After 6 weeks of work my Bonnie is finally on the road and today was her maiden voyage. I went the full 15 rounds but in the end the effort has paid off. The last step in her roadworthiness was the brakes. Lines, valves, hardware, pads and shoes were all replaced but the brakes still felt and performed like crap. I made two attempts to bleed the brakes but was unsuccessful at correcting the problem. I decided to take the car to a garage to have them professionally bled.
I was all excited when I picked up the car but very disappointed when I drove it. The pedal still felt very mechanical, not like smooth hydraulic system. The pedal was pulsing with very little effort and I had my doubts about stopping a couple of times. Then I thought… hmmm… maybe I’ll pull the ABS fuse and see what happens. There are two fuses, one labeled “pump” and another labeled “control”. I first disconnected the pump fuse. Hey, wha’d ya know, it no longer pulses when the brakes are applied. The only problem is the brake dash light is now on and I… don’t… have… brakes. This fuse was reinserted and the control fuse was removed. I continue to drive the car this way. What a difference. Feels like brakes now. I’m able to drive feeling confident that I will actually stop.
I logged a total of 70 miles today and finally had a chance to evaluate the car. Here are my thoughts:

Pros:
Very smooth engine.
Quiet, comfortable ride
Great styling
Lots of “bells and whistles”
Glad to be driving instead of underneath the thing
The compass and DIC made a brief appearance

Cons:
The driver’* seat points to the right instead of straight ahead
I think the turn signal lever is going to break every time I signal for a left turn
Still uncertain of the brakes

Summary:
I bought this car to alleviate the accumulating mileage on my truck. Also, I’ve always liked these cars for their looks and toys. I’m not going to win any races with this car but the main goal is to get it safe and dependable. It’* close but there is still a ways to go yet.

Sounds like you have a TEVES ABS system. If so pulling the fuse means the valves never get exercised when you turn the key on and that can lead to a Bad Thing. Further you bleed a TEVES differently than a standard brake system, unless you do it right it will always feel spongy.

For more than you ever wanted to know, look here. (All Reattas except the last year, 1991, had the TEVES as standard equipment).

thats good now its sounds like you have a dependable car there?

Thanks for that link. Lots of good info there. It appears as if the biggest difference in bleeding the Teves system is to depressurize the system again before moving to the front wheels. This might be the problem. However, I'm thinking that it might be speed sensors at fault. Keep in mind that the reason the brake and fuel lines had to be replaced is because they were heavily rusted. My theory is that the sensors aren't reporting the way that they should and the EBCM thinks I'm sliding. At times, the pedal is "high" meaning the pulsing begins immediately upon applying brake pressure. Other times it begins to pulse just before coming to a complete stop. And still other times it works like it should although this is rare.
Is there any way to test the wheel speed sensors? Any tips on cleaning?