my 87 hatch wont pull down or the unit wont go up to pull down i think the relay might be bad. when i was working on the third brake light i was hearig noises from the pull down unit. i dont seem to have power to the third brake light either any thoughts?

 

Welcome to TGO.

The two are not related other than they may share a common point for ground.

 

The two are indirectly related in that the hatch must be closed for the third brake light to work. It is powered through the contact pins and pad on the hatch. Here is a link to my tech article that is posted here on TGO on how to repair your 86-91 pull-down unit.

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

Lon

 

thanks for the tech. info on the hatch. on the brake light the hatch was down and in works sometimes and then it dont, i had my son push the brake 10 times it worked 3 out of ten did this twice the second time the same not in any order like 1-4 no 5-6 yes 7-10 no it just works when it wants. what dcv should i have? on the regular brake i'm .14dcv and jumped that to the third light and that made no diffrence

 

clean the pins and contact pad with a wire wheel in a dremel tool or use a steel wool or scotch-brite pad.

Lon

 

hatch pull down works took the car for a drive and got a better charge on the battery and it pull down. still working on the third brake light. thanks for the help

 

try brake switch, sounds like it may be on it's way out. It's attatched to the brake pedal bracket underneath the dash if you didn't know. Sounds like it's worn down inside worse than bad if that does prove to be your issue.

 

Check the connector to the 3rd brake light bar.

 

good call on the break swithc that was it.