bought another black panel for the back of my bird, for a project, but it is different than the ones that i already have, just wondering what these parts do or if they serve a purpose

 

another

 

That would be the contact for the third brake light. There would be 4 pins on the hatch interior panel to contact those 4 plates.

 

o ok, that makes sense, but seems like a poor design, looks like that will be removed and glassed over

 

I thought that was the contacts for the hatch pull down motor. I could be wrong.

 

On second thought hrddrv could be right. I had just always assumed it was the 3rd brake light. I thought the pulldown triger was a tab right by where the latch goes.

 

As hrddrv has said, it is the contacts for the rear hatch pull down motor. Goes in the piece of trim at the rear of the cargo area that covers the tail light connectors and attach points.

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Its not for the pulldown motor, its for the brakelight and i always seen two pins (ones on the outer pieces). The pulldown motor is not wired through there.

On my 91 which had the high brakelight, the wiring was in the roof, so i never had that. The pulldown motor had about 2 bundles of wire going into and works when the latch hits it.

 

You were right the first time. You shouldn't doubt yourself. The contact pad was used for the rear hatch wiper motor through 1985. From 1986-90 it was used for the HMSL (high mount stop light). The hatch pull-down motor is wired directly to hot at all times through the red/white stripe wire and is triggered by the latch sensing switch adjacent to the latch.

Lon

 

Had to delete that.

 

Ok, you're wrong.

That light you see through that opening is the rear cargo area light that comes on when the rear hatch is opened. The opening though which you see the light is for the brush assembly that covers the rear hatch latch assembly. Right next to it on the left looking down is the contact pad for the rear hatch pull down motor. At least that is how it is on the Camaro's, don't know about them birds though. They're kinda funny in that respect.

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ok, my light back there NEVER comes on unless I turn that switch on. That set of terminals is for the switch, which is connected in SERIES to the light, at least on my car. The wiring is uninterrupted between that switch and the light and the wiring from the ACC fuse, as far as I know, but my hatch is obviously NOT original as I have the same set of terminals on the plastic, when the hatch has a plastic cover over the top of those terminals. And I do NOT have a HMSL like I am supposed to (at least I think I am supposed to). I'd take pics but my interior has been stripped for recoloring.

Now, I realized that I was an idiot and pointed out the wrong thing, I deleted what I said, and now I feel worse about the whole thing

 

Yeah its for the 3rd brake light, I had to fix mine on my 89 RS, had to clean the contact points up. But its the third brakelight not hatch pull down!!

 

I vote for the 3rd brake light mine didn't work (but my pull down did) cause the 2 metal tabs coming off the piece on the hatch were gone, then i replaced that piece with another and the brake light works now.

 

Its for the 3rd brake light, I have an 86 Iroc and had to check for power there with my multimeter. When my friend stepped on the brake pedal their was 13.8 volts at the outer contacts when he let off brake pedal there was 0 volts.

 

My 91 T/A doesnt have that 5 contact piece on it and my hatch motor works great.

 

yeap.. i know they are for the 3rd brake light...


when i discovered my 3rd light wasnt working at all, one of the first thing i tested was thoes contacts... but it turned out that all FIVE bulbs had just burned out..



btw, if you clean the contacts on the trunklid and on the lower panel, you may get better voltage.... i saw a half volt increase at the light socket when i cleaned to contacts.

 

LOL

i cant believe this discussion still arises.....

Yes, the contacts are for the Third Brake light....however i dont know why GM made 4 contacts when only 2 are used... seems liek a pointless exploit of money..


The pulldown unit is soviergn in its own to be activated to turn on and off by the sensors i has.

 

i believe on my 83 t/a that also was used for the rear window wiper which used 2 contacts.

 

I have one from an 82 Firebird S/E with rear wiper. They didn't have third brake lights or power pull downs then.

 

Mine has that on the hatch, and I have neither wipers or light, odd. Anyway I hope its nothing important cause its not hooked up.

 

My 85 IROC has this feature. The vehicle has no third brake light, of course, but it does have the rear wiper and the hatch release (not the power-pull down version).

JamesC

 

third brake light contact

 

I stand corrected on my previous post that this contact was for the rear hatch pull down motor. I verified this by going out to my car (89 Iroc-Z) and disconnecting the harness from the contact and pulling the hatch down. The hatch pull down motor worked as advertised and the hatch release worked also. I then started researching the GM service manual for my car and it only refers to it as an electrical contact. It does not specify any particular system that it is associated with.
So, with that said, I apologize for my mis-information in my previous post on this matter.

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It makes sense that it would only be for electrical items on the hatch itself. The power pull down and trunk release are both in front of the taillights on the body. Even the rear defogger gets power routed through the hatch struts.

So the only things on the hatch are rear wiper and third brake light, right?

 

it is 3rd brake light contact... you will find that if you take a screwdriver you will be able to get the hatch pull down to pull down without the contacts touching which leaves only one thing for it to be

 

rear wiper for sure..... i just had to replace it. and in some cases rear light maybee but mine has no rear light just a wiper.

 

lets see... GM designs a contact plate for 3 items (one ground, 3 contacts).


they first use them for defrost and rear wiper.... in later years, when they have to add a light, they use them..


this is GM style.. reuse what you have that works.. it saves money.

why would you design a diff trim piece and board if the one you already have works great?


on the later model 3rdgens with a 3rd brake light, it controls that.... along with anything else mounted on the hatch...

*shrug*

i still dont get what this thread is even for.

 

What does it control on my '92 RS? Third Brake light is on the top of the hatch and wired under the headliner. No rear wiper. The defrost isn't run off that either. The defrost comes in on the drivers side from the body and atatches to the end of the hatch shock where it mounts to the body. It goes out the same way on the other side.

Or, another thought I just had...maybe I am not supposed to have those contacts?

 

or perhaps GM just put it on every car at that point...... not to mention, in 92 a few wierd things like that just happen because of parts issues... they needed to use what they had.


all my later camaro friends have verts, so we all have the 3rd brake light in the spoiler..... so i cant tell ya about that.... *shrug*

 

not supposed to be in a 92 rs.. does it even have any wires even going to it? if not there ya go somone put it in there probraly out of a berlinetta or other earlier model car.