Hey folks,
I'm trying to get my 88 GTA back on the road. A couple weeks ago, out of nowhere, the hatch pull-down quit working. The motor would run, but it wouldn't pull down. I noticed the guides were bad. Two of them weren't even there anymore. So I ordered new ones from TDS. Changed them out and nothing changed. I read up on everything and figured the gear nut was bad. So, I ordered one. When I went to change it, I discovered the motor housing was broken in two and it was cracked in several spots. I used structural adhesive to piece it back together and that seems to have worked pretty well. I installed the gear nut, and put the assembly back in the car. Still doesn't work. Motor turns but it's not pulling down. I made the mistake of not making marks when disassembling the thing. I'm thinking that I'm just having an alignment issue. I think the gear nut isn't contacting the motor shaft just right. I've taken it out and adjusted it several times with no luck. Does anybody have alignment tips? Trial and error isn't getting me anywhere. Also, I assume when reassembling the unit, the pull-down should be in the up position. But that makes it difficult to bolt the motor housing to the frame.

 

you can buy a whole new plastic assembly here ate Hawk's: http://www.hawksmotorsports.com/cama...-housing-gear/

I bought an entire new assembly when i bought my 86 Camaro.

 

If your motor is fine you can actually just replace the housing. I did that on mine and it works great! I found this housing from Dorman to work the best.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You do have to set the motor and gear height properly. I have some instructions on it if you PM me your email address.

 

Try 8 to 10 turns on the shaft for the gear nut.

 

If you still had the instructions on repairing the pull-down unit (which is included with the TDS 101170 aftermarket guides) I recommend 7.5 turns to install the gear nut. This is not critical. It only positions the lift rod so that it is in a mid-stroke position making it easier to install the reversing switch in between the two tabs of the lift rod.

Lon Salgren