Gotta real head scratcher here guys. my pull down unit doesn't work and everything on the unit is new and I mean everything. The confusing parts to me are there is a ground wire that I'm pretty sure grounds to the pull down unit itself but it has power. also when I push in the hatch release button on the dash the brake light on the dash comes on. Any idea's ?

 

Wiring is screwed up somehow. When the wrong things light up, it means 12v is being supplied to a ground circuit somewhere. Disconnect everything associated with the pull down and start over on the wiring. Black wires are usually ground and should not be hot. Have someone push the dash button and check to see where the electrons come out in the trunk.

 

Do you hear the relay clicking when you push the hatch release button? It will be quite loud so hard to miss. Also, check your courtesy fuse. If that fuse is blown your hatch won't get power since the courtesy lights are on the same circuit.

Also, my hatch won't work unless the e-brake is on, not sure why that is. My 86 was not like that, but I noticed others had this issue as well. If the hatch is stuck all the way down where it won't catch let me know. I will tell you something else to try.

 

so all fuses are good. when I push the hatch release there is no noise. testing with a test light there is power to the pull down unit, power to the blue and white wires, nothing on the orange wire and the test light barely lights up when I put it to the brown wire but that does trigger the relay because I can here it click when I touch the brown wire. also when I pull up the emergency brake lever and hit the hatch release button the brake light does not come on any more. by the way this is an 87 formula I'm working on and the pull down unit is not down but almost all the way up.

 

The red wire is 12VDC positive feed and it should always have power. There are 3 wires that are ground to metal near the hatch motor assembly with sheet metal screws. You can test the hatch motor by depressing the black plastic piece at the top of the hatch motor assembly. Make sure this is working before you are testing the dash release switch. The link below will show how to push down the black plastic piece to make the motor run.

Third Gen Camaro Hatch Motor Stuck in Down ... - youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EnGM_0vjJQ
Jan 10, 2018 · I apologize for the portrait filming orientation, I made this video on the fly. This fix is for all Third Generation F-Bodies with automatic pull down motors...

• Author: Nick Ridley

• Views: 7.7K

 

if you have power at the harness that connects in the hatch, and you do not hear any noise when doing the trick Mark posted about above, then your hatch motor is shot and you will need to replace it. It takes like 40 minutes total to do and is very easy. You can get an upgraded motor from topdownsolutions. I recently replaced my motor because it was weak and their kit did the trick.

 

The hatch motor and all switches including the relay are all brand new. Even the guide and guide bushings are new. I tried pushing down the black switching and nothing.

 

If this is a new unit it should be returned. If you sure you have +12VDC incoming on the red wire and your grounds connected to the metal the motor should run when the black plastic piece is depressed. You might try looking for a used unit at junkyard if you are trying to save money. Topdown solutions is a good source for parts and information.
Top Down Solutions (top-downsolutions.com)

 

I think there is something else going on because I have a ground wire that has power going to it and when I push the rear hatch release button the dash brake light comes on. Im pretty sure most of the parts came from top down solutions, some of them came from west coast parts

 

well something is definitely wrong if you power on a ground.

The brake light coming on when you press the hatch release is normal. It happens on my 88 GTA and my hatch works fine. I need the e-brake pulled up to use the hatch release inside. I did not have to do this on my 86 trans am, so I am assuming it was a safety feature that was added later on.

Also, there is a switch on the hatch motor (not the switch the latch on the hatch pushes down), sometimes when hatches are rebuilt they do not have the switch turned into the right position so the motor does not work at all. You can use a thin hook tool to toggle the switch to the other position and see if it will work. the switch is a small black tab and is hidden behind the shaft that connects to the motor to the tracks. On my 86, I had this issue, I flipped the switch and all the sudden the hatch started working like magic lmao

 

I'll definitely give that a try.

 

If you can't find the. switch let me know and I'll take a pic of it for you.

 

The large black wire the plugs into the hatch release solenoid is probably sending +12VDC to the solenoid from the release button on your dash. There is black wire with a ring terminal that connects from the solenoid to chassis for the ground.
When I ordered new slides from topdown solutions they came from Southern California. If you ordered parts Lon likely sent an you an email. Try sending Lon an email at topdown solutions and see what he suggests. He has been a moderator on Thirdgen and knows everything about the hatch assembly.

 

Below is a link to a rebuild video with some tips from someone doing his first lift motor assembly repair.

82-92 CAMARO FIREBIRD HATCH PULL DOWN MOTOR ...

www.youtube.com › watch
How to diagnose the switches for the hatch and the reversing switch and replace the electric motor for you ...
Sep 15, 2019 · Uploaded by L2theW
Missing: lift ‎| Must include: lift

 

I was able to get a hook on the reversing switch and moved it from the down position to the up position and still nothing. Is there a way to bench test it to see if its the unit or my cars wiring?

 

I bench tested a used unit from the junkyard with a 12 volt power supply. Most guys probably do not have a 12 VDC supply so you could use the battery with 10 amp in line fuse connected to test the hatch motor. The fuse and holder are available at your local auto supply.

Remove hatch motor from car. To test the hatch motor apply +12VDC to the terminal that connects to the Dark blue male terminal that was connected to red inside the hatch. Connect the black the black with a ring terminal to _12VDC. Then depress the plastic switch that makes the hatch motor run.

To test hatch release solenoid apply +12dc to male terminal inside the black plastic part on the end of the solenoid. Connect the -12vdc to the nut or case of the solenoid. This will be a bit loud when solenoid activate. In addition there will be a spark when you first hook it up so keep it away from the battery or anything like fuel. .

 

Photos of test connection out of vehicle. This is an old parts unit being saved just in case a usable part is needed later on.

 

took the motor out and bench tested it. the hatch release solenoid worked on the bench but the motor did not. when I put + on the dark blue wire it gives the ground ring terminal power. im guessing something in the reversing switch or pull down switch must be wrong ?

 

Did you push the black plastic piece down after applying the power?

Also try with reversing switch in both positions.

 

The reverse switch is kind of weird. Did you try giving the switch a tap with a screwdriver or anything? One hatch that repaired recently had a switch that I guess is going bad and needed a few taps to register lmao

 

I did push the switch down but I did not tap it with anything. Also tried it with the reversing switch in both positions. both switches are brand new. the hatch release did work before I rebuilt the unit but obviously the pull down was not working hence the rebuild.

 

It is highly unlikely there are 2 bad switches since it was working when you started.. Might be the motor. If you replaced it and have the old motor that was working try swapping new motor with old motor. Then bench or battery test again.

 

old motor did not work, just the hatch release solenoid worked

 

sent my pull down unit to the guys at west coast auto parts and they went through the unit and said they got it working. I put it in the car and nothing, if you use your finger on the switch it will go down but I don't believe it came all the way up. it still has power to the blue wire but it also has power to the black ring ground wire.the dash release switch is not working could that have something to do with it ?

 

Now that you have motor runs you can close the hatch and test the motor operation. When you close the hatch and the motor pulls it down it should have a click when it stops. If this works go to the next step. Test with the key and make sure it opens and the motor runs to push the hatch up. If either of these tests do not work try moving the motor up or door with mounting 3 bolts that hold the assembly to the body of the car.

Once you have the motor working the proceed to the release of the solenoid via the switch on the dash.

 

the motor does not work with the hatch at all. I have the motor adjusted all the way up. It only worked with my finger on the switch to go down once, then it came up but I don't think all the way and now it does nothing but it still has power coming to it.

 

Maybe the motor assembly again or possible the reversing switch inside since it only ran once.
Try testing motor with a fused wire direct to the battery or any other 12VDC power with enough amps to run the motor.