My ('91 Camaro) power trunk pulldown is stuck in the up position. The motor makes no noises. The latch release works fine using either the key or the console button.

I tried pushing the little switch. Nothing happens by pushing this switch except that the light goes off and one of the wires that plugs into the motor goes from 0V to 12V.

What does the relay do? It has nothing to do with the latch release mechanism because it works fine even with the relay removed.

How do I know if the relay is bad?

How can I bypass the relay with a jumper wire to see if the motor works?

On the plug that connects to the motor there are 4 wires (blue, brown, orange, white ... I think). Two are constant 12V. One is 0V except when the switch by the latch is pushed then it is 12V. I don't really know what the other wire it does (exept that I didn't measure a voltage change on it).

The fuse is good. The wires look to be in good condition. The grounds seem good. Nothing looks to be physically damaged or broken. Everything worked fine earlier today.

Can anybody help me out? Any insight on how I can get this fixed?

 

What's the purpose of the hatch motor going down? besides it not locking the hatch

 

It pulls the hatch from a almost closed position to a closed position. As far as I know all later model third-gens came with this pulldown mechanism. I guess it is to prevent damage caused by slamming the hatch closed.

 

Well, what I did on my wife's car was take off the motor and all mounts to it...
My friend took out his welder and tack welded the latch to the rail. Took 2 tries.
Be sure to cover your carpet so it won't get burned.

 

I tried a new relay and it didn't help.

 

Belker, I had the same problem. My motor thought it was in the down position already so it wouldn't close any more.

What I did was take the 12v source from the trunk light and apply it to the wire that wasn't doing anything (I think this is the one, but you'll probably want to get a wiring diagram to check). I let it run all the way down, then closed the hatch. After that, it knew where it was again, and I haven't had any problems.

 

I decided to pull the whole assembly from the car, tore it apart into at least 100 pieces, and then put it all back together. Now it works. Yipee!

I don't know exactly what was wrong but I did find the switch that tells the motor when to go up or when to go down. It's on the small black box that is attached to the top of the clear plastic housing for the gears. Flipping that switch may have solved the problem.

 

There is an old thread on this that had pictures on what to try before you go crazy with extra work and $. That old thread "fixed" my problem. My hatch really wouldn't cose correct. On the latch motor mechanism, there is a lever that I simply fiddled and the motor began to move. The next time I closed the hatch - Viola - everything was OK and has been ever since. This thread should be from the September-October-November timeframe - do a search and you will find it.