mannix91

Just got to work this morning after putting something in the back of the car before I left and noticed that the hatch motor is running all the time and the hatch will not latch.
I am able to manually move the catch finger to a locking position and it unlatches when I use the key of the switch.
I ran out of time so unhooked the battery so It would stop, hooked it up again (no change) and then had to get into work.
I may have to bungee cord the hatch down till I get home tonight but thought I'd ask if there is something quick to fix this before I leave.
Thanks

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

mannix.....here is some good info. Good Luck

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...you-hatch.html

StevenB L98/LS1

I have a 91 T/A that did this once. It was so long ago I'm trying to remember what I did, I think I unhooked the pull down relay while it was in the up position waited a few minutes and plugged it back in and the motor went down and stayed down. Don't know know if it will do the trick for you but that's all i remember.

mannix91

Short term to get home, the best thing to do would be to remove the covers and unplug the motor, and dig into it in a warm garage LOL
Any thoughts on whether I could manually latch it rather than bungee the hatch down?

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

The motor continuously running can be either a broken gear nut or the housing is broken. I have all the parts to repair the pull-down unit on my web site.

Lon Salgren

G.Penrod

Have you tried loosening up the bolts for the motor and raising it up a little?

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Lon. If it continually runs, and is unable to pull down the hatch, the reverse switch will not trigger.
So either the plastic housing or the gear nut must be broken, either resulting in the motor's gear having no contact to the other gear and not knowing when to quit trying.
The only quick fix to stop the motor is to remove the rear panel and disconnect the wires.
Until you get replacement parts, you'll have to either drill a hole into the assembly and fix it in place with a bolt and nut or tighten the hatch down with some type of band/rope or so.
Lon IS the go-to guy for this stuff.

Galaxie500XL

iTrader: (1)

My '88 did the same thing, had to pull the fuse to get the motor to stop running. There's a fuse in the block under the dash. I had a stripped gear, caused by bad nylon guides. It's not a terribly difficult repair.

mannix91

Thanks,
It looks like it was a stripped gear, housing looks OK. Not sure if the limit switch is working, haven't gotten a chance to put it back together yet. I took the motor assembly off and now have vice grips above and below the slide holding the hatch down.
Thanks for the help, much appreciated!

Galaxie500XL

iTrader: (1)

I fixed my stripped gear with a trip to the junkyard...the trunk pull down of a Cadillac DeVille looks different, but take the brackets off, and the housing and gear are the same. Paid $10.00 for mine, been working fine with regular use (I dd my IROC) for a year now.