JimRockford

I have a 1990 Camaro RS, the hatch motor no longer works, and the trunk lid still latches when pushed down but it has excessive play in it now and bounces with every speedbump you go over. What years of Firebird and Camaros have the same hatch motor assembly? I want to be sure I get one that will be an exact fit.
Thanks

Bow_Tied

iTrader: (1)

I got my replacement assy here: http://www.top-downsolutions.com/ You may see the year differences browsing the parts.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

This one is from a 91; should be the same as your 90,.......

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...-too-many.html

JimRockford

Thanks for all the info. Never have seen that auto-dimming mirror before. Those must be pretty rare. I picked up an entire good hatch pull down from an 89 today for $30. I took the panel off and found my motor laying completely off. The clear plastic housing had cracked in half. The large nylon gear has broken teeth and is still stuck in the rest of the assembly. Why the heck did they make these pieces out of such crappy plastic? Thankfully the nylon glides still look intact.

When I was looking online for parts I noticed that there are two different styles for the gear housing, one is made of a clear plastic and the other is made of a black plastic. I was wondering if the black plastic ones hold up better than the clear plastic ones

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Glad you found such a good deal on the replacement unit,.. @ $30 you practically stole it !! I have no experience with a black plastic gear housing so I can't offer any insight into that.

JimRockford

Well,I don’t know how good of a deal it is since the clear plastic housing on this one already has cracks in it too. But it’s still intact at least.

does anyone have a cheap source for just the housing and the plastic gear? On eBay you can get the motor,housing and gear new for $59.99 with free shipping. I paid $30 for the whole assembly,but the only parts that ever go bad on these are the motor housing,gear and motor. The other stuff is unnecessary

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Like Bow_Tied said,....... Lon is THE source for Thirdgen PPD Parts.

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/

Bow_Tied

iTrader: (1)

Glad you found some parts. In defense of the plastic, at 30 years I expect it exceeded GM’s design life. I think my original parts would still be going if I had known to re-grease the assembly. The original grease had dried out creating resistance instead of lubricity. Within reason, grease the heck outa those slides.

JimRockford

Bow tied,what type of grease should I used inside the new housing and on the slides? I am thinking white lithium,but the stuff gm used was blue.

it did last 30 years,but most didn’t make it that long and in my opinion the power pull down feature on these cars is silly. I never,ever had an issue with my 82’s or 83’s shutting the trunk with the manual latch. If worked fine everytime. The power pull down is pointless and just another thing to go wrong.

ughmas

I Just rebuilt mine on my formula last week, so I can offer some insight - since mine had already been replaced at some point before I bought it, it already had the clear plastic housing, so an "OEM" housing from TDS would not fit with my motor that still worked (just my housing was cracked). I was forced to buy a new motor and housing as they don't seem to sell the new style housing separately. i got this Dorman one on amazon and it came with a new gear nut as well, it also came with a sturdier new style black plastic housing as opposed to the flimsy clear style pictured.


hope this helps

*note* top down solutions also has the new style motor and housing (reinforced) but I did not get it due to the extra cost, I'm sure it would work just as good if not better though.

Bow_Tied

iTrader: (1)

JimRockford,

The TopDown Solution kit I got came with some typical synthetic grease. It seemed similar to what one might use on brake caliper slider pins. These units should not see any elements so I think the type of grease isn't horribly critical; some general purpose grease should be fine IMO. Something thick enough to not drip and run out on a hot day, but not so thick that it'd bind up on a cold day.

Just remember to re-grease it every so often, 10 years? , and it'll likely last a long time.

kentuckyKITT

iTrader: (4)

My 90 Formula had this same setup. The reason that housing is not available separately is because it's also the motor cover and when you remove it, the motor shaft, brushes, everything falls apart. Probably the absolute worst designed pull-down in existence. That motor is also too small and too weak, has a higher pitched whine and pulsates. I bought the entire setup from top-down and it failed after a few months and broke to pieces, bending the motor shaft in the process. I ended up getting a used earlier style larger motor with white plastic cover, separate housing that screws to the motor cover and it's been fine ever since. I'll never use that design again.

ughmas

agreed I was surprised when I pulled it apart and the motor rotor came right out lol. hopefully this one lasts but I have an extra motor now that fits the housing just in case!

Bow_Tied

iTrader: (1)

KentuckyKITT: you had the reinforced clear housing from topdown fail? Damn, that’s the one I just put in. 😕

as to it being a poor design, I don’t blame the engineers, I blame GM beancounters that controlled the purse strings.

kentuckyKITT

iTrader: (4)

Sure did, here is the failure:


Up until this point, it would never work right and always sounded like it was struggling to pull the hatch down even after using new guides, perfectly sanded with grease so loose I could move the track assembly up and down with my pinky finger. Sometimes, I'd shut the hatch and it wouldn't even pull down. Go out to the garage the next morning and it had pulled down by itself sometime in the night. Sometimes while the hatch was completely raised in the air I'd hear or see it pull itself down with nothing touching it. Whole thing was trash from day one and I threw the entire thing, mount and all in the garbage and washed my hands of it, vowed to never use that design again. I ended up buying an entire older assembly and never looked back. Hopefully you will have better luck with yours.

Bow_Tied

iTrader: (1)

Wow, sorry to hear of the bad luck with that assembly. I can hear mine sound like it is working a little hard at the end of the close cycle but the original also did that. So far, knock on wood, it has always closed promptly. Hope your new one lasts longer, hope my current one lasts too!!

JimRockford

KentuckyKitt,that’s exactly what happen to my motor. The clear plastic part broke in half and the motor was laying loose. Mine has a silver motor though that says “Delphi interiors pn166008837”. Is mine a factory motor? Which style plastic case do I need? I was unaware there were different style housings. Mine is clear