Engine running rough / Shaking idle / No power

[89reattaWI]

It’s a 1989 Reatta with 182,000 miles and was sitting for around 15 years, the car runs and drives but shakes while idle and there’s no power difference when flooring it. Would the power problem be bad transmission fluid? The transmission might not have been changing gears. The engine also was changing rpms while idle in my driveway but my dad said it was the thermostat. I need ideas on what i have to replace or service.

[2seater]

Those are quite different suspects for an undefined problem. If the car sat for an extended period of time, especially if it had no special prep for storage, many things could be amiss. At the least, get a fuel pressure gauge on it to see where you are to start with. I don't know what transmission fluid would have to do with lack of power unless the transmission slips badly. I am guessing the rpms decreased as it warmed up or I can think of no connection of a thermostat to rpm.

From previous posts, does the CRT let you access diagnostics and is the check engine light on?

[89reattaWI]

on the dash it says check diagnostic center but the screen doesn’t work. need it replaced or fixed.

[2seater]

6 hours ago, 89reattaWI said:

on the dash it says check diagnostic center but the screen doesn’t work. need it replaced or fixed.

You are pretty much blind to what the car can tell you, and that's important. A compatible scanner connected to the ALDL might be a temporary alternative but a good used one or a repair is the best route. I do not know much about the touch screen replacements 

[Ronnie]

6 hours ago, 89reattaWI said:

on the dash it says check diagnostic center but the screen doesn’t work. need it replaced or fixed.

I wouldn't spend any more money on parts until that's fixed. The car is just about useless without it. No radio, no heat or A/C, no gauges, no diagnostic information at all. 

 

Have you tried pushing the radio button on the edge of the CRT to see if the radio screen lights up? If it lights up the CRT is not the problem.

[derdachshund]

I've just brought mine back from not running since 2004. Some direction....

1- I too, seriously doubt your transmission has anything to do with your problem. Or your thermostat.

2- the car has been sitting for 15 years, you are going to have a lot of reoccurring problems if you just started it up and didn't address the fuel system properly beforehand. Hopefully you got the old gas out. If you didn't, then my guess is that's your problem. Change your fuel filter. Blow out the lines. In my case, 4 out of the 6 injectors were bad, that might be a problem, too. Also in my case, the gas tank was powder coated and so was pristine inside, my fuel pump was fine but the insulating sleeve around it had disintegrated leaving junk in the bottom. I'd never start a car sitting for a long time without dropping the tank first.

3- A wise person once told me don't throw parts at it, it will just make you broke and mad. Do some diagnostics. An engine needs fuel, air, spark and compression. Start with one and don't proceed until you're sure you have the variable you're testing for. 

4- Although my dash is different, it also didn't work and you're just dead in the water without it in these cars. I sent mine to Cluster Fix and he did a top notch job. I don't know if he does the computer screen on your car, but you might try calling him and ask. I'd also check the ground behind the battery and clean it. May bring it back to life.

Hope I've given you some direction. 

-derdachshund 

[Top Down]

If your problem is similar to the following, then perhaps your IAC needs to be cleaned.

"The most common symptom of a dirty Idle Air Controller (IAC) is an erratic idle speed or surging when the car is stopped with the transmission in drive. Stalling may occur in some cases."   This is covered in detail under Common Problems  as written by Padgett in the Forum's Menu Bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[89reattaWI]

Yeah i’m not very good at diagnosing problems. Thank you all for the input.

On 7/26/2023 at 10:04 PM, Ronnie said:

Have you tried pushing the radio button on the edge of the CRT to see if the radio screen lights up?

Alright so right before i replaced the battery today it had a horizontal line still but the buttons didn’t work and it was stuck on the status screen. But after i changed the battery the screen had switched menus to summary or something; probably the last one i pressed earlier. But without pressing any of the buttons it turned to the status menu again. Is that telling me the crt screen is broken or is something coming up on the screen that doesn’t let me change anything. I really have no idea. 

[Ronnie]

When you disconnect the battery and  then reconnect it, it resets the ECM and BCM. The default setting for the BCM is the Status screen on the CRT. Does the CRT show anything other than a horizontal line on the screen or do you see some of the writing on the screen as well? Does the screen flash or anything when you press the buttons around the outside of the CRT to indicate the buttons are working?

[89reattaWI]

I knew i had to get everything in the car moving, so I drove it around for awhile and ended up driving 72 miles! The orange light doesn’t change from status when you press the other buttons. And I only see the line, it is in the center of the screen. nothing changes on the screen when you press the buttons, but when the buttons worked the line would change a little. The screen also just doesn’t light up at all sometimes. I contacted eddie voland in case the CRT is bad. What do you think?

[Ronnie]

21 minutes ago, 89reattaWI said:

I contacted eddie voland in case the CRT is bad. What do you think?

Sounds to me like it's the CRT or CRT Controller. What did Eddie think? He is an expert on the CRTs and has been working on them for many years.

[89reattaWI]

he hasn’t gotten back to me yet, i’m waiting on his response.