What did you do with your Reatta today.

[2seater]

Just the boring changing of the seasonal cars today. The Reatta came down from the lift, which seems to work good as mouse proof, and the winter 4wd pickup retired for the season. As usual, the Reatta fired up and ran perfectly after the two second prime. Even though my road is muddy, and it was drizzling rain, it still felt wonderful to get the first drive of the season underway.

[DAVES89]

On 4/29/2023 at 3:31 PM, ship said:

Dave, I don't know how late a model of Buick Regal you might be interested in (I believe 2020 was the last year of manufacture), but I had the opportunity to drive a friend's 2013 Regal GS a few years ago (BCA John De Fiore's).  I was very impressed with it, great styling, peppy, comfortable, etc.

I always liked the looks, and last week test drove one. It was very responsive and a great ride. Not saying no, but just not now...

[DAVES89]

The Red is out of storage.

 Insurance is on. Tire pressure checked, CRT settings for Time, Date, Temperature, [Both heat and A/C] and stereo are done. A/C looks like it's holding freon as it didn't trip any warnings in 60 degree weather. Took it for a spin around the block and looks like it's ready for it's first day of running appointments with me tomorrow.

 Can't wait!

[DAVES89]

My wife and I went out for supper tonight and took the Red. Voltage was 14 volts heading out and everything worked great. Drove home after dark and the volts dropped to 11.2 with no warning lights but the cruise stopped working. [This was reading the CRT]. I'm thinking there is a point where the car decides it needs whatever voltage it has to have and ancillary items like the cruise stops working. I have more alternators and will put another known good one on it and see if the cruise starts working again. BTW the indicators in the dash light up like the cruise works, it just doesn't stay engaged.

Any comments?

[Ronnie]

Check to see if you have any codes. Might be some codes stored that relate to the cruise problem. did the battery voltage ever come back up or is it still reading low?

[DAVES89]

I had codes but not related to low voltage or cruise. Loss of data. Last night just before I turned off the car the red warning for low charge came on and the CRT read 10.9 volts.

 Doesn't matter now as I have the one in there that I took off the Black before I sold it. Looks like I guessed wrong as to which alternator to be in the Black before I let it go...

[DAVES89]

Okay, replacement alternator works fine, no issues with cruise, low voltage everything works great.

 

Now on to next issue, A/C. I'm not getting the cold air I will need this summer. If I run "max air" I get pretty cold A/C but that's not good enough. So I ran some tests through the touch screen.

I adjusted the blend door and it now reads 35 on A/C and 74 on Heat which is within the parameters on the Diagnostics [30-80].

Went back into Diagnostics to read the sensors;

ED04 26

ED23 22

BD21 26

BD25 20

BD26 20

BD27 24

BD28 23

BD32 37

Per the troubleshooting my sensors are close enough that I probably am low on Freon [still r-14]. Kendall has r-12 gauges so next Monday night when we meet for shooting pool we can do a check and add if needed.

I will do a check on the BD28 [low pressure] code while driving to see what it is reading. Per the "How to" section on fine tuning I need to see how the low pressure side is cycling the compressor. Per the instructions optimal as 0 to -1 not the -2 to 9 over and over. I think that is where I was late last summer which indicates low freon meaning I may have a slow leak somewhere. However I am not throwing a low freon code B446, B447, B448. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by DAVES89

[DAVES89]

I continued to look at why I kept getting a B440c code. So I decided to swap  the programmer for another one on the shelf. Same deal, kept throwing the 440 code. So I did an override while reading the B028. It kept pointing to either a binding door or lost ground. So I decided to remove the BCM to look at the travel of the rod and if it was binding. Everything looked fine with clear travel of rod opening and closing the blend door with no binding. So I put the BCM back in and plugged the three connectors back in and am happy to report that I no longer have a 440 code and the air works fine. Must have been a bit of corrosion on one of the connector plugs. At any rate the A/C is blowing ice cold [not like the lukewarm of before] and no codes.

 Ready for the road as tomorrow I have appointments and it's supposed to hit 80.

[DAVES89]

Looks like I may be a bit low on freon as the low freon warning tripped on the CRT. Temperature was in the low 60s so I will wait for warmer weather and try again and maybe it will be good.

 I'm still running R12 and have plenty of cans so I should be good.

[DAVES89]

On 11/29/2022 at 7:48 PM, DAVES89 said:

Installed the passenger side mirror on the Driver's side like you did Ronnie, and it looks and works better then the Driver's side installed correctly on the Driver's side

That was the convex mirror I installed on the 'vert. Just swapped the passenger convex mirror on the Red. If you remember the idea was to put the convex passenger side mirror upside down on the Driver's side Reatta mirror. This way one has a better view of what's behind you but still get the blind spot car.

[alec2538]

Treated the ol' girl to a wash yesterday at the local self-serve spot. I'd have hand-washed her, but I'm in the middle of a major move/life change so I went for the closest alternative. 

 

Given the state of exterior on my particular example, I had no qualms about utilizing the foamy brush to scrub off some of the more stubborn mud and road grime. However, water leakage IS a concern. Early on, I became aware of very slight leaks at the top front corners of both the driver's and passenger's door windows when faced with high-pressure water or steady rainfall. The self-serve allowed me to control the volume/pressure of water directed towards the top of the windows. Low and behold: I found zero water droplets on the door panels afterwards.

 

Of lesser note: fuel economy. To date, she's been treated to a fresh set of 225/60R16 Kumho LX Plat's, a set of NGK TR55's backed by ACD wires, a new accessory belt, and a fresh 10W30 oil change. Having owned several 3800 powered vehicles in the past (both NA and SC), I expected somewhere in the 19-21 MPG range. To my surprise, the math reported 22.3! 

[DAVES89]

Just a couple of observations. As we all know on the '88/89 everything to do with the lights goes through the headlight switch. I also believe that  the lights then go on to the fog light switch on the console. Case in point, tonight I swapped out a bad upper brake light checked my taillights and front running lights and nothing was illuminated with the running light switch on in the headlight switch. Okay turned on the headlight switch, still nothing. Turned the car on, still nothing. Turned on the fog light switch, everything comes on [front/rear tail lights and cornering lights. As a test I then turned off the fog light switch and front and rear lamps stayed on. Turned the running light switch back on leaving the fog light switch off and this time the front/rear lights came on. Turned them off then back on and once again front/rear lights came on. 

 Also had a different issue in the past that if I would turn on the brights the headlight and wiper pods back light would go out. This is with the fog lights off or on. What I would do in that case is cycle the fog light switch off and on several times and and then it would work as it was supposed to [headlights go to bright and pods stay illuminated] I have extra fog light console switches just have never taken the time to swap it out.

Probably should one day...

[sarookha]

On 5/21/2023 at 8:16 PM, alec2538 said:

Treated the ol' girl to a wash yesterday at the local self-serve spot. I'd have hand-washed her, but I'm in the middle of a major move/life change so I went for the closest alternative. 

 

Given the state of exterior on my particular example, I had no qualms about utilizing the foamy brush to scrub off some of the more stubborn mud and road grime. However, water leakage IS a concern. Early on, I became aware of very slight leaks at the top front corners of both the driver's and passenger's door windows when faced with high-pressure water or steady rainfall. The self-serve allowed me to control the volume/pressure of water directed towards the top of the windows. Low and behold: I found zero water droplets on the door panels afterwards.

 

Of lesser note: fuel economy. To date, she's been treated to a fresh set of 225/60R16 Kumho LX Plat's, a set of NGK TR55's backed by ACD wires, a new accessory belt, and a fresh 10W30 oil change. Having owned several 3800 powered vehicles in the past (both NA and SC), I expected somewhere in the 19-21 MPG range. To my surprise, the math reported 22.3! 

I'm wondering why not even better fuel economy.  Granted, almost all my miles are steady, flat highway miles, but I regularly hit the manufacturers suggested 27mpg.

[2seater]

Tested a few accumulators with Daves89. It turned out the latest one that was claimed to be good is in fact NOT. 100psi gas charge, maybe. Double checked a couple others that we had labeled previously and they tested @ 800psi, good and ~400psi, below minimum but will work as a temporary. This confirmed my rig is still operational and the first test wasn't a fluke. Exciting times😎

[alec2538]

On 5/22/2023 at 9:07 PM, sarookha said:

I'm wondering why not even better fuel economy.  Granted, almost all my miles are steady, flat highway miles, but I regularly hit the manufacturers suggested 27mpg.

I'm sure mine could use a new O2 sensor, however I'm quite happy with my results. I'm sure I'll see upper-20's soon, as I'll be driving her the ~350mi round trip to the cabin and back this summer.

 

Don't forget: my '91 has 3.33 gears, so 27 for you is closer to 25 for me. The L27 isn't any more efficient than the LN3, as far as I know.

Edited May 25, 2023 by alec2538

[Philbo]

Replaced the front brakes and rotors and did a brake fluid flush yesterday. Re-tested my accumulator and the results were not fantastic :(. From accumulator empty, took 66 sec for lights to turn off and 86 sec for pump to kick off. 3 years ago that was about 20 sec less. Also 3 years ago was 3-4 brake pumps to get the pump to kick on to a solid 2-2.5 now.  Thinking my accumulator is getting weaker, but how bad is this? 3 years ago I replaced the accumulator with a new hydac one from eBay.  I do use the car as my daily driver so it sees a lot of use.

[2seater]

33 minutes ago, Philbo said:

Replaced the front brakes and rotors and did a brake fluid flush yesterday. Re-tested my accumulator and the results were not fantastic :(. From accumulator empty, took 66 sec for lights to turn off and 86 sec for pump to kick off. 3 years ago that was about 20 sec less. Also 3 years ago was 3-4 brake pumps to get the pump to kick on to a solid 2-2.5 now.  Thinking my accumulator is getting weaker, but how bad is this? 3 years ago I replaced the accumulator with a new hydac one from eBay.  I do use the car as my daily driver so it sees a lot of use.

How much fluid drop from start to finish? I have a Hydac also and I found 9/16" to 5/8" is in the normal range. I have not checked estimated gas pressure lately. I will say, I have never been able to achieve the number pf pumps some others have. I see 2-3 with mine right now. I think you are doing the right thing and monitoring the situation. I found that my brakes felt firmer after replacing the original front brake hoses a couple years ago which also seemed to reduce pedal travel required. Related?? Maybe.

[Philbo]

2 hours ago, 2seater said:

How much fluid drop from start to finish? I have a Hydac also and I found 9/16" to 5/8" is in the normal range. I have not checked estimated gas pressure lately. I will say, I have never been able to achieve the number pf pumps some others have. I see 2-3 with mine right now. I think you are doing the right thing and monitoring the situation. I found that my brakes felt firmer after replacing the original front brake hoses a couple years ago which also seemed to reduce pedal travel required. Related?? Maybe.

I think on the the number of pumps it is highly dependent on how hard you step on it. I try to mimic more of standard brake press, but if I stomp on it I can get the pump to come on after one or one and a half presses. But what used to get 3-4 now gets more like 2.

 

For the level drop, I'll have to measure it, but it's pretty much the whole height of the sticker that is on the side of the reservoir. Guessing that's more like 3/4". I would say that is a little more than it used to be as well.

 

Interesting thought on new brake lines. I would guess that would make a small difference as well as any trapped air if any.  I think the previous owner re-did the front brake lines shortly before I bought it. 

 

One quick question. Like a dummy I started flushing the front right brake line before emptying out the accumulator. Would that cause any problems? I realized after a couple attempts and it not behaving the way I expected it. I didn't see any air come out after fixing the situation, but it got me paranoid about trapped air.

[2seater]

There shouldn't be any trapped air in an accumulator unless it has been blown completely. The gas pressure inside forces the diaphragm right down to the fluid opening so it expels all the fluid. The pump and accumulator are sort of divorced from the front brakes, similar to a vacuum booster. The rear brakes use direct boost pressure modulated at the master but the front brakes are conventional in that the boost pressure is just that, it assists the pedal. This is the Teves2 pump diagram.

 

[ship]

This weekend last I had to temporary move my Reatta igloo to my driveway because my neighbor will be having the two pine trees removed during the upcoming week just to the right-hand side of my property).  He and I certainly don't want anything tragic to happen!

 

UPDATE:  Pine trees on the right side of the picture were safely removed and my Reatta igloo is back in place.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by ship
update