What did you do with your Reatta today.

[DAVES89]

It is all in and works. Took me a bit over an hour to get it in. The hardest part was getting the base of the column into the yoke. Being an "older" guy I was not as flexible as I used to be and I think that slowed me down. I also had to redo the 16 way button box as the two top screws pulled out. Then because I had replaced the Reatta steering wheel with a 1979-1984 Riviera wheel I had a different set up to contend with. As I kept sounding the horn I just disconnected the battery and then installed the horn assembly. That seemed to work because after I installed the assembly and hooked the battery back up it all worked as it should.

 Going to take it out for a test drive now to be sure all is good.

[DAVES89]

After resetting the clock, radio/heat/A/c presets I took it for a drive to get gas. Everything worked as it should so I should be good for now. 

[Ronnie]

Good deal! If you didn't have Gibson's nearby you would have been down for a lot longer. Doesn't hurt to have a good mechanic friend like Kendall to help you out either.  I have several mechanic friends but I don't have a Gibson's to get parts like you do. ?

[DAVES89]

Earlier this week I sold 2seater an IPC for his Red car which left me with no inventory, so I went looking around on the internet. I did find one, but 4 warning lights were burnt out, but on the '88/89 the bulbs are easily replaced. After I got done I noticed the "Anti lock" amber light still wouldn't light up as it went through the "Show". Not critical. Also had a bad "trip" push button, but I just covered it up with electrical tape and it looks okay. Testing it now as I have a 4 hour round trip today which will give a good indication that no components go bad after the heat builds in the cluster. It does have a 30 day warranty.

 Not too worried about the bad trip button as I will get one over time either when one of mine goes bad or I find on in a yard.

[Ronnie]

Wow. Parts must be getting scarce if you are having to buy from other parts vendors.

[DAVES89]

31 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Wow. Parts must be getting scarce if you are having to buy from other parts vendors.

Yeah the "Bling" [IPCs and CRTs] are getting real hard to find...

[DAVES89]

Just got back from the 200 mile round trip and the IPC worked great. However while doing the install prior to leaving I did a quick test drive and got an E026 which then went to history. I removed the IPC and quickly removed the amber anti lock brake light bulb and swapped in a different one. So I was curious if it would reappear, but good for me no codes.

 On a different note can someone else comment on what is going on with their cars besides Ronnie, 2seater, Ship and myself? It would be more interesting if we got a bit more participation...

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, DAVES89 said:

On a different note can someone else comment on what is going on with their cars besides Ronnie, 2seater, Ship and myself? It would be more interesting if we got a bit more participation...

It's odd that you mentioned that. Kat and I were sitting here tonight discussing how all things Reatta have slowed to a crawl.  This forum is overdue for a major update like the Other forum just went through that caused a lot of headaches for their forum administrator. We were talking about whether or not it made sense to do it when only a handful of people are using the forum.

[pbtexan]

HI "Veteran Reatta pilots" !   Don't go away, there are probably several newbies like me that are reading and learning every day about our new cars !  

 

I took my new 89 Red Coupe out for a small shakedown cruise last Saturday (about 65 miles) and she ran like a top!  Started at 55mph to let it warm up and ran to 65 and 75 without a hitch !  Managed to get my first traffic stop (just a warning) for not having dealer tags or plates by a county sheriff's deputy.   Well, the color is Radar Red, right?  Actually was not speeding, I think she had never seen a Reatta before (she probably wasn't born yet in '89 !) and she was very nice about the stop.

 

Shake down did bring up a couple of points:  

  1) Temp was running 186 on the nose at freeway speeds (75) but moved up a little to 194 when in slower traffic.  I read somewhere the thermostat was at 210 or 220?   What is nominal range?  

2) Need to read the instruction book more for the radio sets... not intuitive at all !   Also, not getting good reception on the AM band... is this a known problem, if so, is there a fix?  Or how hard is it to update/repair the delco radio??

3) Have a service engine check line on already, have copied the instructions on the diagnostics page and plan on tracking it down this week after work.  I think it is showing cruise control, but the CC is working just fine, so will know more about the codes when I can sit down and follow the instructions

One more thing, I'm not knowledgeable about the OnBoard Diagnostic computers, except to read that they are not available before 1996?  Will the digital diagnostic screens take me where I need to go, or is there a tool I need to acquire?

thanks !

And Don't go away !!  ?

[DAVES89]

I'm thinking you have a 195 thermostat which is where you are running. That is the one I run in my cars so you should be fine. 

 If you are getting good reception on the FM side on your radio you should have a good radio. You might just have a situation where the AM is poor in your area.

 At the top of the page there is a "How to" section that will explain many things one of which is how to read the codes, and then hopefully if your code is a "common" issue a "How to" in regards to the repair. It could be as simple as a burned out bulb in the instrument cluster to a more complex issue. 

 While you can use the "hard" button on the lower right of the CRT do not expect to see what your problem is. It is a simple way to see what is going on with your car and shows what the warning codes look like when you have an issue, but it is not the way to read the codes. The instructions are there but you start with the "climate" page on the CRT and then press "OFF" and Warm"...

[Ronnie]

10 hours ago, pbtexan said:

1) Temp was running 186 on the nose at freeway speeds (75) but moved up a little to 194 when in slower traffic.  I read somewhere the thermostat was at 210 or 220?   What is nominal range? 

Dave is right, a 195* thermostat should be in your engine but you might have a 180* thermostat if your engine consistently runs a just a little over 180* on the freeway. Keep in mind a thermostat controls the lowest operating temperature of the engine. Not the highest. The 3800 engine in the Reatta was designed to run hot. On hot days when sitting in traffic you may see temperatures over 200*. That is normal.  If you see the temperature going really high when driving down the road you may have a problem with the cooling system.

 

11 hours ago, pbtexan said:

One more thing, I'm not knowledgeable about the OnBoard Diagnostic computers, except to read that they are not available before 1996?  Will the digital diagnostic screens take me where I need to go, or is there a tool I need to acquire?

You don't need a diagnostic scan tool for your Reatta. The Reatta's Onboard Diagnostic system is much better than a scan tool for trouble shooting your Reatta. You should get familiar with how to access the Onboard Diagnostics system as soon as possible so you will know how to use it if a problem occurs.  Also take the time to get familiar with the Reatta Onboard Diagnostics Booklet. It covers everything about the Onboard Diagnostic System. It is your best friend when troubleshooting your Reatta.

[pbtexan]

Thanks Ronnie and Daves 89!

 

I'm amazed at how deep you guys go into the repair process:  pulling steering columns, etc !  I hope to be a better Wrench when I retire in 15 months, but still in the Novice category at this point.  I'm betting the care and feeding of this Reatta will take me to a different level !  (IF I'm successful at it.... if not, I may go broke!  LOL)

 

thanks !

[DAVES89]

Yesterday I was swapping the end gate on my daughter's KIA Sorento and while the project went well I couldn't help comparing the difference between the Reatta and her KIA. On example our Reattas have wiring harnesses that allow one to install a 16 way seat in a 6 way car as a plug and play, same if you want to add a 16 way seat to the passenger side. 

 On the KIA my daughter had a back up camera [still hit a tree backing up!] and the replacement did not. I thought that I could just swap out the "camera bar" from the original end gate and install it on the replacement as a "plug and play" not so. I [we] had to swap out the entire end gate harness [defroster, wiper/washer/upper tail light, camera/license plate lights] to make it work. Kendall ,who was working with me said that even short lengths of wire adds up on cost savings so they have separate harnesses depending on options chosen.

 Took about an extra 30 minutes to do, but no big deal and all is good.

[DAVES89]

Lately I have been getting phone calls from guys with questions about repairs on their Reattas. As a matter of principle I let ALL calls go to voice mail. I then delete the spam and listen to what the message is and get the information needed to respond to the call. As I am still working as a Medicare agent, and if this is a client call, this means pulling the client's file seeing what plan they have and what provider is being used. If it is a friend, family member or Reatta owner, etc. that means a simple return call.

 October 1 started the "Annual Election Period" for Medicare clients to change their plan which then ends December 15. Prior to October 1, I sent out a mailer to hundreds of my clients who are now responding and asking questions and for some of them that they want to see me [which I am happy to oblige]. I also have a separate list of about 150 clients that I am calling to personally see, as there are new plans being offered in their area and I need to update and hopefully rewrite them into these new plans. If I don't do this someone else will and I will have lost that client for at least that year and probably forever.

 Driving to see clients can be anywhere from 25 to 250 miles a day, so yes one can surmise that between phone calls and appointment meetings this is a very busy time for me.

 So back to the phone calls. I am no longer taking Reatta assistance calls by phone. I am a big advocate of the forum and want more people to use it. We do have a number of knowledgeable guys here on this forum that are willing to help and as "traffic" is down on the forum this would be a good opportunity to come on line and ask about what is "ailing" your Reatta and let us ALL help you and in addition provide a learning opportunity for others as well.

 Thank you.    

[DAVES89]

The Red got washed and an oil change and is now in storage. The '88 Black [to be known going forward as the "Black"] is now the winter driver. I know it seems early but I have to see what "bugs" I have to work out and the Red was a bit overdue for an oil change so it it seemed like a good time.

 Right now the Black is idling as I have a very late lunch, so I can see where I am with anti freeze in the overflow tank. Then transfer the stuff from the Red to the Black and I should be done for the day.

[ship]

Sad to say that today, 10/04/2020, was the last cruise-in for the year at my local AutoZone store.  The cruise-in is run by the South Coastal Corvette Club and open to all cars.  Coffee and Dunkin' donuts were served.  I've scheduled mid-October for shocks/struts and related parts to be replaced prior to the Reatta's hibernation.

 

[DAVES89]

As I had previously posted I put the Red in storage and got out the Black [the '88 that replaced the '89 Black that 2seater's son now has] and decided that now is the time to start taking it out on appointments. Kendall had replaced the timing chain and gaskets so I knew the engine was up to the task, but there are still other things that can go wrong, but nothing ventured nothing gained. So away we went leaving at 7:00 am and returning a bit after 5:00 pm running 4 appointments and about 200 miles. The car did great. There are a couple of issues, the biggest one the Camaro muffler. It is a bit loud for my taste so it needs to go. Some time ago I was out to Gibson's looking at the exhausts on the Reattas that are out there and wouldn't you know it there was one with a real nice exhaust. So I cut it off about 2' in front of the axle and took it home. Maybe this weekend I will get it installed. Also want to check the front tie rods and ball joints.

 I'm going to have to get 2seater to come over and eyeball this car. The interior [other then a bit of carpet fading] is about an 8-9. The body also an 8. The engine with the work Kendall did makes me feel real good about it. Has 184,000 miles but miles never bothered me. Hope I can get 7-8 years out of it before 2seater gets it. lol!

Edited October 8, 2020 by DAVES89

[DAVES89]

All my appointments went quickly and I was able to get home early. As it was such a beautiful day I asked myself what I could do on the Black today. What jumped out at me was the pin striping. The previous owner had the driver's door repainted or replaced, but for whatever reason never did the pinstripe on the door. So as I had some time and some gold pin stripe tape laying around I thought "Why not" and got started. I took a damp rag and wiped down the car and as it dried I got the tape and a razor blade out. I never did pinstriping before and after two tries on each end I ended up with something I thought looked pretty good, certainly better then no pin stripe at all. 

Edited October 8, 2020 by DAVES89

[DAVES89]

I drove about 900 miles on the Black this week which was my first real extended time driving it. It drove well and no issues, but I did want to check out the exhaust and front suspension. So my wife and I drove over to Bob's house about 35 miles away. My wife was going kayaking with Bob's wife and Bob and I were going to check the car out, exhaust, tie rods, ball joints, oxygen sensor, cam sensor.

 I had been getting a ciode Eo41 [cam sensor] and E044[ lean exhaust] so I thought I would swap them out while Bob was checking the underside of the car. Ball joints and tie rods were good, he greased the ball joints, but discovered I had some "seepage" from the front passenger side metal brake line. So off to O'Reillys for a brake line and fittings. Total time about 2 hours but the brake line is fixed, fittings were greased, cam sensor replaced and we were done. Oxygen sensor looked new so I left it in place. Exhaust is welded stainless  steel with a Camaro muffler which is why it is a bit loud, but I am leaving it alone.

 One thing I am interested in an opinion on, all the way home I was getting a code E041 [I cleared it twice] until I exited the highway to surface streets and then the "Service Engine Soon" light went out and the code E041 went to history [which I then cleared out]. Do you think that was part of the learning cycle of the ECM? The code E041 never came on so I think maybe unplugging and plugging it back in gave it a good connection.

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, DAVES89 said:

One thing I am interested in an opinion on, all the way home I was getting a code E041 [I cleared it twice] until I exited the highway to surface streets and then the "Service Engine Soon" light went out and the code E041 went to history [which I then cleared out]. Do you think that was part of the learning cycle of the ECM? The code E041 never came on so I think maybe unplugging and plugging it back in gave it a good connection.

Don't know about that one Dave. Were you clearing the code going down the road? If so you might have to clear the codes with the engine not running for it to clear a code 41. The reason I'm thinking that is because the cam sensor is used to synchronize the cam position and the opening of the injectors. Maybe it can't do that as long as the engine is running so it sets a code 41 until it does. Just guessing....