filters, radiators, water pumps, harmonic balancer/ crank sensor and ABS sensor leads. But the "silver boxes" have served me well as have the IPC and CRT. Interior I did the dash [twice], seats [once] carpet, visors, ceiling head liner, and drivers inner door panel. It also has been painted with an after market sunroof installed. Total cost invested with purchase price? Less then $25,000. I spent over $65,000 on cars for my wife in the same time frame and had repairs and replacement parts in her car bringing the total even higher. I know there are more smaller parts I bought for the Red, but overall I am very happy with my car and glad I bought a Reatta and hope it continues to serve me well.