I posted this on the electrical page, but thought maybe you guys might be able to help. I closed my rear hatch last night and when the electric motor engaged, it got stuck and refuses to disengage and pull the hatch down. Now it runs like its trying to pull it down, but doesn't. I'm sure I could replace it if need be, but is there a sensor out, or something needing lube? Any help is appreciated.

 

Sounds like maybe the gear broke. TDS sells a rebuild kit, that's what I'm doing with mine.

 

Cool, I'll check it out.

 

maybe the gears are striped out?One should be able to fetch the part from a salvage yard and swap it ouy.From what i've noticed is that the motor seems ta kick out as in not pull anymore once it feels the resistance from the hatch meeting the body.I did notice that at the top of the assembly there is a (what seems ta be) sensor of some kind but i think it's a switch to activate the motor unit and pul it down or allow it to push up to the recieveing location.The motor seems like it's set to stop pullin uppon resistance.If ya don mind it being up for now ya can always unplug the harness and just leave it in the up position till ya find the parts needed at the local yard.Hope this helps some.theres also some Good threads about hatch motors and the wire harness section in this forum.I know I used the info to fix mine and posted things on them so ya can check my name and see the posts to find them.Maybe they will help ya some.These guys are great.

 

I'll definitely check there 1st! Thanks for the info guys. I got a busy weekend, so we'll see if I have time to get at look at it.

 

Hey Daniel, before you go tearing the motor apart, it is possible that the motor could have stalled and is continually trying to reset / keep running.

Try opening and closing a few times, or if it is stuck give it a few pushes down on the rear spoiler.

Mine did that more than once, motor still works great, just not the "pinnacle" of 80's tech I'm afraid.

 

Exactly, it would be easier to illustrate in picture, but you can poke your key between the 2 metal pieces that grab the hatch and press down to trip the switch and it might pop back up if that's the prob.
Happens to me occasionally where it doesn't grab properly and it thinks it's sucked it down.

 

 

Daniel,

These things are notorious for breaking. The gear is inside a plastic housing. When the plastic housing cracks and breaks, the gear slips/strips inside. Do yourself a favor and forget the wrecking yard. Fix it right with a new reinforced unit from TDS. Lon is tops.

--Aaron

 

So here's a few pics... The power to the motor is the strand with orange. When I engage the motor it doesn't go up or down which is probably why the motor runs non stop. Where is this gear located? How do you pull the motor. It appears to have rivits attaching it to the rear. Also there seems to be some slop in the track it goes up and down on?

 

opps...pass. side, driver's side

 

I can manipulate the saftey clasp that holds the loop on the hatch and can engage the motor. But doesn't it go up and down in the track? I think that's where my problem lies. If it would go all the way down, the motor would reset, right? When I try to push the mechenism up and down manually with the hatch or without, it doesn't move. Any suggestions before I got to drive to work? Any help is appreciated. P.S. I forgot how much room I had where the spare used to be. Definitely putting an optima there when this battery dies!

 

So I pulled the entire assembly easy enough with three metric nuts. What does this white wire go to? Is this the problem?

 

I emailed TDS and hope to hear from them soon. They seem to be well liked by other TGO members.

 

The white wire is not your problem, that is for the rear hatch light and is only in use if you don't have a manual switch.

Is the plastic broken? I can't tell from the pics. Sounds like the gear nut in this case.

Lon is the owner of TDS and a moderator on the board, "lonsal" is the name.
He's a pro at troubleshooting these and has the parts if needed.

I've used his headlight repair kit, bought a wonderbar and have yet to install his door higne repair kits.
Great products.

 

Yup, Lon already emailed me back and told me it's the gear nut that's broken. Now I need to decide if I rebuild mine myself, or upgrade to his modernized one for $260.00 and not have to worry about it for another 20 years.(Pay now or pay later.) I also have replaced the weather stripping recently in hopes of fixing my water leak. I wonder if this has been the problem all along as it still leaks???? Thanks for all your help guys! Daniel U

 

Mornin Daniel..For what it's worth I'd just make a parts run and pick one up for 20.00 or so till i have the $$ to order the new one and till the new one comes in.another consideration is the insulators in the track section these tend to break and wear out and at times mis alighn the mechenisim and or jam the track so the motor keeps cyclein up/down but goes no where.
What i do is take my cordless drill with me to the salvage yards .It's a cheapo harbor freight 18 volt one.And I use the batt off that to test my electrical motors and such.Works great to open elec wimdows and hatch motors.If I can be of any help just pm me i'm doin a hunt thru the forum my self for tech right now just show up as offline and don't have the invisi setting choosen.
Ya can even do as i do and pack rat the bad unit and a few x-tras for parts for rebuilds later.

 

Thanks for the avice. I'm gonna call our local yards hear and try to locate and see what I can find. Meanwhile Lon @ TDS has allready emailed me back with the part#'s I need to rebuild mine. Just not sure if I should do that or pay a little more and get there rebuilt with the upgraded parts and not worry about it for another 20 years?
Top-DownSolutions.com
Well I better do some more research at the pick n pull and see what's available.

 

Pitty yer not local would offer ta meet ya at the local pull-a-part and track it down.Now when I did my search I found that there were some caddies and other assorted G.M. cars that had the motors and gears just not the track systems as in the Camaro.I now have enuff spare parts in a box ta rebuild about 5 motors and replace the insulators to the tracks indefinately.Always been a tinkerer/blow-it-up myselfer.
And for referance to the elec parts.I'm lookin at yer last pic right now and from what i remember i used a blue wire that tied into the relay in yer pic and a black wire there too to actuate the motor.if ya like i can just run out to the car and take a pic right quick of the area i just elec taped the wires back together haven't heat shrink'd them yet and need ta anyways before i reinstall my sub box in the area .
Also I personally prefer the yards ya have to walk and hunt thru.I have found that most the others don't know what they have and i can remember how to replace the part better if i pull it.

 

Yeah, that'd be cool, and I appreciate the offer. Right now the IROC is my daily driver and I need to be able to secure the vehicle at work when it's not in my garage. Not to metion the hatch not sealing(fumes/water). I think this is also why I leak when it rains, as I have already replaced the rubber seal. I may just go through TDS this time as I need the car back on the road again. I'll let you know how it all turns out though... Daniel U

 

Ok sorry was checkin tech.Might take a min or 2 slo pc here brb.

 

pics

 

Well the motor works, its the gear that's stripped out. Just got to make some decisions now. Thanks for the pics... Daniel U

 

ok in the 1st pic ya can see the blk wire goin to the body via screw.Ground i snipped this and used drill batt neg to the wire end not vehicle end.The blu wire has a blk connector on it and connects to a red with blk striped wire.This is what i attached to the pos side of drill batt to test motor.
Ok just looked at the 2nd pic it shows wires better.Sorry took pics with cell.
Anyways i also got the other part off the hatch itself to use to actuaye the assembly.(now hae a spare ).I use the drill batt because dang sure easier to carry that around the bone yard than a car batt.Now it doesn't have enuff power to start a car but handels most testing of components fine and saves the headache of buyin junk that most yards won'y cover being bad.(Elec parts).This way i made sure the one I bought actually went up and down ECT.Hope it helps and holla if ya like......Bill

 

Bill I wish I could hang out with you and tinker/learn from you. I have the desire to learn, just not time and teacher. I do some basic stuff(alternator,plugs,wires, waterpump, etc.) myself, but with no other car/truck available for work and fall being here, I need to get her fixed ASAP.

 

I have a latch from an 83 TA... Not power, but I am pretty sure we could install it to get you by until the new unit comes in...Let me know. I am taking today off of work and hanging out around the house. I plan to run to my Atascadero impound yard at some point today, so let me know soon...


Jason

 

Thanks, I'll see you Monday!

 

Hey guys I tried the non mech hatch latch and wouldn fit.The non-mech it attached to the up/down assembly.The track system.The non-mech sets on a hump thats welded to the body and the mechanical one doesn't have that hump,the track system is actually the hump.At least the 15 camaros and,firebirds and T/A's I hunted thru were like that.what I did to tide me over till i found a good assembly was to climb inside the trunk area,(being only 150 at 5,11 it was a tight fit)and physycaly moved the hatch till i hit the "sweet spot" where the latch caught and held tight without rattleing.Then I marked the spot on the track assem with a marker, pulled the assem out ,drilled it and put a machine screw in the hole to hold it in that position.This allowed me to open/close the hatch but no movement up or down by the motor was involved.Just like a regular car trunk.Just remember to not reconnect the leads to the motor or it will be fighting the screw and in time run down the batt.Ya should be able to use the remote latch release if ya have one if not ya will just have to get out and use yer key like the rest of us mear mortals.Good luck and I COULD be wrong about the differance in mounting of the motorized and non-motorized units.Holla and lemme know what happens.

 

daniel, When i was thinking about switching my 83's hatch over to the pulldown units i noticed in the jyards that the "slam" latch and the pull down latch were mounted differently... its just not quick swap, theres some welding to be done if you wanted to do it. (switing from pull down to slam)

 

Yup, difinitely a "swap" as a mod. I've never been a fan of my rear hatch system, but I might replace it out of ease.

 

Man, I hope that thing is useful to you...I cut my freakin' arm getting it out. Guess I could have gone about it a little differant than shattering that rear window on purpose.... If you really need something to hold you over, you can borrow the unit from my 92 Z28... Not like I will be driving it much right now, even though it just flew through smog...


Jason

 

Jason, thanks for your time and effort. Always appreciated! BTW, Congrats on SMOG on the '92.

 

No trouble... If you want to use my 92' unit, let me know, if you need to come over and use my welder or any of the other tools needed to put in the older part, let me know.

I hired 2 other drivers, so I can actually get a few minutes here and there to do my own things...


Jason

 

Inspect your unit carefully. The gears are plastic in a plastic case. Also the slider pieces from the factory a just a plastic that pretty much breaks up. Usually when the gears go, the case cracks. If you do find one in a junk yard, it will be old and tired as well. You can get the gears, a new case, and the sliders from G.M., but it is the same stock pieces that will fail again. If you get Lon's unit, he makes his sliders out of nylon, I think, anyway it is a much better material than the stock pieces. He also shapes a piece of aluminum to fit the plastci gearbox, and glues it to the gearbox with epoxy. His kit should last forever if you don't abuse it. By the way, be careful about any sort of solid latch mounting. The electric pull down system is designed to relax the hatch when the doors are opened to allow air to escape when you close the doors. If the hatch is screwed down tight, it may blow out the hatch window from the air pressure when you slam the lid down.

 

Well I ordered the new(er) unit from Lon @ TDS and it was at my house the next day! It took me an hour to install it start to finish with the "help" of my 2 year old son. I adjusted it when the wife came home and she could line up the striker. Very easy to undertand instuctions. Thanks Lon/TDS for (re)building them!

 

Job well done.