My '88 Camaro rear hatch pull down motor is stuck in the down position. There is no remote dash switch. How do I get the hatch open? I can't get to spare tire or to the pull down motor to repair. Help!!!

 

it won't open with your key?

 

No, it won't open with key.

 

Cant you climb into the back from the inside, remove the rear panel covering the motor and tail lights and pop it from there?

 

I don't know what you mean by "pop it from there." What's to pop? There's no manual way that I can determine. Why the heck isn't there just a manual override or something?? Seems like a really poor design.

 

First thing to try is grabbing hold of the hatch and shaking it while turning the key in the lock cylinder.

Someone recently posted a solution of unbolting the hinges and prying up the hatch from the front and cutting the hatch hook with a saw. That is a two man operation. You'd have to replace the hatch hook which is readily available from any pick-a-part. I've never tried this solution, just passing it along.

I use a solution at the pick-a-part yards that destroys the inner hatch surround trim panel, but in my case I don't care about that panel since I'm just seeking to quickly get to the pull-down motor. I'll remove the hatch light and use a battery powered saw to enlarge the hole. Once I've got it big enough I'll undo the 10mm screw holding the manual or solenoid hatch release to the pull-down unit. Once off you'll a square hole. Inside it is the lever that you rotate CCW to release the latch.

You may be able to get access to this by lifting the bottom of the hatch surround trim panel, but again you may damage it.

Lon

 

either that or just yank the **** OUT IT! with the key in. i have the opposite problem, my motor took a **** on me and wont close all the way down. good luck, ouch, take a saw to that thing???

 

Great suggestions...thanks. But guess what...in detaching the battery cables and re-attaching them the hatch popped open. Maybe that's how it releases the latch cause the motor is still stuck in the down position. The big brass cylinder looking thing is warm to the touch as though it's drawing power and trying to do something but doesn't make any noise. I unplugged the wire harness so my battery wouldn't drain. So, anyway, I can now go to work on the pull down assembly and try and figure out what's wrong. Meanwhile, I'm driving around with the hatch held closed with a bungee cord hooked to the chassis frame. I guess cause the motor is stuck in the down position my hatch won't latch (cause the latch hook won't reach the latch).

I'm interested in the fact there could be a manual release versus a solenoid. Is there a way to bypass the pulldown motor concept and just have the hatch latch manually with the key releasing it? I don't even care if I don't get a tight seal around the hatch at this point. Maybe I'll get a galvanized gate hasp at Home Depot and bolt it to the outside somehow and use a padlock??

Anyway, thanks for everyone's help. I'm anxious to tinker around with it now that I have access. Maybe a tap with a hammer will cause it to rise!!

 

While you're at Home Depot get a carbon monoxide detector and slap it in the interior too.

When you get around to fixing the hatch pull-down unit take a look at the Tech Article that is posted on TGO that I wrote. BTW, I sell all the parts to repair these pull-down units.

Lon Salgren

 

I have a hatch pull down out of an 89 formula im willing to sell ya for 50 plus shipping bucks. works and everything.