I opened my hatch and the motor stayed in the down position. I am unable to get my hatch to lock and close, it won't even stay down. Anyone have this happen before? I have not looked at it much yet, I just said "f it" when it happened. Anything I should look at/ look for? Thanks. BTW I've got an 86 Z28.

 

Happened once in my 87 bird. Here's what I did: take off the panel and do a quick visual of all the wiring, and once you know it all looks good there, put the panel back on. use wires to connect the metal thing to the left of the latch from the car to the trunk, so in other words connect the thing so it thinks the hatch is closed. Latch the thing onto a screwdriver, pop the trunk, and gently pull the screwdriver up.

Worked for me. I hope it works for you.

 

Common misconception. The contact pad to the left of the hatch pull-down unit has NOTHING to do with the pull-down unit. It powers the HMSL (high mount stop light) on the spoiler of 1987-90 F-bodies. Prior to 1987 it powered the optional rear hatch wiper motor.

Now to tackle the original question and how to solve it. What happened is the hatch didn't latch properly, yet the hatch hook made contact with the striker-sensing switch which started the cycle down. Normally once you pop the hatch and the hatch hook is no longer making contact with the switch, the pull-down unit will rise. Your switch may be a little sticky and hasn't opened up yet. To get the hatch pull-down unit to raise up again you need to re-set it. The second part of 305q_ta86's answer is correct. You need to fiddle with the striker-sensing switch that is just in front of the latch using a screwdriver. You should spray it with some electrical contact cleeaner. If this continues to be a problem it means the contacts in the switch are bad and the striker-sensing switch should be replaced.

Lon Salgren

 

I'll check it out. Thanks for the quick help!