i ordered the power trunk pull down rebuild kit from topdown for my 91 z28. but i have encountered problems. yes i did call them and probably sounded like a full on idiot.


i installed it and everything, it pulled the trunk down, and the dash release opens it, but the motor doesnt raise it back up. could this be a wiring problem? i mean i could just leave it closed, but i would like to be able to open and close it.

 

edited

 

When it closes you should hear a click, that is the switch reversing directions and that will cause the unit to come up when opened. I would start there. check it out and report back.

 

yea heard that click, i made sure it was positioned correctly

 

Did you put the correct number of turns, when you install the gear on the shaft????

 

I don't know all the details, such as did it work before you rebuilt it and what not. But if it's switching directions and not comming up then I think it's either a wiring problem or the reversing switch is bad. TDS sells rebuilt switches, I had to buy one a couple years ago. Does your hatch light work properly?

 

yes, 7 and a half


it did not work at all before i rebuilt it, the reversing switch is new, as is the motor. the hatch light does not work, but im not sure if thats because it is burnt out or wiring.

 

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/pro...products_id=86

i bought this and replaced everything

 

is the motor getting proper power/ground opening?, if im not mistaken the lines normally switch powr/ground when the switch activates, sounds like you did the mechanical part right. btw is the main ground for that harness on?

 

If your light isn't working (assuming the bulb is good) then there is a problem with the wiring harness or the little black switch that mounts up at the top of the latch, it's held on with a small screw. I replaced mine from a junk yard and everything has worked fine since. But i'm not sure if that small switch and harness has anything to do with the reversing function .

 

it doesnt, thats just the courtesy trunk switch

 

It also starts the hatch pull down when the hatch makes contact.

 

sorry were talking bout 2 different switches, your correct about that switch, i thought you were refering to the court switch bout 2-3 inches down further.

also he said he replaced that

 

it look slike there are two grounds. one coming from the solonoid, and one coming off the motor area. right? one attaches to the frame with some sort of bracket it look slike.

 

ill have to get back to you on that thur night, im busy as **** and honestly remember the exact wire pinouts, ill try to get a diagram w some explinations also

edit unless somone can chime in earlier

 

hmmm well i guess i could just drop the 50 bucks on a new reversing switch.

 

Where are you located?. If you're in my area I have an extra I will let you borrow to see if that is your problem.

 

I do remember there being a relay in the mix somewhere. My relay blew and the pull down failed.

 

ok im include a wiring diagram off of austin-tg, (its from a 92, but should work) basicly the t lever/reverse switch is whats resetting the pull down to go up and down, normally the pulldown unit slides down and touches it and switches power/ground in the opposite direction.

Dont worry about the bottom of the diagram, basicly where it says "hatch release switch" and up.

this is the hatch CLOSED waiting to be opened/pushed up

in direction 1 (just like the diagram) power is fed to the motor thru wire 142 c1 (located above the little box that says "connector switch assembly")

ground is fed internally through the reverse switch through ground G303/S308
(im gonna assume your ground is ok because your setup works in one direction)

i deleted the direction 2 instructions cause i think itll make it more confusing

one more thing check the "lid" fuse first. it definately sounds like the reverse switch, but i always like to have people check before they replace. sorry if this is way confusing btw. if anything needs to be clarified lemme know

first pic is the wiring diag, second is the reverse/"t-switch

 

ha well im pretty clueless about that electrical diagram. i see that if the lever is down, the trunk should be closed. as for the lid fuse, where exactly is that one?

and i did replace the relay, actually replaced everything but the reverse switch probably

 

oh and am from portland, OR, so you can see the importance of no leaks.

 

gab~ the only thing that has importance in the push up is the switch and motor, you said it unlocks and pulls down, in theory, the latch switch, relay and motor is ok, and im gonna assume so.

 

any news?

 

well i would love to order a new reverse switch, but topdown appears to be down.

 

ughhhh guhhhh why is tds site not working

 

well it wasnt the reverse switch, i am still encountering the exact same problem

the latch will not raise up when the trunk is opened.

 

So you replaced the reversing switch? I had the same problem as you last month, replaced the motor, relay, checked wires etc, and finally I got a new reversing switch from TDS and that fixed it.

 

This is my reply vie e-mail to Gabloo:

It sounds as if the striker sensing switch may be going bad. The Strike sensing switch starts either the up or down cycle. You described the problem as being the up cycle isn't started upon release of the hatch.

Another reason that this can occur is that the pull-down unit did not complete the down cycle. This can be caused by the hatch pull-down unit positioned too low. If it is mounted too low the unit will stall out when it tries to compress the hatch seal and stop before the reversing switch CLICKS to stop the motor and reverse the polarity to the motor. To get it back up you have to reach in and press the striker sensing switch to start the motor to complete the down cycle. The unit will not come up until it has finished the down cycle. It is important that you continue to press that switch until you hear the click. The unit only powers down as long as that switch is being pressed. If you release the switch mid cycle it will shut off and will not power up or down until that switch is pressed again.

Long term solution you'll need to reposition the pull-down unit further up. To do this, mark the current location of the pull-down unit frame to the body with a permanent marker or scratch awl. Now undo the 3 13mm screws that mount the pull-down unit to the body. Raise the pull-down unit, then re-tighten the screws. Now test that the pull-down unit fully pulls the hatch down and CLICKS without straining the motor. If you hear the motor strain or slow before the CLICK, then it is still positioned too high. You may have it high enough to complete the down cycle, but the straining of the motor indicates that the pull-down unit is in strain. The hatch motor housing will break when the car body is stressed such as when going over railroad tracks or hitting a pothole.

Good luck with the repairs.

Lon

 

Now that you mention this I had to do this to my bird when I got a junkyard replacement. I had to fiddle with the stop height. Yes check this for sure. Thanks for posting up Lonsal!

 

its probably the strike censor, as i have placed it in different positions the numerous times ive taken it off.

mostly because i cant get it to raise back up without taking it apart and manually un screwing it.

 

You can test it with hatch open. If it works that way then must not pulling down far enough to trip reversing switch. I can explain more if you want. Got to get ready for work now and I type slow.

Raise hatch latch assy all the way up and try it. If it works then move it down a little each time till you get it to fit where you want. Also, when it pulls down and it doesn't come up when you open it look down at that reversing switch to see if it has tripped on the way down. If it didn't, trip it then latch should come up if everything else is ok. It should need to go down I believe when latch is pulled down.

I believe top switch is good as the latch does pull down.

 

Any word? Just curious, have you changed the lift supports lately?

 

have not changed the lift supports, but i dont see a need to. they are sturdy when opened.

there is no way to me to get the latch to go back up.

no. way. no poking it with screw driver, nothing, nothing at all.

and the reverse switch does go when it closes, from up to down. and i have yet to get it to come back up in any way

 

What are you poking? The reason why I ask is people often are confused as to what they should be pressing to either start the down cycle or re-set the pull-down unit if it has not completed the down cycle. The striker-sensing switch is mounted to the latdh assy with a single hex-head screw. It has three wires coming from it . The actual part of the switch you should press is a paddle that is protruding from the right side of the switch. Lower your hatch and take a look at where the hatch hook will latch and the switch is to the left of that. People (as in the customer that came by here Friday who will go un-named) will often press the spring loaded alignment block that conjtacts the right side of the hatch hook when you close it. Also you never mentioned that you heard a CLICK when the down cycle ended. If it doesn't CLICK the down cycle is not finished. The pull-down unti will not start again until you press on the striker-sensing switch and hold it down. The motor will start and the reversing switch will trip with that distinctive CLICK. Now you can release the switch and the pull-down unit will come up all the way and again CLICK which is the sound of the reversing switch being tripped to stop the up cycle. Get a flashlight and look at what you should be pressing.

Lon

 

That reversing switch is what I was talking about. If you don't assemble the latch assembly with the reversing switch in the right place, it won't trip when it all goes to the bottom. I did that myself. There are two tabs that stick out from the striker that should be on each side of the reversing switch.

Reason for asking about lift supports is that sometimes when you change them it puts more pressure on hatch assembly and likely pushes them apart making the hatch too long. As the hatch goes back to the rear of the car it is "built up" to where it sits harder on the w-strip and doesn't let latch go down far enough to trip reversing switch. It will click but it's just the relay loading up and tripping I believe. Maybe you can see it when you open the hatch and latch doesn't come up. If the switch is still up then it didn't get tripped. Hope this helps. I'm not the best at wording things but this is what I've been through on my car and others.

 

the reverse switch trips, every time

 

That would be electrical problem I believe. Not good with wires at all. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

i am having a similar problem. i bought a new pull down unit because when i bought my car the hatch was turned into a slammer by removinf the motor and welding the tracks. it would be a good use but the welder did a horrible job. so i have the new assembly but dont know how to wire it up. can someone help me out. its a 90 camaro

 

Red with white stripe wire is +12v. Connect it to the blue wire (in your case having a small black connector). Connect the ground wire to the body ground location below the hatch pull-down unit. Connect the white wire with a small black connector to the black with orange stripe wire (it provides a switched ground to turn on and off the rear hatch light). That is all the wiring for your year of Camaro. If you have a solenoid hatch release, it attaches to the latch assy with a 10mm screw. There is a black wire with a square black plastic connector that plugs into the hatch release solenoid. It provides a switched 12 volt to energize the solenoid. There is a ground wire that must be hooked up to that 10mm screw and connects to the ground location below the hatch pull-down unit. If that ground wire it missing the solenoid won't work because the guides in the tracks isolate the latch assy from ground.

Lon

 

ok ill give it a try and see how it goes

 

Ok I tryed that and I got the motor to pull the hatch down and that's all it would do. I have 3 red/white wires 2 black/orange and a yellow/black wire all coming from the car. From the hatch motor I have a red/white a white and a ground. how do I wire all this up and the electric release. Can you help?

 

If the unit doesn't power up automatically when you turn the key to unlatch the hatch, then the hatch pull-down unit may not have completed the down cycle. This can be caused by the hatch pull-down unit being mounted too low on the car body. If it is mounted too low the hatch will be stopped by the hatch seal before it has tripped the reversing switch. It is VERY important that you hear the distinctive CLICK when the down cycle ends. This sound is the reversing switch being tripped, shutting off power to the motor. The unit will not power up until it has finished the down cycle. It this is the case you'll first need to reach in and press and hold down the striker sensing switch. Pressing the switch should energize the motor briefly to complete the down cycle and the reversing switch will CLICK as I described previously. Now release the striker sensing switch and the unit should cycle all the way back up and CLICK ending the up cycle. Now at this point the unit is re-set. But if this happens again you should raise the position of the pull-down unit on the car body. Mark the current position of the frame using a permanent marker or scratch awl so you can know how much you've moved it relative to the original position. You'll have to remove the three 13 mm screws that mount the pull-down unit to the car body. Then raise the hatch pull-down unit, re-tighten the screws and test the pull-down cycle.

Let’s not worry about the hatch release wiring until you get the pull-down unit functioning correctly first. It is powered on a separate circuit.

Lon

 

That's the thing it would never come up because I could never get the wires right. I kept blowing fuses and eventually stopped because I had one fuse left and a major headache. So I undone all the wires hoping someone could tell me how to properly wire up the hatch motor.

 

Are the housings still on the connectors? I've got to take out my taillight today, left some packing p-nuts in one. I'll get some pics or write down the wires. Mine is an 88 but I don't think they changed the wires much. I know there was a design change and I do have the early style. New GM motors come with housing like new design I believe.

 

I Believe the design change were on the 91 and 92 models. As far as the conectors go I jus have to splice the wires together. Ill post a pic of it later.

 

I forgot I'm using 84 harness. Only needed power from car for latch. The switch on top is hardwired to a harness that has relay plug and plug for power from car. Also there is a ground from car body to latch, ground for motor I suppose. Could some of the other wires be for interior lights, third brake light, or cargo light.

 

ok i finally got it to work. All I had to do was ground the hatch and splice the red/white wires together and adjust the motor so it would go all the way down and click. Works like a charm now . Thanks for all the help

 

what do I do when its stuck up and does nothing?

 

Before I can diagnose your problem, which of the two styles of hatch pull-down motor used for the 1991 model year do you have? The early style had a metal frame (where it bolts to the car body with 3 screws). The later style used for 1991-92 has a tan colored molded plastic frame (where it bolts to the car body with 3 screws).

Lon

 

thanks for a quick response considering the weather is on its way!
I have a problem with the Z ...it has the metal mounting plate
my RS... if I remember correctly has the plastic one which in ten years
I have never had a problem with...are they interchangable?
-it is difficult to remember the circumstances of how I got it going before
it seems as if it starts having problems when the battery gets low