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What did you do with your Reatta today.


DAVES89

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As I have stated previously I am here in Texas with the Red as the 'vert has electrical issues [brake lights no tail lights] and didn't make the trip.. So as I will be leaving a Reatta down here full time I brought extra parts as well as my "junkin tool bag" to help with any repairs. Good thing, as I have a leak some place on the Teves pump and motor. So today I swapped out the pump/motor with the one I had brought along. I also installed hose clamps on both ends of the cloth hose as I think that is where the leak is coming from, although the hose was in good shape and fit tight. Also brought along 24 ounces of brake fluid.

 

 So pump/motor swapped, then I had to swap the Teves ball as the one that was on the Red is great and the other one was marginal. Made sure the metal line was tight, and as I stated I also installed small hose clamps. I then pumped the brakes until the pedal got hard and added about 6 ounces of brake fluid. Took it for a test drive and brakes worked good and the lights [Amber and Red] turned off as they should. Put a brand new piece of cardboard under the car and will wait to see if a leak occurs. So far it has been 8 hours and no drips. I am going to try not driving the car to see if it stays dry. Don't need the car until Friday so should know for sure.

 

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You've been having more than your share of problems lately Dave. Good thing you keep a lot of parts on hand. Hope you got the leak stopped.

 

 

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Thanks Ronnie. I believe I overstated the leaking issue. One of the reasons I added so much brake fluid was because when one swaps the pump/motor brake fluid is lost. However I did go out to the car just now and the bottom of the pump is dry, so I have that going for me, which is nice.

 

The last 10 words above are from a movie... anyone know which one?

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It's too Pharr away...

 

Besides I am downsizing from a high of 5 Reattas.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Met up with the kids for take out from "Mr Taco" and then across the street to "McFleishmans" a craft beer place with a beer garden. As I was walking out of Mr Taco I saw a guy taking pictures of the Black. Caught up with him in McFleishmans ordering a beer and I asked him if he was familiar with Reattas. He said he had never heard of one and was impressed by the looks and that it was also a Buick. He also was surprised to learn that it was a 1988 and that there were less then 22,000 made over 4 years.

At any rate he said he wasn't a car guy but his family has a "car of the day" contest and take pictures of the most unusual car seen.

He said he thought that the Reatta would win today... 

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Before 2Seater came over to drop some tan carpet dye [I had plenty so I gave him what I had to do his son's Reatta] I decided while I was waiting to clean the idle air control and throttle body. So while we gossiped about the forum he watched me clean everything up with carb spray and a tooth brush. He then noticed that one of the lines to the charcoal cannister was not connected, so I replaced the little hose connector [as the old one was dry rotted] and put it back together. I then checked the air cleaner and looks like the Black should still be running good. Just a little "preventive" maintenance...

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It must be nice having a Reatta buddy nearby to talk Reattas with nearby.  I didn't realize the forums would generate any gossip with them being slow nowadays. Did you guys experience any problems after the website crashed the other day?

 

A guy at the drag races the other day heard me mention my Reatta and he asked if I wanted to buy one for parts. He said it had been sitting outside behind his auto shop for about ten years with the windows part of the way down. He said he wanted $1500 for it. He said that is what he had in it. (Isn't that always the story?) I told him I had no room for it and that ended our Reatta discussion. At least I got to talk to someone local about a Reatta. 🙂

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28 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

It must be nice having a Reatta buddy nearby to talk Reattas with nearby.  I didn't realize the forums would generate any gossip with them being slow nowadays. Did you guys experience any problems after the website crashed the other day?

 

A guy at the drag races the other day heard me mention my Reatta and he asked if I wanted to buy one for parts. He said it had been sitting outside behind his auto shop for about ten years with the windows part of the way down. He said he wanted $1500 for it. He said that is what he had in it. (Isn't that always the story?) I told him I had no room for it and that ended our Reatta discussion. At least I got to talk to someone local about a Reatta. 🙂

I only noticed the site was out of commission but that's all. No other side effects. I assume you haven't just happened by where this derelict is parked now that you know about it🙄  Sounds like a junker and not even a good parts car. A cryin' shame, or maybe not, but we'll never know. By the way, the Buick GS Nationals will be in Bowling Green, KY May 12th thru the 15th, 50th anniversary for the big block cars.

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No, we didn't even get to the discussion of where it was located. the drag strip is about 30 miles west of me in Crossville and he said his shop was west of there. Maybe if I see him again at the drag races I will ask more about it but I think you are right. It's likely to be junk if he didn't bother to roll the windows up. I think he said it was brought there by a customer who never bothered to pick it up. That tells me a lot about it's condition.

 

I'm glad there were no ill effects from the website problem. The races in Bowling Green sound like fun.

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20 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

Before 2Seater came over to drop some tan carpet dye [I had plenty so I gave him what I had to do his son's Reatta] I decided while I was waiting to clean the idle air control and throttle body. So while we gossiped about the forum he watched me clean everything up with carb spray and a tooth brush. He then noticed that one of the lines to the charcoal cannister was not connected, so I replaced the little hose connector [as the old one was dry rotted] and put it back together. I then checked the air cleaner and looks like the Black should still be running good. Just a little "preventive" maintenance...

This morning I swapped out the oil pressure sending unit that I had from when I did the engine swap/rebuild on the Red. Don't tell anyone but because I was too lazy to jack up the car and remove the tire and inner fender I used a small vice grips...

 [2seater you left that brake cleaner at my house]

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7 minutes ago, DAVES89 said:

I was too lazy to jack up the car and remove the tire and inner fender I used a small vice grips...

I think I used small channel lock pliers when I changed mine. Quick and easy. 🙂

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I first checked to see if an oxygen sensor socket would work, but it didn't. A small adjustable wrench didn't open far enough. I thought about a channel lock pliers, but seeing as I had a small vice grips and could set "the grip" and not worry about crushing the sensor, I went that route. As I said I used the old one off the Red and kept the new one in the box for the next time.

Did you put any thread compound on the threads? The used one still had some on but the new one didn't have anything which was why I didn't use it.

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It has been so long I actually don't remember. Normally I would use a little Teflon tape on the threads. We used it all the time on hydraulic fittings at work and it works well when applied correctly.

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That's what I would have used, but like I said there was some compound on the used one and it seems to have sealed as there is no oil on the floor. I hope so as this sensor is probably the hardest to swap out of all the sensors I have done in the past.

Edited by DAVES89
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I had been getting a solid "ABS" amber light on the Black [actually since I bought it] so I thought today would be the day to address it. Tested the 2 front existing leads before I started and they were both dead so I thought "This will be an easy fix".

 Not quite.

I got replacements from the parts bin and installed them only to still see a solid amber light. Read the code through the ALDL and I have a #27 which is a rear main valve. Don't know how to fix it and don't feel like swapping out an otherwise good running Teves unit so stopped.

 Did rotate tires.

 I had started my day at the local tire shop, who replaced a very bad motor mount [passenger side below power steering pump] hopefully to fix a rattle, but that didn't do it. I think all that is left is strut mounts, but I am going to wait as the noise is not continuous, just when I make turns a certain way. I don't need struts yet so when that day happens [doing the struts] I will do it [struts and mounts] all at once. 

 I do have an extra set of new struts and mounts [replaced under warranty on a different Reatta] in the parts bin so it will be a lower cost repair.

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I didn't exactly do anything, but I did start a little progress toward the probable cause of the low fluid warning I got a couple weeks ago. I dug around in my records and spare parts for brake pads and I found the box for the AC Delco rear pads I installed. The sales slip was inside, from the local Buick dealership in 1999. I found I paid $145.00 for the front and rear OE pads 25 years ago, yikes. I have been happy with their performance, although they do seem to like a little heat in them to work best. In any case, I found a new front set on eBay for $45 with free shipping. I do have a selection of pads, mostly front, from Rock Auto closeouts, which look good, and probably work fine, both ceramic and semi metallic, maybe destined for my kids🙄

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I like Wagner Thermo Quite pads. I put them on vehicle own. Have done so for years. Haven't needed to buy any lately but the price was reasonable last time I purchased some. Got them the last time on Amazon for my Equinox. It had a vibration when breaking with only 28k on the OEM pads. The Wagners cured it.

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