ok every thing was working fine in my 91 rs. I went to walmart (the wife is tryin to make the 91RS a grocery getter ) and came back home. As i got out of the car i Opened the trunk via "the slider switch" inside the car. It opened just fine. But it wouldnt close after that.

I just bought an ebay A1 Auto Trunk Motor. Hook every thing up fine and the trunk still doesnt close. All ground wires are believed to be connected. All trunk wires are connected. HELPpppppppppppppp folks!!!!!!!!

.............lliving in miami now....my car can be gone any second if i dont get this fixed.
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one more thing to add......every time i hit the slider switch for the trunk latch. the Word "BRAKE!@!" pops up in my dash. WTF?

 

Have you tested for power to the hatch with a voltmeter?

 

havent tested with voltmeter yet. but it is getting power because the motor gets a little warm and the little trunk light switch on the latch makes a clicking sound inside the trunk motor (cant really describe it).

 

just pulled out the volt meter......i got a strong 12 volts on the blue wire thats connected to the trunk motor. and i got power on the brown wire also.

 

FIXED! the problem was in the relay switch to the left of the trunk latch assembly. it had a short in one of the wires......replaced now and it works!

 

Good job (y)

 

is this the part that you replaced?

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=601&PTSet=A

 

Hey man, I've had the same issue with my '89 GTA! I've been trying to get it fixed without shelling out $800. I've even had the "Brake" light coming on with that sucker too! So, I have two questions for you. Lately the dealership put some tire patches in my ruts to keep the latch from moving, which has let it open and shut, but if this is the answer screw that!

1) What wire did you replace?
2) Do you still have the plastic guide rails in your car or have they deteriorated and fallen out?

 

Good job on the quick fix! The motor never worked in my old 91 Firebird, so I had the trunk held shut by zip ties. I had just graduated college and had NO dollars at the time.

 

yes my plastic guide rails when to the sh!tter on me while replacing the motor/latch. I stuffed in whatever rails I could and I also have the trunk latch assembly at it highest point (with the 3 big 10mm bolts in place)

1. i did buy a ebay motor from a1 auto. JUST SIMPLY type in "camaro trunk motor" on ebay.

2. The white wires going into the relay were giving me trouble. BUT!!!! those wires may not be giving YOU trouble.....it will vary.

BUt yes a new relay( or a working junk yarder--camaro of course!) and a new motor will work just fine. total cost approx 75 bucks. In my case i feel as if it was more of the relay not working. iI could of got another year out of that 17yr old motor.

3. remember that the light switch controls the motor TOO! LISTEN for the relay and the motor to work (you really need a quiet garage or the outside noise will overbear what u need to be listening for).

4. FEEL... If the motor gets hot and nothing happends its either STUCK in the up or down position. BUT a warm motor is a sign of power.

there is a way to get that motor back in the up position...

simply run two wires from the battery + and -

touch the two metal contacts on the trunk motor found by a tiny black clip on the right side of the motor assembly.

reverse the wires on the trunk motor "metal contacts" to make the latch move in the opposite direction.

sorry for the rough explaination and grammatical errors...im just quickly tryin to help out before i go to bed.


and for the last 2 post----i got college loans like the plague so i feel your pain!

 

hatch pulldown = worst idea ever for a thirdgen IMO

How many times have you had someone slam it down in an attempt to close that thing? lol

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/tech/hatchpulldown.pdf

Read the Tech Article I wrote and it should help you repair your pull-down unit. I have all the parts to repair them.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

I don't have any wires connected to my motor. I took a 1/2" socket and moved the motor up so it grabs the thing on the hatch. I open it manually.

 

You own top-down solutions?! You are my hero! Lmao I found your site through forums yesterday! I plan on buying the guide rails, grease and relay sometime this week! You don't know how appreciative I am for your site! Thanks much! Oh and quick question : The relay that you see when looking down at the latch is the trunk relay, correct? Thanks again!

 

my hero!

 

That relay is for the hatch pull-down motor. The relay for the hatch release solenoid is located next to the emergency brake (below the hatch release switch) on Camaro. On Firebird it is located in the dash bahind the hatch release switch.

Lon

 

Ok thanks for all your help.

 

lonsal....I have a 87 Camaro with a power hatch. I replaced the motor and housing assy. a few years ago due to a intermittent problem of the power hatch not raising sometimes and not lowering sometimes. The motor didn't fix the issue. There are 4 wires connected to the reversing switch. The dk blue and brown have 12v and the white and orange have only a few mv. When I depress the switch with my finger to simulate the hatch being closed the voltages stay the same on the dk blue and brown and the mv slightly cahnge between the orange and white. There are 3 wires coming from the switch mounted at the top of the latch mechanism, white, black and orange. I checked for continuty. In the up position the black and white are closed and when the switch is depressed, the black and orange are closed. I carefully removed the relay from the housing to check the contact pads for corrosion and they were clean. I can't hear the relay click when depressing the switch on the latch mechanism however I do get continuty between the center pin and the perpendicular pin when manually engaging the relay. In your opinion from the info given does it sound like the hatch pull down relay or the reversing switch that is causing this intermittent problem? Thanks!

 

Would you mind telling us exactly what you did? I just bought a '90 camaro rs and the last time I opened the hatch that motor came on and would not shut off until I unplugged it. It wasn't pulling down the hatch and the hatch won't latch anymore. I don't care about having a motor to pull it down, but I also couldn't see how to set it up so it will latch manually.

 

You need a TDS p/n 109111.gear nut $7.95. Available on my web site.

Lon Salgren

 

I got a 91 Firebird Formula. I have the same problem. When I first got the car, it would turn on an make a noise but not do anything... Now, It doesn't do anything. I unbolted it an moved it up so it would still latch, but now it is hard to get back open... I had to climp over back seat and un bolt it then hit releas button then it opened. I want to go to junk yard and buy just a regular latch and release mounting braket and mechanism... But im not sure if that would work. What is your input?? The whole reason I need to fix this is b/c I just bought a $4,000 car audio system an dont want to install until it works properly. If I can just get a regula latch an release type deal that would be best for me... Comments are needed...

 

By "regular latch" I take that to mean the older slam-latch style. Nope it isn't a direct bolt in because yours has a different mounting pattern to hold it to the body. Yes you can jerry-rig your pull-down latch to a slam latch. See the picture I'm holding of how to do it? Get yourself a pack of Wrigleys spearmint chewing gum, drywall screws, baling wire, epoxy, drill motor and bit set, 6" long piece of 1x2 utility-grade pine, duct tape, bungee cord, spool of 14# test spiderwire fishing line and barbless hooks, SMAW welder, fire extinguisher, chisel set and a ball-peen hammer. Don't try this with Juicyfruit it won't hold up.

But seriously, I hope instead you'll call or e-mail me for the parts and instructions to repair it correctly.

Lon Salgren

 

My 92 RS motor works, but it does not lock. It will go up and down. When I close the car doors it pops `back up. Am I missing something or should it lock after it goes down?

 

Make sure that the motor did not break off of its mount... My motor was working just fine but wouldn't hold down the hatch. I opened it all up and sure enough the cheap little plastic bracket that holds it to the body of the trunk had snapped. Long drill bit and a couple of drywall screw should hold it in place fine. That is how mine is on there and it has been going strong for quite some time now. I found that if that motor is too low by even 1/2 an inch it won't latch properly or won't stop trying to lower the hatch.

 

The motor was going down too low. And it wouldn't latch. I just unplugged the motor and the light at just the right level.(The first time I could get it to latch.) And called it good. I might try to get it to line up better(The hatch) from the outside, I'm just happy for now being able to control this without that automatic POS.

 

Ok so My son loved to watch the hatch get pulled down by the motor well the other day I let him shut it and I didn't pay attention. I get inside the car and start driving down the road and the first big bump the rear hatch bounces up and slams shut Poof no more motor. My question is what part of the system breaks when this happens Because now the motor won't even operate. does it ruin the motor, the guides, contacts, or something else?

 

Yup partially broke my motor due to an idiot friend who did that. Now I'm the only one ever to close it. What'll happen is it'll get stuck in the down posistion, with the hatch up. So if i move this little clip thing in there, it pops right up.

I want a trunk =[

 

My trunk lid pulldown stopped working also. Changed the motor and relay. Nothing still worked. Made an appointment to take it in. Same night looking at the fuse block in the manual and the hatch back lid release are on the same fuse as the horn relay. Honked the horn and the
trunk lid pulled right down.

 

I'm having some troubles with mine as well. mechanically it works fine, moves up and down fine and holds tight. BUT, it won't grab the loop on the hatch unless i slip my hand in there and pull the hook, (the part that grabs the loop and moves down) back towards me and push the hatch down at the same time, then it clicks in place and pulls tight. I've tried adjusting the position of it, but you can only move it from side to side...not forward and back, its like the claw part is loose, not sure what to do on this...help please? any idea would be MUCH appreciated.

 

Is the rear hatch sticking out further to the rear than the side spoiler trim pieces? If so the hatch hook will also be too far to the rear. This is caused by the hatch struts pushing the hatch to the rear. Adjust the hatch forward again by following the Hatch Alignment Tech Article here on TGO.

Lon

 

huh, i guess i didn't think of that. ill go take a look later today. on the off chance that the hatch is aligned properly...what could cause it?

 

First thing to check is that the latch is centered on the hatch hook. The 3 holes in the frame are larger than the bolts and allow for movement up/down and side-to-side. Next check that either the hatch hook or latch are not bent or damaged. The latch should be engaging on the flat (horizintal) portion of the hatch hook. If it is engaging it closer to the bend, then it won't latch properly. Did you check the function of the latch by latching it with the round shaft of a screwdriver blade? Test it for latch and release.

Lon