1990 Reatta Outstanding Issue Support Request

[tjs330]

Hello, I just want everyone who may read this to know how much I appreciate the formats out there that allow me to communicate regarding these unique vehicles.

I bought my Reatta through my Dad, who was the Buick Motor Division (BMD) Fleet Manager back in the day.  He coordinated the repurchase of my vehicle from the rental car agency that bought it new from BMD as part of their rental fleet.

I drove my Reatta for a few years, putting about 40,000 miles on it before I sold it to my Dad, who then drove it from my house in Atlanta, GA to his house in Scottsdale, AZ.  My Dad then drove it (for just short trips around town) for several years, accumulating approximately 10,000 more miles.  Once my Mom got seriously ill in 2008, my Dad never drove the Reatta again and it sat in his garage in Scottsdale for the next 14 years.

Late last year, I contracted with a local vehicle service company in Scottsdale to evaluate the car and, if economically feasible, put it back into service.  It turns out that, in general the car was still in decent shape and worth rehabilitating.  So that work was completed in Fall, 2022 and I have all of the documentation regarding the work completed.

Now my brother and I drive the Reatta when we're in Scottsdale visiting Dad.  However, there are several issues with it that I would like to share with you and solicit help for.

VIN 1990 Buick Reatta: 1G4EC13C8LB901565

Outstanding issues:

1. Fuel Sending Unit.  The restoration company replaced the fuel tank as part of their work.  They said that it was easier/cheaper than cleaning the original tank, which sat in my Dad's garage full of gas for 14 years.  However, although they cleaned the original sending unit, they could not get it to communicate with the dash display.  So now we keep track of the gas usage and vehicle mileage so we don't run out of gas.  I've tried Sea Foam in the tank to help clean the original unit, but so far no success.  I've seen posts of (Dorfman?) replacement sending units which will economically solve the problem; however I've also seen posts that the original Reatta units are very unique and unlikely to find and replace for a reasonable cost.

2. Radio/Cassette player.  The cassette player continuously drives without a cassette in it.  I have not put a cassette in it for fear of what it might do to it.  I can eventually push enough buttons to get the radio to play, but the cassette drive still never stops.  I'm not sure if there's a mechanical or optical sensor thinking that there's a cassette in there or not, but I'd prefer to just disable the cassette functionality (if I can't get it to work properly) than to replace the entire unit.  Everything here worked fine last time I owned the car, circa 1994.

3. Lights.  This past spring, I rebuilt the headlight actuators, which now work fine.  While I drove it to a Spring Training game, however the headlight pushbutton switch assembly pretty much disintegrated.  I bought a replacement switch assembly which I installed quickly as I was getting ready to leave AZ to return home.  Although the headlights operated properly with the new switch, some of the other vehicle light functionality did not.  I suspect that I did not fully seat both of the electrical connection clips to the switch, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet. So I was thinking I should get another switch assembly, along with some typically needed replacement bulbs, next time I go out there to put all of this to rest?  Are there some standard bulbs I should have in hand when I go out there in December to replace ones that typically burn out over time?

4. Dash Support Clip.  When I removed the dash section to replace the light switch assembly, I noticed a clip that holds the lower dash panel in place had broken.  The question here is if there is a stock piece to replace the broken one or do I just get creative and find a new way to keep the lower dash panel where it belongs?

5. Trunk Lock.  This is a new one since  my brother most recently drove the car a couple of weeks ago.  From what he tells me, the trunk lock cylinder kind of fell out when he tried to operate it with the key.  But apparently the electronic switch to open the trunk still works.  I don't think I'll really understand this until I get a chance to look at it.  But I suspect that this is another typical Reatta issue that you folks can help me with.

Thank you again for your patience if you happened to have read through all of this.

[Anthony]

I found out the hard way (by locking my tools in the trunk with the battery disconnected 😂) that the trunk key doesn't serve any mechanical purpose. It basically does the same thing the glove box button and key fob do, which is send an electrical signal to the lock, which is not even attached to it.

[Ron Walker]

I can chime in on the trunk lock key, too. The cylinder is there and intact. In my case, the key does not work to open the trunk.

The only access to the trunk is via the remote release located in the glove compartment next to the fuel door actuator. 

Of course, the access panel from the interior to the trunk is there, which I've used to haul long objects.

[Top Down]

I will also chime in on the trunk lock key issue.   I have a convertible so access to the inside of the trunk lock is not readily available when the trunk fails to open because of a faulty trunk lock switch.   There is no rear hatch to crawl thru as in the case of the coupe.    I can think of no other way of accessing the trunk lock switch other than trying to reach/crawl under the raised tonneau cover.   Any other suggestions.....?