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1988 Buick Reatta no spark

Hi, I recently purchased a 88' Buick Reatta with the 3800 V6 engine. It drove fine at first but would not start after sitting a few days. I had a mechanic look at it and it was getting no spark. He tested the coil pack and ignition module and they were good. Put in a new crank position sensor and that did not help. Finally we put in a new battery along with a new cam position sensor and that got it running.

I put maybe 60 miles or so on it before it died again. It died going down a long hill and I was downshifting to help braking when some of the dash "idiot" lights flashed a few times and then I could feel the car slowing down. It would not restart and I had it towed home. He came back out and again it was getting no spark. He returned the cam sensor thinking it might be bad and also had the ignition module retested. The module was fine and still no spark after putting in a new cam sensor. Also the new battery was draining and after a few times trying to start it had no juice left. He tested it and noticed a draw on it.

I found another mobile mechanic who instantly found out that the battery had a couple defective cells and that is why it was not holding a charge. We took that back to the auto parts place along with the ignition module to test again. He noticed that when taking the module off of the coil pack that a couple of the wires were criss- crossed and it smelled a little like it might have burnt out. Anyway to make a long story short, we got a new ICM and reinstalled that along with the fresh battery but still no spark.

It was suggested that I take it to a place that specializes in auto electronics. Does anyone have any experience with this paticular GM engine and could possibly help out with any tips? Maybe the ECM? I have sunk so much money into this thing so far but it seems like I got a lemon. It only has 59k on it so I thought it would relatively trouble-free.

thanks, CTV

Reply to
Cartrivision1
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No, my friend, you didnt get a lemon, you got a Reatta... I have one too. They are beautiful, and they drive really well. BUT many of us have had the same problems you are having. These cars are from the dark ages of automobile electronics.

You will find solace and sympathy, and a lot of good advice, at the Buick Reatta site. There is a wealth of information there.

Mine is a 90 model. I call it "the baby". But it is a frustrating child.

Let me know if you cannot find the link to the Reatta club,and I will post it to you.

Reply to
<HLS

On Jun 16, 4:36 pm, wrote:

Thanks, I am familiar with the Reatta discussion group but the board is down now. Has been for about a week. It a great life-line for these cars but I have never owned a car before that had so many issues and was so hard to diagnose/fix. You would not think that it would be that hard to figure out as the 3800 engine was in a bunch of other GM cars besides the Reatta, Riviera, etc.

Reply to
Cartrivision1

The engine is the least of all problems. Mine has 140K miles on it and is still strong.

The darn over-engineering, with respect to electronics, is a big problem.. Something is ALWAYS wrong with this nightmare of relays, individual computers, etc.

Reply to
<HLS

I hope you will post the answer when you find it. I have had a lot of trouble with the passkey security system, but AFAIK, that is out of the circuit once you get the engine started. I bypassed it once, but this "patch" has since failed and I have to find out why.

I notice that my Reatta will sometimes run a battery flat in a couple of days, and other times not. Some system or fault is coming on (apparently) at odd hours and running the battery down.

I am working on this, but admittedly the enthusiasm I once had is slipping.

If your car has TEVES brakes, you really need to read the procedures in the Reatta website and take good preventative maintenance. If I ever get my car as dependable as I want it to be, and if Teves fails, I am thinking about de-Teving. Too much sugar for a nickel.

Reply to
<HLS

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