... what can I do.

I finally nailed down the electrical problem. It is my hatch pull-down motor.

The strange thing is that it pulls down most of the way, but can't seem to pull it all the way down anymore. As a result, the motor stayed on and drained my battery.

What could cause it to start having weak tendencies? Is there something I can do, or do I need to replace the motor?

Thanks.

 

Generally when DC motors get sluggish it's because the brushes are gone. The mechanical drive if it is binding can cause a problem but 9 out of 10 times the motor needs repair or replacement.

 

topdown solutions has all the parts to repair or replace a hatch motor, PM lonsal for more info

 

It's most likely that and/or the gear is stripped. It's a plastic sprocket gear being turned by a metal worm gear. I'll let you imagine what happens to the plastic piece if there's ever any slop in the housing. Which, by the way, is exactly what happens when the housing cracks. It's extremely prone to do so, because (guess what) it's plastic, too. Lon's a good guy to deal with. I got his "rebuild kit" a while back. The motor's strong as an ox now since I cleaned up the armature and brushes, regreased everything, and used a new gear, housing and guides.