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Not a posed photo. My two boys were over this morning and parked side by side so I pulled mine up so the nose was visible in the photo. Left to right, 88, 89 and 90. The 88 & 89 came through Daves89.

Advance Auto has a special going on brake calipers. I bought one each right and left front calipers for $45.00 delivered. That includes a $3.00 and $5.00 core which I cannot take advantage of because I am going to store them until needed.

The Goose mobile in her natural habitat.

I am almost 67 years old and never use my parking brake [on any car]. Being in the rust belt when they get rusty they lock up and don't release.

Ronnie has pointed to a very good and important resource, the How To and Diagnostic guides that are at the top of the page. There is a wealth of data and real world examples from the Reatta community. Also, use those sections to learn to use the onboard diagnostics and controls. I believe the 91 may have more items available in diagnostics but this is what is available on my 90, which should be similar. Under BCM Data, BD50 is live battery voltage and BD51 is Generator Field Strength percentage. These can be read even while driving once you get used to the system. It may help to see if the voltage or field is erratic. Under the BCM Inputs section, there is B151 which is Generator Feedback. I am not 100% certain on that function but I believe it indicates if the generator is following commanded operation? There could be several reasons for rich running, possible misfire, poor mileage, but the O2 sensor is inexpensive and a good place to start. It is the only actual fueling feedback on these cars. The O2 operation and resultant fueling indicators can also be read in the ECM Data section of diagnostics while sitting still or on the road. The system is relatively basic compared to modern vehicles but it can tell you a lot and it is already built in. It can do pretty much anything a scanner can do. Good luck

Also check the battery cable connections as described here: Battery Cable Checks & Repair This happened to me and caused the electrical system to go crazy.

May need to break up the problems into smaller bites to get a better focus on each one. Two batteries and alternators in two years is not normal. I know parts quality is getting to be hit or miss proposition at times but??? I am always a little hesitant as the 91 is rarer and we find differences we didn't know about, but I believe the alternator is not self-regulating and is controlled by the BCM. The problem may lie there. That said, I would go over all the ground points as poor grounds can cause all sorts of weird behavior. Are you familiar with the Reatta systems? Brown coolant this soon sounds like the initial flush may not have been as thorough as needed. The temperature gauge could be part of the electrical issues or a coincidence if it works normally otherwise. 20mpg for an overall average wouldn't be terribly out of line, especially not knowing what the conditions are based on. This car may be compact but it is not lightweight, and weighs as much or more than a LeSabre of similar vintage. Also, the 91 has a numerically higher gear ratio. It does have slightly taller tires but the net result is 9% higher rpm at the same speed. If the O2 sensor age is unknown, it should be changed. It is what sends the signal for the ECM to control fuel mixture.

My daughter is on a 9 day vacation that I always thought I would take but never did. After visiting the pyramids and King Tut's Tomb, she boarded a cruise ship for 3 days on the Nile river, stopping along the way to see ancient temples and other interesting places. Hope you enjoy some of the photos she took. Inside King Tut's tomb

I bought mine on ebay. It wasn't cheap: $107.99. It looks like a new reprint, perfect condition, two thick volumes. My Reatta is a 1990, so I googled "1990 Reatta Service Manual" and several options are shown. I have owned many old cars over the years and do as much servicing as I am capable of...a service/shop manual is essential to me.

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.

Sure. As long as you post a price, location of the car, and how you want to be contacted by a potential buyer. Photos and a good description help a lot when selling a car.

Thanks everyone I was lucky enough to find another black one. Thanks Again - Larry

No brake pump on a '91 model. To my knowledge it's just a standard dual master cylinder with a vacuum booster. The booster has a hose that connects it to the intake manifold. The Bosch ABS unit is a separate system connected to the master cylinder. It controls the braking to each wheel when it detects a wheel is locking up during a hard braking or on wet pavement. Even though it may use different brand parts, my GMC pickup has basically the same system.

The Teves system is generally very good, but there is no denying the parts availability is dwindling, or expensive. It does require flushing and service on a reasonable schedule but all brake systems are supposed to be as well. The Wabco STC2784 accumulator is more in the mid $200 range. That said, people have replaced the system with standard vacuum brakes and they seem to be content with that. Your money, your choice.

I bought a Reatta accumulator ball from Rock Auto for under $100.00. Also Ship is one of the guys not afraid to stock parts, so while his 1991 Reatta has the Bosch, the ABS sensor leads are even harder to come by as they are a one year part.

I replaced my originals at about that mileage. I can't say they were bad, but I sort of went through the whole car the first year after I bought it in '93. Had quite a few miles on it in just a few years. Owned by a salesman as a daily driver. For the cost of the substitutes we have found, as well as availability of new originals, but rather costly, I don't think they are worth much considering the labor to remove and install, and then only if they looked new.

I don't see anything unusual there. The cross counts are very high relative to what I have seen before which is a good thing, and it is absolutely normal for them to slow down as the sensor cools off. It is just the nature of our system. More modern systems use electrically heated sensors to get them operational more quickly as well as work in all regimes, including extended idle. It has to be hot for it to work and exhaust temperature at slow idle is not hot in relative terms.

This shows where to start checking the grounds. Ground Terminals & Junction Box Location

Outstanding! Don't know if I'll ever get there, but the pictures are great.

Glad you enjoyed the photos. Here are a couple more that she sent me today. Those Egyptians sure did like to carve on rocks.

I ate to hear this.

I see a rear caliper for sale for an '88 Reatta on RockAuto (last category on the attached list): 1988 BUICK REATTA 3.8L 231cid V6 Caliper | RockAuto. I suggest that your mechanic didn't look too far.

I got about 200,000 miles on the first fuel pump and then twice since then. Headlight motors never, the lift kits once. I did have to do the stops a couple of times. Power antenna also was twice. I swapped out the Magnavox coil pack years ago and the Delco failed me once.

I am a little confused by the term, "pumped them up"? The rear brakes are bled using the brake pump and having the brake pedal pushed a small amount to allow the fluid through. It is very important to keep fluid in the reservoir so a helper becomes very important for being certain the reservoir doesn't run dry. If that happened, there will be air in the system and possibly air locked the pump. You almost have to start over.

I think if I had the Dorman sender installed, I would put a variable resistor on the input wire from the fuel sender at the BCM. Then start with a empty tank and adjust the resistor until it just shows empty on the gauge. Then start filling the tank to see how many gallons are added before the fuel gauge starts climbing. Then fill the tank to ensure it shows full. Then if the gauge is now working as advertised, the resistance the variable resistor resistance can be read. I would probably try a 0-50 ohm potentiometer to start. The resistance needed would probably close, but may vary between cars depending on corrosion of the connections, etc. I realize this whole procedure should only be attempted by someone with enough automotive or electrical background to be comfortable trying this. And only if the gauge reading off bugs you enough to try it. Most would be happy with the Dorman as it is. The day I bought my Reatta the gauge read almost empty, so the first thing I did was drive to the gas station. That's when I found out the tank was almost full and it was the gauge that wasn't working.

I'm actually happy that the tank shows empty with 3 gallons left. That way should my wife drive the car to empty there is still 3 gallons to protect the pump motor.

The Volvo shocks are probably not the same valving and I do not know much about them. The ones I start with are 1990 Buick regal rear struts, which are the same base struts as the Reatta, with different brackets welded on. Remove the brackets and then use a bolt on sway bar adapter and they bolt right in. East Coast Reatta Parts has new Monroe 71966 (exact fit for the Reatta) for $500 per pair.

There is no doubt the supply of substitutes is slowly drying up, but even though the specific part numbers mentioned may not be available, other manufacturers still are, both the strut cartridge to install in a modified stock strut or the rear strut with the bracket that must be removed. If that is not desired, I would suggest you get together with Dave's offer. An honorable member and friend.🙂

It's the inner part of the track and will only get worse and give you a slight rocking effect. No safety issue just the seat track wearing out.

Probably not in the sense it is actually applied but the best way I know of to detect a dragging brake is an infrared temperature gun. There will be differences front to rear, but the brake temps. should be similar to each other on the same axle.

That has a little too much slack but it isn't terrible. I suspect when you do the rear brakes you will find the parking brake arm on the rear caliper(s) isn't returning all the way to the stop. That part in the photo is threaded so it can be shortened if desired but I would give the rear brakes a look before trying to adjust the cable. I think the piston in the caliper doesn't adjust properly unless it gets the full range of motion. May need to carry an anchor or wheel chocks until you can get things repaired.

Correct. The photo below shows the adjuster parts inside the caliper. The adjuster screw is what the parking brake arm on the back of the caliper bolts to. It screws out of the T-nut to adjust the travel of the piston as you use the parking brake. Since I never had any problem with it I don't know what you would need to do to get the adjuster working properly if that is the cause of your problem. I assume you would have to take the piston out of the caliper to get at it so you can clean it up. Thanks to Barney Eaton for the photo.

Great looking pic. I'd like to say I miss them, but...

The piston in the rear caliper has a self adjusting design to keep slack out of the parking brake. Perhaps the adjuster is stuck and not working properly or the pads are worn enough that the adjuster is out of it's range of adjustment. I would start by changing the pads, making sure the adjuster screw inside the piston moves freely. Then adjust the cable to take out any excess slack if needed.

Here is a video on cleaning tail lights.

I need to figure out how to restore the tail light. I waxed it once and it didn’t last. it’s super Smokey currently as you can see.

Great looking car. The most common question Reatta owners get at a show is, "What is that?". Sad but true.

That looks to be a 12/12 pitch, a 45 degree angled roof. Mine has the same angle. Even at "before 40" I could never do what that guy is doing. I am so afraid of heights!

I had a guy do some work on my roof the other day. My roof is so steep I can't even stand up on it. The photo below is a good example of the difference between being under 40, and being over 40. Anyone in their right mind over 40 would never consider doing this. Through experience, they know what the result could be. Young people don't know any better or they just don't care. 🙂

I think the battery cable connection was most likely your problem.

After swapping out the terminals, the BD50 went from jumping up and down quickly between 13.9 - 15 (while idling pre terminal swap) to a steady 14.1-14.3. The BD51 went from jumping up and down quickly between 14 -56 (idling without headlights pre swap) to up and down between 21-61 and mostly in the 40s. And between 29-73 with headlights lights on but mostly in the 50s. If I find the expected BD51 range, I’ll post it here.

Thanks Ronnie, my positive terminal bolt was stripped and wouldn’t get tight enough. JUST picked up a new set before heading to the laundry mat, so I’ll change em out and see how she runs when I get home.

Have you tried sliding the dimmer control on the headlight switch to the right?

Beautiful Ronnie. Thanks for allowing us to enjoy your Daughter's journey.

There is a one year warranty, but the guy is checking on the labor portion of the warranty.

I don't know of a spec anywhere so I just get lengths of the common small sizes. I don't know of anything larger than 1/4" on the engine, or under the hood, unless you have something large for the vacuum brake booster.

Looks like ebay was the right place to get an actual paper manual and not a download. I figured I needed one sooner than later so I got one for a similar price.

Thanks for letting us know. It might help someone in the future who have the same problem.

Little update, I think I'll start a new thread because my brakes are working fine. Changed the oil and the coolant......no, both had NOT been changed by the previous owner. Oil and filter change went fine, coolant on the other hand.....😬 Nice and green in the radiator, nasty rusty brown when drained. Twice. Decided to do a complete overhaul of the system. New water pump (very easy to replace), thermostat, and o-ring at the elbow above the thermostat. Buttoned up and started it up and gauge rose again to over 3/4, and coolant was leaking out the bolt holding the elbow on. Grrr. That elbow is not a fun part to put back on. Also the fans never came on. So found the "pusher" fan is junk as when I jumped it, it only turned at about 5 RPM and the jumper wires got red hot. Also did get a new oil pressure sensor installed although I haven't started the car again yet as........the key decided to get stuck in the ignition tumbler and I ended up tearing the column apart again to get the tumbler/key out. At the locksmith as I type. Bringing a car back that's been sitting for so long (2004) is more than just getting it running. I'm going to have a complete new car when I'm done. Oh wait, I forgot about the interior fan running, even with the key out! Battery cable off stopped that.🤪

You can weld anything less than 1030 together without issue. The lower the carbon (last two digits, i.e. 0.30% or less) the better.