well when I first got my Camaro the motor housing for the rear hatch was destroyed, so I bought one off eBay for about 20 bucks. 2 months later it broke so I ordered one from Top Down Solutions. well the housing is fine, but my motor just quit on me. So I just spent the last 45 mins out in the dark in -13 degrees +15 MPH winds fixing it... I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the motor, so I simply made the piece solid, no mote motorized crap. Drilled two holes through the moving plate and through the sides of the track it slides on and used two of the mounting screws for the housing to make it stay. seem pretty darn solid. I know a lot of people like it the way GM designed it, but it has always bothered me how careful I have to be when shutting the hatch so that I don't break the plastic housing. Now I dot have to worry about that. I have to work for the next 4 days so I wont have a chance to see what is wrong any more, but who knows, I might be selling a housing and a questionable motor soon.

My face is numb, my tongue is bleeding where it froze to my flashlight when I tried to hold it in my teeth so I could use both hands... My toes have NO feeling and my hands have the pins and needles feeling since they are just starting to thaw.... GOD I hate things that are made more difficult than they need to be!!!

 

Sucks about your problem, I had this same problem a few months ago. Wasn't that cold thankfully. But I did the same thing and im just using my trunk as a manual trunk now.

 

It always cheaper to buy a new motor release, other than a new back windshield. I heard of people busting out the back glass with manual locks. It might be but as long as you don't slam it, you should be fine.

 

seriously, how many other cars have you seen with motorized hatches? firebirds and caddys? Ive had NUMEROUS cars with manual hatches, and NEVER busted the windows.

 

Have you ever felt the rear glass of 3rd gen Camaro/Firebrid that wasn't on the car? You wouldn't want to be slamming it if you did

 

When i got my car the motor was destroyed and the guy fixed it the same way you did, but now its really hard to latch, i have to slam it to get it to catch, i think the latch has slid 2 far down but one of these days im going to get it in the right place and weld the plates together. And if i break the glass in the meantime, i have another hatch.

 

I've actually got a question about the motorized hatch. The last time I had one that worked as 12 years ago when I was 16. That was my 88 and it didn't have the hatch release swith in the interior. My 92 I have now does have that switch. My question is, what the hell is the point of it when the motor just pulls the hatch back down because it won't release it? I haven't even gotten it to work if I get out, unlock the hatch, then hit the switch. It would appear it has something to do with the switch not relasing the lock. Any ideas?

 

And that is why I replaced mine with a 82-85 Manual assembly.

I had to drill out the spot welds for the pull down bracket, and weld in the manual bracket, but now I have a reliable working hatch assembly

 

You guys may have a bad Up/DOWN switch. The motor should pull down so far and you should hear a click. That is the motor pushing against the switch causing it to be ready for the next open. Its really simple. Sometimes the plastic gear egts stripped and will cause the motor to free spin, or do nothing at all. These motors are simple to repair, but I will agree, parts are not cheap. You may have to invest $100 or so, but you will never have trouble out of it again.

 

When I say switch, I mean an actual switch like you have for power windows. If I put my key in the lock and unlock it, the motor activates and begins to lift the glass. The gas supports then raise the glass up all the way. If I use the switch, it will go to raise the hatch but then it will pull the hatch back down once the motor raises all the way up. Does that make more sense?

 

Had the plastic motor bracket finally break on me a couple months ago. I ended up just bolting the two slider plates together. I adjusted the plate positions using vise-grips to hold them till it shut easily (but still crushed the weather seal). Then I bolted the plates together.
No broken hatch glass so far...

 

HOW'S ABOUT WHEN THE MOTOR JUST RUNS & RUNS BUT WON'T PULL DOWN THE LID

HAD TO PULL THE FUSE. I'M JUST GLAD I HAVE A DD OR I'D BE OUT IN THE COLD TRYING TO FIX IT. I THINK IT WILL WAIT UNTIL SPRING.

 

thats what my hatch motor was doing, it just kept running. one day I had my car parked outside and I was working in the garage and I heard a motor type sound running a distance away, and as I got closer to my car it was the rear hatch motor running. all I did was pull off some kind of wire connector and it stopped running and closes manually just fine now. I didnt have the car too long before that started to happen but it works fine that way and have never thought to check what was happening. Maybe if it ever gets warmer here I may get a chance to figure something out, or maybe just leave it alone if its working one way now

 

Stripped gear & bad guides.

 

yeah like DJP87Z28 said. If your motor is constantly running, your gear is stripped. These things are plastic and are prone to wearing out after a few years. If the nylon guides are dry rotted the motor travels at weird angles, and gets caught, stripping the gear. Rebuild kits are available but sometimes pricy.

 

I had the SAME problem and I am using it as a manual hatch now as well nothing has happened to my rear window either. I thing I am going to take the motor completely out and try to rebuild it but If I cant just keep it as a manual. It works completely fine but it rattles while I drive and just irritates me.

 

When my buddy was throwing out a hatch from his camaro, we couldn't break the glass. We were jumping on it, and even threw a brick at it and it didn't break.

 

Just so u know i just purchased a new (to me) pull down assembly for 45.00. ha ha
Thats a pretty good deal. Not to rub it in

 

I guess I'm lucky but I've had 2 89 Camaro's over the last few years amd never had a problem with Hatch release.

 

Belive me, it is just a matter of time. Orignal owner and it just crapped out on me one day.

 

i got my 87 iroc last year from my bro who got it in '90. wouldn't ya know it,the day i finish re-installing gas tank(it sat for 4 years) i was closing the back hatch and the thing wouldn't work. I ended up taking it apart and theres a plastic cog wheel that was stripped out. I couldn't get a replacement after some looking and gave up. I adjusted it back down manually and unplugged the power to it. I love it now. I never understood why the rear hatch needs power. i was hesitant to take it apart but dis-assembly and fix was pretty easy. Not to mention cheap. Even when i come across the replacement part,it'll stay unplugged.... Hope ya got yours fixed.
my-roc

 

Someones welded mine up and ripped all the wiring off of it, it's not going up or down anymore. Shuts well enough, although not as easily as a normal hatch/trunk/boot.

 

my hatch gave up last night. 10 degree outside go figure.
the problem I'm having is that it won't go back down. It goes up fine but won't go down at all. What could be wrong, what should I check?

 

For some reason my hatch just works real slow when its cold out. In the mornings when its 15 or 20 degrees out it takes a good 20 sec to shut, but when its warmer in the afternoons it takes a lot less time. Any reason for this?

 

I would bet that the motor might be going out. Try to remove the rear cover panel, close the rear hatch,get inside you car under hatch(with lid closed) and unplug the motor wire only. It will stay in the right possition,down,use key or switch if it still opens hatch. Ya won't have to weld it in the cold. I have taken it all apart. 3 bolt and the whole assembly comes off. you shouldn't need to do that though, unless it goes out while it is open. then it's disassemble it and set it by turning the gear so hatch sets closed right.

 

i dont have anything in the rear of my car, not motor, no plastics, no nothing. It seems that my hatch doesn't shut completely down. no water leaks, it just doesnt sit flush, it sticks up about 1/2 an inch. if i got a pull down motor and all of its housing, would this make it flush?

p.s. i have already removed the hatch bolts to try and adjust it, didn't help much at all.

 

You will need the motor, gear and guides. Can't replace just one part because they all are shot. Been there and done it.

 

Got rid of mine ages ago...One spot weld, and your done...Have not broke my glass either....Tom

 

The shoemaker fix, not what I wanted done on my car.

 

I hate to state the oblivious. Did you check to see the rubber cork screw looking spacers. On the corners of where the hatch closes at, they adjust up and down.

 

and now i wonder why so many freaking hatches are crooked on one side...

 

Mine hasent worked since i got my car. I got the one off of my friends car when he totaled it and he had already welded it up. Never broke the glass, even got mad at my parts car and slamed and it dident break the glass.

 

you did the right thing. that happend to me and i made that sucker stationary. gm over engineered that latch, because back then it was the biggest piece of automotive glass produced, and gm thought we all slammed the crap out of everything.

 

When i got my '90 firebird the rear hatch didn't work and it wasn't closing all the way, so one day i got interested and pulled it apart come to find out the motor was gone and there was a rock in the slider holding the latch down, i think that i am going to make it a manual lock

 

When mine went out...twice, it would start opening and closing, raising and lowering and not stop until I pulled the plug on it. very inconvenient when that happens.

 

i was at a junkyard pullin out the match motor and after i got motor out { bad struts on the hatch} my dad let the hatch fall from all of a foot and the glass hatch shattered.... but i just bought the kit from tds and it looks like it shoudl fix this problem we alll have well it will fix mine not yours

 

I went through about three of those units, after all three broke within a year and a half, I removed it, removed the plastic guides, measured very carefuly, and welded the rails together, I still have enough leeway at the three mounting bolts to adjust it, now I just have to push down on it like any other trunk, no more slamming, fiddling or headaches for me....

 

any one know the site for the rebuild kit? my motor also just runs and stays in the down position. i can latch the trunk but cant stop the motor. mine did it when it was - 15 out i just tossed a strap on there and didnt close it all the way. i figure id better fix it ASAP. also a scrap yard i called said they would sell me a used one for 30$ but he said they didnt test it when it was pulled out. kinda a sketchy deal.

 

I do. It's called Top-Down Solutions. "Motor keeps running" = bad gear nut. You might want to look at the tech article on TGO I wrote on repairing 86-87 & 88-91 the pull-down units.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

just wanted to say TDS rules bought a rebuild kit from them, great customer service, and you get what you pay for that reinforcment they add it doesn't look like anyhting will ever break again with my hatch

 

Is this motorized hatch you guys are referring to the same thing as the electric hatch release?

 

No. The hatch solenoid release is attaced to the latch of the pull-down motor, but it is powered by a separate fuse. Earlier cars that had a slam latch also had the option for a hatch solenoid release. The later style (91-92) have an optional hatch release button, but it works differently. Pressing the switch starts the motor in it's "up" cycle. The latch is released when the latch is tripped open by a cam that strikes a plastic lever. A spring then forces the hatch up and open.

Lon

 

Did anyone ever make a metal replacement gear instead of using that plastic one that GM gave us? I thought I had seen one somewhere before, but I can't seem to find it. My buddy just got me two brand new plastic screws for a total of $7 direct from GM.

When I got my car, I didn't know of such a thing as eletric hatch pull down. Then one day I pulled the panel off in the back and noticed this beheameth hatch looking device that holds the hatch down. Then I noticed there was a connector dangling there, and a spot for the connector to plug into the pull down unit. Plugged it in and the unit came alive. Previous owner of my car drilled two holes and screwed the thing in position. I got a replacement unit from the junk yard, and pocketed a few gears. Only recently did it stop working on me. My solution? Opened the hatch, pulled the panel off, unplugged the connector, and shut the hatch. There is a breeze in the car when turning due to the hatch not being down all the way. But that'll be fixed soon. I'd rather have the hatch pull down unit. It doesn't bother me at all as long as it works.

I can tell you this though, it is very satisfying to hear that click when it is being sucked down. If you don't hear the click, time to pull it apart