Hey guys I was wondering if anyone has ever done this before. I want to put a factory hatch switch on my firebird in which I didn:t have as a factory option.I want to just push the switch to open the hatch. Can I run a wire from the switch to the hatch motor or do I go another route? The hatch motor came out of another firebird that did have the hatch button but the black wire that comes off the hatch motor has been cut. Can I get the same gauge wire reconnect it there and then go to the dash switch with the black wire? Please Help!!!!

Thank you for your time!!!!

Jason B.

 

No, you can't just run a wire from the switch to the motor. The hatch release is wired into the Park/neutral switch for safety purposes to prevent the hatch from accidently being opened while the car is in gear and cooking down the road at 90+. It really does make for an interesting vocabulary and a rather impressive display of aerodynamics when that happens.

 

ThirdGen.org has a Tech Article about adding a hatch release.
https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/hatch.shtml
Even though it's for a 90-92 Firebird, it could help point you in the right direction. Also, do a search for it on the boards, I know other people have done it.
Corey

 

Thanks for all the info guys!

Jason B.

 

They above are incorrect according to the GM wiring diagrams, located on the same page as the installation tech article, but in the Electrics section. It is 1986 wiring diagrams and you look under the Hatch release section of the page that the link takes you to to find out that once you have the relay (buy a horn relay, they are the exact same thing and slightly cheaper) you can extend the black wire from the relay to the back and not have to worry about the P/NSS, because all that is prewired into the relay socket.

 

wow.. I didn't know that
"The hatch release is wired into the Park/neutral switch for safety purposes to prevent the hatch from accidently being opened while the car is in gear and cooking down the road at 90+"
I often wondered what would happen if I hit the switch..

 

Maverick H1L,

If you will re-read the question that Knight75 asked in his post. You will find that my response to it is correct. You are also assuming that the relay socket is already there waiting to be used. I have seen several firebirds and trans-am's that were minus this item.

 

Okay, I take that back. You were right, in a way. You have to add the black wire to the relay, not the switch...

Well, if you would look under the panel where the other horn relay is, the socket is right next to the one for the horn relay. I did not originally have the switch but I still had the harness for it anyways, and I do have the extra relay socket. Look for it. I guarantee it is there minus the long black wire to the hatch (have not looked, it's probably bundled up somewhere). Just like with a rear defroster. You may not have the glass and the wiring to the back, but all the connections in the front are there ready to go. GM may be lazy but not stupid (except for in the case of the 305), and they incorporated all of these little things in the base models so that the rest of certain systems could be added if the customer wanted them.
The extra parts may be buried deep, but I know they are there.

Besides, if you had to add the yellow wire, that leads to the relay, at the P/NSS, you wouldn't be able to start the car in the first place. It also controls the starting circuit.