91RSinNS

Hey All,

I took my '91 RS out of the garage today to take it out to Easter supper at my mothers. Opened the hatch to put the fuses back in the amps, and when I went to shut it, the hatch motor wouldn't pull down. Took the box out, and removed the plastic trim to check the motor....wires are all tight, nothing looked burnt or damaged. A quick check of my fuse block diagram on the computer didnt show a dedicated hatch fuse or anything. When I went to put the top up, the toneau for the top wouldnt release either. I suspect that might be a safety thing, since you cant open the hatch and the toneau at the same time without doing some serious damage.

Anyone got a troubleshooting idea? I did a quick search, but couldnt find anyone with the exact same problem.

Thanks in advance!
AR

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Do a search for "LID Fuse" which is the fuse for your pull-down unit and my user nale "lonsal" and you'll find the answer. Check the red/white stripe wire that plugs into the blue wire for power.

Lon

91RSinNS

Lonsal,
Sorry for the delay in replying...shortly after my last post, I came down with the worlds worst case of Strep throat. I'll spare you the details, and we'll leave it at any time I was out of the bedroom, it wasnt to fiddle with my car.


I did get a chance today to check the Lid fuse...its intact, as is every other fuse under the hood. Is there any other reason (burnt relay, etc?) the motor would have extended up, but not be pulling down?

The car has to go into a show this weekend (one of the larger shows in Canada), so I need to figure some way to get the hatch closed at least. Is there any way to apply 12v to the motor to make it retract? Or 'remove' a drive gear, and push the latch assembly down?

Thanks for the help!
Cheers,
AR

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

You forgot to tell me if you checked the red/white stripe wire for +12v. If it has power, then this could be as simple as you need to re-set the pull-down motor. That is done by pressing on the striker-sensing switch. It has three wires coming out of it and is attached to the latch area with a single hex-head scres on the left side. You need to press on the small black paddle that the hatch hook would normally hit. What can happen is the hatch hook could have pressed on th switch and started the down-cycle. Something may have interrupted the down cycle. Either it jambed or you released the hatch before it fully retracted or the hatch hook never engaged in the latch. That striker-sensing switch starts the up or down cycle. The reversing switch ends the up or down cycle. The striker sensing switch MUST be pressed the entire time the unit motors down. If the down cycle is interrupted the unit will not come up again until the striker-sensing switch is pressed again and held down until you hear a CLICK which is the reversing switch tripping to end the down cycle. OK, so test for power. If you have power, then try to press the striker sensing switch and have it finish the down cycle. When you ehar the CLICK let go and it will power back up then CLICK to end the Up cycle. It is now re-set and ready. If this doesn't work then the striker sensing switch may be bad (worn contacts). You do not want to try and move it down by dismanlting and hand cranking the gear down then slambing it. You'll wind up breaking the clear plastic part called the motor housing.

Lon

1986v6

sorry to jack the post but I am having a similar problem but in my case the hatch was stuck up and then when I fiddled around a bit and shut it all the sudden it went down and now I cant get it to come back up so effectively I have a hatch that is stuck being unable to latch so very unsafe for anything stored in there. please pm me if you have any ideas

91RSinNS

Hey Hey,

Just got a chance to get into the shop to check on the car. The red wire with a white stripe that connects to the blue wire going to the 4-pin connector on the motor housing has 12.xx volts going to it while the car is off. I attempted to cycle the motor, both by pressing the 'trigger' in the latch itself, and by pressing the white cylindrical button (bottom limit switch?) beside the hatch guides. Neither of them moved the motor or latch assembly.

Does this mean my motor is shot? Could it possibly be the relay back in the trunk, beside the motor, thats cooked itself? The hatch worked perfectly last year, and when I went to use it this year, the motor didnt sound as though it was struggling...it went up, and that was it...never went back down.

Thanks for your help so far!
Cheers,
AR

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

A couple times our hatch wouldn't close--like the claw was closed, not letting the bar thing in. I used a paint stir stick to jiggle the assembly, & something happened-I don't know what-but it retracted down.

I had a helper push the release button as I messed with the assembly.
It came up with the claw open. Set the hatch down, & it pulled to full closed.
We've had the Camaro 3 years, & NEVER slamed it or let the weight close it. We have set it down gently, til the claw locked on.

I'm GUESSING this type thing MAY mean I need to be looking for either a new pull-down assembly, or see what's involved in converting to a standard type latch system.

tat477

where is the reverse switch, latch went down but wont come back up this is a 89 camaro rs

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

The reversing switch is attached to the clear plastic motor housing with a single phillips head screw. Is anyone taking advantage of the Tech Article I wrote that is posted on TGO covering repairing the 86-87 & 88=91 pull-down units?

If it went down but didn't come back up it may be stuck mid-cycle and needs to be re-set. Follow the instructions I gave earlier in this post on how to re-set the pull-down unit by pressing the striker-sensing switch.

https://www.thirdgen.org/tech/hatchpulldown.pdf

Lon

86CamaroNJ

sorry to piggyback on this thread, but i have no power going to the red/white wire, does anyone know where it originates so I can re-run the line and butt connect it to the blue hatch motor one?

6SIX6

iTrader: (35)

Im interested in this thread as well as mine is stuck down and I need to see if there is power still going to the wire but the motor is stuck down. Button in the center console clicks but nothing from the motor at all.

davemel3nzc

This is a nice article if you are rebuilding one.

A detailed troubleshooting article would be nice.

After much testing, I found my motor is good and power is switching from side to side of the motor fine, but the ground is not switching from side to side.