grr...this is so frustrating because everything that you can think of is going wrong with my car.

1) my drivers side door is starting to sag. i can see that its the bushing (think thats what they are called)

2) my hatch is not pulling itself down. is there anything that this could be other than the actual motor itself? has anyone ever had theirs not pull down and then do something to get it to pull down?

 

u could go to a gm dealer for the bushings in the door.. only like 10 bucks if that. and the motor in 3rdgens are always goin.. are u sure it isnt stuck in the down position. if it is it might not be able to reach the hatch to pull it down

 

oh yea i forgot.... highperformancepontiac.com has an article about the saggy door syndrome... not sure if they still have it up but its worth a shot

 

sagging doors, go to top down solutions (banner up top) they have a door hinge repair kit which is definately worth the money and will get rid of your problem for good.

 

Also go there for the hatch pull down problem

 

is there any way to test the hatch motor or is there any possiblity that a wire fell off it. btw the fuse is good. are the hatch motors all the same for all the years that they were made?

just to make sure that i know what im talking about can someone post a pic of where the bushings are on their driver side door? thanks

 

I think the only differance in hatch motors were the ones that had the switch inside the car had a solonoid on them.

 

last night a miracle occured. i went out to get something out of my car, opened my passenger door and shut it and the hatch went down. after numerous times of testing it over and over it is yet again not moving. if it moves when it wants to suggesting the the motor is still good could it be possible for the relay to be the cause of this?

 

what is this whole thing about the hatch pull down?? a) what does it do? b) did it come on all 3rd gens? and c) should there be on on my 84 Firebird??

 

Probably I connection or somthing I woulld guess. I had a similar thing fan in my old car. Couldn't get any air out of the vents untill I you slammed the door extremley hard, hit a pothole, went off a curb, or somthing like that.

The hatch pull down, is when you close the hatch you don't close it all the way about 2in short of it being all the way down an electric motor takes over and pulls it the rest of the way down. I don't think all third gens had them I think they started in 85 in which case you woudln't have one, but I could be wrong on that.

 

i checked all of the connections thats why i asked about the relay (plus i dont even know what a relay does)

 

If you slammed your door and the motor pulled close it could be the relay, but I'd put money on the nylon glides that are in the track, they become worn and allow the whole unit to get cocked and jammed up, slamming the door probably jarred it loose for a one time run. You need to remove the back trunk cover and look at the pull down mechinism. There is a relay there on the LH side of the pull down, that one runs the show. Have a look at the glides in the tracks where the pull down runs, I'd bet they are worn out.

 

ok ill have a look at that

in regard to my sagging door can someone post a pic and label the parts of the hinge. thanks

 

nobody has a pic?

 

I have had crazy hatch problems..first thing..do you just let the hatch drop from way up...that can tear the gears up..i used to di that..just look in side it..clean it out..you dont really have to take it out..i started poking stuff in side and when it's stuck in the down position, you can have it lift up...It's not really bad..if you closed your door it robally rattled somthing just enough for it to grab it...i have torn the crap out of both motors on both camaros 90 and 92..and they still work...original motor...just clean it out a little....i'll get a picture of the lever to push if i can rember...

 

I had screwed up mine a few times, the pull-down went down by itself, dunno how. I couldn't shut the hatch! I fiddled with it, stuck my finger into that black maw of powered gears and stuff, and tripped something, it came back up. Dunno. So, I showed the wife how to do it, if it happens to her. If I get my hands on a digital camera, I'll post my lil' fix.

 

how much would it cost to have a GM dealer fix my door from sagging?

 

I think I paid about $15 in parts to do it on my jeep. I did the labor myself. I guess it depends on why your door is sagging. Took about 3 hours to do it on my jeep but besides the pins and bushings I did a fair amount of body work (banging with hammer) because the thing was really messed up. I would guess if the pins and bushings are all you need figure around 15-30 in parts and an hour of labor but call them and ask. It could be more if you need additional parts or body work.

 

i can clearly see what is wrong with the hinge but i dont know what its called. thats why i need to see a labeled pic if anyone has it.

 

get some contact cleaner and spray the electrical switches on the pull down motor (the actuator switches that are triped by the striker), and you may just solve your problem. i have had this happen on a coulple of mine. moisture gets in there and prevents contact and him slamming the door jared it enough for it to make contact. id bet that might be your problem.

thanks
anthony