This is my first post on this forum, so I might as well start by bugging for information already. =D My friend has a 1987 Trans Am GTA that we're having a heck'uva time to get the hatch to close properly. The motor in the back will not go down at all. We thought maybe it was just the motor seized, dead, etc, so he went and got a known working one from a you-pull it yard. After hooking everything up, the motor turned on and sent the rail back up. We took that as a good sign but.. Closing the hatch gets us back to square one. Any guidance?

Here's a picture of both of our cars, just for fun. Mine's the Fiero. =)

 

Welconme to the site. The first place to look for help is the Tech Articles that are on Thirdgen.org. I wrote this one specifically to help with repairing your hatch pull-down unit:
https://www.thirdgen.org/tech/hatchpulldown.pdf

When you've diagnosed the problem I have all the parts to repair it available on my web site. You can click my company sponore link on the right-hand column or go there directly.

Lon Salgren

 

Nine out of ten times it's the lower plastic housing that cracks. It's gets brittle and fails.
That changes the relationship between the gears and they stop working
You can get them on Ebay ect but they are no fun to change

 

Thank you for the quick responses. I'll be sure to check that out.