I unlocked the hatch and immediately knew something was wrong, the lock didnt make and sound. Then I try and close it and the lock wont grab the hatch. The little light is not on either. I cant go anywhere now and what if it rains! Im screwed, help a brother out. This happened a while ago and I just messed with the lights, stereo, and then it finally worked, but I cant get it now. What could be wrong?

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89 camaro 305 tbi, dynomax cat back(just switched to flomaster 3 chamber cat back), Edlebrock open element, 2 kicker comp 12"'s, polk for the rest. Phoenix gold xs2300 to subs, kicker impulse 404XI to 4 speakers, pioneer DEH- P7000R head unit. Full leather interior from MrMikes.com

 

if it is electronic you might try looking for a bad fuse. to get it closed check the locking mechanism to see if it is free and not in closed position.

 

I have a 91 Z-28 with an electric hatch, which I believe is similar to your '89.

Since you stated that the rear cargo light does not work also, I would guess that you're not getting power to the rear assembly. Try the easiest check(s) first. Ensure that the fuse is good. It's identified by "LID" on the fuse block. It's a 15 ampere fuse on my 91.

On a related subject, I had problems with the hatch motor not pulling the hatch down when I closed the hatch. I found the problem to be a wire contact not making a good connection to a pin(s) on the motor. I removed the wires (I think there were four) from the connector and expanded and cleaned each contact so that it'd make good contact with the pins on the motor, which solved the problem. (I'm tempted to just solder the wires onto the pins - the connector is kind of "chinsy").

If the fuse is good, remove the rear plastic cover and check all the wires to be sure that none have become disconnected.

If the wiring looks good, make another post and we'll go from there.

The purpose of the electric hatch is so that you can close it glently (or open it remotely). If the motor never raises the latch, you should still be able to close it if you close it harder (read: slam it) to overcome the force of the weatherstripping. I've closed it once that way without problems, but it did require a fairly good slam.

 

Before you try Stu's bone jarring method take a srewdriver and look down into the latch. You will see the levers that pull the hatch back down along with a type of switch (its hard to expalain) take a look down there and you will see it. By triggering this switch the latch will come all the way to the top and into the open position. It sounds like it might be stuck half way down, it happens to mine once in a while.

If this doesn't work refer to the post above mine, get a running start and jump on the back hatch. Hopefully it will close.

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never have I seen your god so why should I believe in faith?

 

I have made some progress, I took your advice and took a running start and gave my hatch the rock bottom and it closed. I am going to attempt to fix it so i dont look like a fool in the publix parking lot trying to shut my hatch.

 

Yeah, I fixed it, the fuse was ok, so I took off that panel and I guess I touched one of the wires and then the motor went into place! thanks.

 

Mike,

Glad to hear you "fixed" the problem.

That's exactly what happened to me - the motor would sometimes not move the latch up or down upon opening or closing the lit. Lightly wiggling the wires would always "fix" it, but only temporarily.

Half my problem was locating WHERE the problem was. It's possible that the switch which is mounted on the latch, is not making good contact. The wires are molded into the switch assembly. Check the other side of these wires too. This switch tells the motor to begin operating (through a relay) whenever the hatch engages it (from being closed) or disengages it (from being released by the "open" solenoid. If the motor does not operate, you can work the switch with your finger and see if it'll bring life to the motor.

I still think that the problem is the connector where the four wires are connected to the motor. See my post above on how I fixed the contacts.

I had kept the rear panel off so I could wiggle the wires in an attempt to isolate where the problem was when the problem reoccured (which it always did).

Your original post stated that the light would also not work. Why?