ok, so i guess i am alone in this but my hatch pulldown on my firebird does not work.

it did not stop all of the sudden. it has been a little quirky latley. i would turn the key and the latch would realease but the unit would not rise, so i would (with a key) close the latch and re-open, then up she goes. now it has stopped working all together. i think it is the switch that tells the system that the key has been turned.

also, in fiddling with it doday i blew the fuse, so... where is this fuse. i checked the under the dash fuse pannel, ALL fuses are good. where is this fuse?


thanks alot for the help everyone.

 

Well damn it, please let me know when you figure this one out! I have the same exact problem, posted the questions a few times over the last month with no real solution to my problem! I know I am not helping yours and it is frustrating, especially since my hatch is stuck in the up position, and I saw another IROC yesterday driving around with the same problem. My bottom line solution will be a rebuild of the assymbley. Cost $$, but can't figure anything else out. I get full power to the connectors, but think it may be my stricker switch or wire?!? No fuses blown, and the motor is loose, mine also faded out over time?

Anyone, please help....! Thanks.

 

Do you have the hatch release with the pull down motor? If so, there are two fuses for that system. The accessory (ACC) fuse for the hatch release relay and the hatch release switch and the LID fuse for the hatch release and pull-down assembly. Lonsal is a good person to answer any other questions on this. Also, what kind of shape are your hatch struts in?

 

hatch struts are in good shape. on a warm day they hold it up, on a cold day this does:

 

If that is the case, then you need a new set of struts. Struts in good shape should hold the hatch up regardless of whether it is a hot day or a cold day. BTW, is that a rubber duckie I see on the dash?

 

yes, it's a rubber ducky with devil horns i love it.

anyway, i doubt my hatch struts are to blame for my pull down unit going out..... are they??? anyway. i need to find out specifically why mine wont work so i can fix it before i break my hatch glass.

ohhh!!! one thing i think might be to blame is my brand new hatch seals. they are way puffy (and still leak) and i think caused to much stress on the motor.

anyway thanks for the help.

 

so where are those fuses located?

 

One is the accessory (ACC) fuse which control power to the hatch release switch and th other is the LID fuse which controls power to the hatch release and pull-down assembly. They are both located in the fuse block under the dash. BTW, I bet you have a CD of C.W. McCall's "CONVOY" in your car.

 

thats a big 10-4 big ben.....

anyway, yeah, i do not have an lid fuse and my acc is not blown. the fuse might be labled differently, i have an 86 v6 bird

 

On Firebirds the fuse for the hatch pull-down unit is a separate in-line fuse adjacent to the fuse block. The information previously supplied applies to Camaros. Why they are different I haven't a clue.

If it is a wiring issue with the hatch pull-down unit, that is easy to fix. The entire wiring for the unit comes with the striker-sensing switch. The switch attaches near the latch with a single screw, then plugs into the reversing switch. The blue wire connects to the red with white stripe wire. The black ring terminal connects to a ground location just below the hatch pull-down unit. On 1989 and newer there is a white wire that connects to the hatch light. Just plug in a relay and you're good to go. The bad news is that GM discontinued the striker-sensing switch last year. The good news is that I've got a few NOS switches in stock.

Lon Salgren

 

Xophertony, you need to check your PMs.

 

sorry, gotcha now though, thnks.

lonsal, thanks for jumping in, i hear your the expert. how do i find out where the problem is? i need to know what is supposed to be hot/ground ect... does anyone have a wiring diagram for this? my haynes book couldn't be more useless right now....

by the way trickster, after reading your post i downloaded that song, it's totally awsome. come to find out my mom actually has the cassete tape of it.

 

I had a similar problem. If the key doesn't work and the switch doesn't either, then you need to pull the clear lense out(rear light) and (crawl in over the rear seat) and unbolt the solenoid and trip the latch with a screw driver to open it.
HTH
Don>>>

 

Are you saying pull the outer clear lens from the center of tailights before moving to inside car!? Why what does that do?

Lon do you have those striker sensing switch kits in stock and how much are they? I think this may be at least part of my issue because it was having trouble activating the pull down motor every now and then and suddenly now I have the same issue as the above with it stuck closed.

 

maybe he's talking about the little light that's inside the car in the cargo area? on the big plastic piece in front of the hatch motor...isn't there a little light bulb there? maybe you can access something through there

 

Yes I have some 1988-91 striker-sensing switch in stock. This switch can be used for the 1986-87 hatch pull-down units also. you just will need to swap the small black connector on the blue wire with the large white one used in 1986-87. The switch includes all the wiring for the hatch pull-down unit. Just plug a relay into it, plug it into the reversing switch, attach the blue wire to the red with white stripe wire and connect teh ground wire to the body.

The clear plastic lens Don mentions is the interior hatch light lens. You can remove that lens and you'll see a 10mm screw. That screw holds the solenoid release or manual hatch release to the pull-down unit. Remove the screw, remove the solenoid release (silver colored) or manual hatch release (black colored). It will expose a square hole and the hatch release lever inside. Push the tab on that lever to the right and it will release the latch.

Lon

 

yeah, i can not find that. does anyone have pictures?

 

anyone???? bueler....bueler?

detailed instructions would work

 

COME ON! please! if i never find this fuse i can never start truble shooting. the fuse is blown, i have searched all around the fuse panal area with no luck finding any in line fuses. somone please help me with this!!!!!1

 

Contact Aviator857, since he was the one that e-mailed me a copy of his Fuse block diagram from his 1989 Firebird Owners Manual. He also informed me that the fuse powering the hatch pull-down unit on Firebirds is not part of that fuse block, but is a separate inline fuse adjacent to it.

You're looking for a red with white stripe wire. If you can't find it under the dash near the fuse block, then you'll have to trace it forward from the rear of the car. A PITA because it involved removing several interior trim panels.

Lon

 

thanks to you guys guys i found it!!!! thanks mostly to trickster and lon. it was right next to the panal tucked up next to a big think cluster of wires that looked to finished to have a fuse sticking out one side. there is a picture on the sister thread in the v6 forum https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=238502

now to troubleshoot the rest of the system and find what is actually broken

 

If you need any of the wiring, I have mine off of my 88 Formula. My plastic motor housing fell apart so I took all that stuff off and welded the rails and now it's a manual hatch.

 

i just discovered via a classmate that we have a midterm comming up on thursday. i also have two days left to getmy car through DEQ (department of environmental quality, thats what we call SMOG/emmissions here in the big O) so unfortunatly my hatch pull down just got shoved off the priority list for about a week or two. but, once i get back to it, if i find that i need any wiring i will certainly PM you. thanks zepher.

 

ok, so screw school, i need this to work NOW. i have the entire unit removed so i can bench test it. i suspect the motor, but it could also be the switch, so here is what i need to know. what wires in this assembly do what? what wire can i plug directly into hot to bypass the switch, ect.... i have atached an image of my assembly sitting on a towl on my desk. to provide clearity

 

so, yeah. if i actually atached the pic that would be good.

 

ok i am finally back onthis project. i have now gotten an entirly new moter unit. just one question remains. where does that white wire go?

 

On 1986 through either 88 or 89 (i.e. cars with a manual switch for the hatch light) it is unused. Starting in 1989 or 90 (whenever they switched to the hatch light without a manual switch) it plugs into a black with orange stripe wire which turns on/off the rear hatch light.

Lon

 

see mine just went out the other day. I can open with the key. but the button wont open it. and the struts are brand new. Ill take a look at the fuses and you said there the ACC fuse LID fuse?

 

OK, let me clarify something. First off there are two fuses. One for the hatch pull-down motor and one for the hatch solenoid release. For both Camaro & Firebird the hatch solenoid release fuse is located in the #11 position (third row down from the top, third column from the left, 20 amp). It also powers the horn relay, interior lights, power antennae, PDL's and cigarette lighter. I think you'd notice if those were also out. Pull out the black wire from the solenoid and check it for +12v when you activate the switch. Also VERY IMPORTANT, the ground wire must be present that attaches to the 10mm screw that mounts the hatch solenoid release to the hatch pull-down unit and goes to the ground location below the unit. If the ground wire it missing or broken the solenoid won't work since it is electrically isolated from ground by the guides in the track.

You can also try pulling up the e-brake handle (manual tranny cars) or put the car in P or N (auto tranny cars) and see if that gets it to work. This is a safety precaution that will allow you to pop the hatch with the car running. It SHOULD be able to pop any time if the ingition is off, but you may have a problem with the ignition circuit.

For Camaro only the hatch pull-down motor fuse is located in the #3 position (first row, third column from the left, 15 amp).

For Firebird only the hatch pull-down fuse is a separate inline fuse adjacent near the fuse panel (as shown in the link provided earlier by Xophertony.

Check for +12v at the the red with white stripe wire that plugs into the blue wire. That is the power source for the hatch pull-down unit and should be hot at all times.

Lon

 

wow, so if i plug that white wire into the orange wire going to the light my lite will come on when i open the hatch? freaking cool.

 

ok, so i have the whole thing wired correctly. how do i test different parts of the system. i want to see what is broken so i can tell the guy i purchased it from. thanks

 

Not Exactly, there should be a switch in there somewhere for the 86 models!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Black with orange stripe wire not orange wire. That info is for 1989+ models. Your car wasn't wired to have the hatch pull-down unit turn off the hatch light.

Some people mistakenly plug that white wire into the blue wire since on 1988-91 the connectors mate, but that is incorrect.

Plug the blue wire into the red/white stripe wire. Hook the ground wire terminal to the ground location below. The hatch pull-down should now work. I hope you marked the location of the unit to the chassis before you removed it. It makes aligning it easier. Adjust the hatch pull-down unit up, then check how far down the hatch closes. You MUST hear the click of the reversing switch being tripped. Continue adjusting the unit down until you have it compressing the hatch seal properly and still hear the click at the bottom of the stroke.

Lon

 

thanks man you rule it was the fuse.

 

thanks for the info lon. but i cannot yet test as my unit will not function. how do i isolate and test seperate components like the striker switch for example. the "working" unit i got off ebay no work and i need to tell the guy why so he does not think i am a moron when i ask for a refund/replacement

 

Hook up the blue wire to +12v. The black ring terminal to -12v or ground. That's it. If he claimed in his ad that it worked it should work.

The solenoid release has a single black wire hooking to it. That connects to +12v. Connect the large ring terminal of the ground wire to the 10mm screw holding the solenoid to the hatch pull-down unit. The smaller ring terminal of the wire goes to -12v or the ground location on the chassis just below the hatch pull-down unit.

It isn't up to you to diagnose what is wrong with it. IMO he gets at the minimum neutral or negatrive feedback if it doesn't function as advertised. Yes I know that you want to get it working, but as far as needing to know what is wrong with it to post feedbck, it's not your responsibility. They units don't fail in transit.

As far as diagnosing the unit, I always test in a disassembled state. Remove the reversing switch and put +/-12v to the terminals on the motor where the reversing switch attaches. That is the starting point to determine if the motor is good or not. Follow the instructions from my web site, or the Tech Article I wrote.

Lon

 

good points lon. and mucho thanks on the links

 

wow. so the guy refunded me for the non working unit. now i am bench testing my (broken) unit. here is what the situation is.

from the wiring harness the wires go as follows

white : from plug to striker switch and no where else.
black : ground
blue : hot
brown: ground

here is what is happening. from the hatch open position i depress the striker switch unit lowers and raises and lowers and rases. if it is lowering and i relese striker switch it stops. i depress switch it continues untill there is a *click* then it raises. if i release the striker switch it raises all the way and then stops.

next test
white : from plug to striker switch and no where else.
black : ground
blue : hot
brown: nothing

here is what is happening. from the hatch open position i depress the striker switch unit lowers. i hear a *click* and it stops. i relese the striker switch and nothing happens. it stays down.



it seems to function yet it did not work in the car? where is this brown wire supposed to go and why would this unit not work in my car?

thanks for your help

EDIT: right, so i looked at the bum e-bay unit and realized the brown wire ges to the relay. conclusion. bad relay