Well, after a few years of sitting in the garge, my 89 RS is about to get fixed (spun rod bearing almost 4years ago).

A short while before dying, I encountered a *very* strange issue involving the power door locks and the rear hatch system.

The car seemed to be posesses, locking and unlocking the doors on its own (freaky, I'll tell yah!). During this time, I could hear the hatch moter engaging, anc clicking (more like clunking) sounds. My temporary solution was to pull the fuse, apparently they ar eon the same fuse. This stopped the problem (locking and unlocking at will sometimes ocnstantly).

After digging through the search results, I am leaning towars the hatch motor being the problem.

Any ideas/suggestions would be very welcome. I won't be digging into it for a couple of weeks (it is currently minus 1 engine ... awaiting a new 3.4L).

Thanks, Bill

 

Your plastic gear nut is likely broken. It is around $5 from GM p/n: 20160587. I have new plastic guides available if you need them. Machined from solid nylon, much stronger than the OEM injection molded ones.

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90 RS Convertible
Owner: Top-Down Solutions
(626)369-0040

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Would a bad motor mess up a convertible too? The hatch over the top well pops up erratically on me, and it looks like its release wiring is just cobbled up from the original stuff used to release the backglass before ASC did their hack job.

 

Yes it can "mess up" on a 'vert also. But in your case it is the trunk pull-down motor, not ttthe hatch pull-down motor. The convertibles don't have a switch to remotely release the trunk (unless you added one as I did). The tonneau cover giving you problems is entirely different. If you can hear it "pop" when you are pressing the switch, then the solenoid is getting power from the switch (via the relay). If it only releases on one side, requiring you to press the switch more than once or to hit the side that isn't releasing, then it is out of adjustment. Try making sure the hook rod is lining up with the latch below. It may require you to move either the latch or the hook to get them to align properly. If no "pop" when you press the release button, then check there is power to the relay. Also if auto equipped the car must be in Park or neutral or the ignition off. On T5 cars the emengency brake must be on or ignition off. Also you can't open the tonneau if the trunk lid is open.