Before storeing my car for the winter, I noticed that the rear hatch button on the dash won't open the hatch. The key will open it and the electronic pull down works fine. Is this probably just the switch or should I look elsewhere? If it is a switch, where can I get one. I can't seem to find them anywhere. Thanks for any help guys.

 

It could be the relay, the switch, or the solenoid? It is a troubleshooting process and I think MDM has the switch.

 

There is a relay located behind the passenger side of the dash, I would check that first, to see if it went bad.

 

i have the same problem, but instead when i push the hatch switch, i hear a thump noise from the trunk area. but it still wont open...

 

Kingsflame: that most likely means your release solenoid in the hatch area is shot, weak, or needs greasing.

rick89formula: My suggestions is take the switch panel out, check for power from at least one of the terminals in there and make sure the black terminal is making a good ground (use volt meter, black to black and red to i think orange). If you don't get power then you have a problem relative to a fuse. If you get power there put the switch back in temporairly and go to the passenger side of the dash, remove the little plate that is located right at the passengers knees, and you will see a relay with three prongs stacks on top of eachother like a triangle, one wire is power from the switch (black with white stripe), one wire (tan) is grounded to either your ebrake (standard car) or your park/neutral switch (automatic), and then you have a thicker black wire that leads to the back of the car for the hatch release. Make sure your car is in park or or ebrake up, press and hold the hatch release button, put the black part of your volt meter on the tan terminal once you remove the relay, and then put the red on the black with white stripe wire, and if you have a 12 V curcuit...your good to procede.

If you didn't get 12 V...my suggestion is replace the switch. Either junk yard or moderndaymuscle.com. If you got 12 V we can keep going. Put the relay back in. Press the hatch release button, if you hear a click, the relay sounds like it is working as it should. If it doesn't click, i suggest replacing the hatch relay, it's very cheap even if you do it for the sake of not tearing your car apart in a few months (not that they go bad quickly). They are the same as the Hord Relay, so if you go to a parts store you may need to ask for that. IF you can get to the back of your car we can procede (meaning pop the hatch with your key). Once you remove the interior panels, there you will see a hatch release solenoid, a bright steely looking bump on your hatch motor. You will see a black wire coming from the immediate driver side, that is your power, and off of the hatch release solenoid you will see a short 6-8" black wire bolting to your body, that is the ground. Disconnect the power wire from the hatch release solenoid, take your volt meter and put the red terminal in there. Take the black terminal and place it on the bolt where the hatch release solenoid grounded out. Have someone press the button. If you get 12V back there, then you are having an issue with possibly a ground of the release solenoid or a bad solenoid. Take the ground terminal off the body, scratch the body up a little with sand paper, clean it up and bolt the ground back to the body. Clean off the solenoid terminal of any possible rust from moisture and make sure the terminal looks clean. From there if it doesn't help it may be the hatch release solenoid, which you can also pick up at moderndaymuscle.com or junk yard if you decide that is potentially what you need.

 

I'm having a problem with my hatch release switch also. The solenoid and relay work fine when I jumper the two leads (brown and black) at the switch harness. When I jumper those two connections the relay clicks and the solenoid releases the hatch. When I put the switch in, it doesn't work. I ordered another switch and I'm having the same issue. I get continuity at the switch (closed) between the brown and green posts but no continuity at the others. Did I get two bad switches?

Thanks!

 

I'll be watching this thread. I'm having hatch release issues as well.

 

Just in case you don't know this. I was convinced my hatch release was broken recently. I didn't realize that it didn't work without the emergency brake on. Fortunately, I read this somewhere before I started tearing it apart.

Back when I had my 1990 Formulas, I really don't remember them working that way. But my '88 GTA does; you have to have the brake lever pulled up.