Everyone always says how cool that little motor thing is that pulls the trunk down tight and flush with the bumper. I always say, "No not really, because its just another thing thats gonna break."

Well, it broke. When you pop the trunk, the motor is supposed to come up so that when u push the deck lid down it can pull it down together. Last time I popped the trunk, the motor did not come up. Therefore, the trunk does not close now.

Has anyone else had this problem? What can I do to fix it? Is it the motor, or maybe something else. When I click the trunk release button, it still clicks, but the motor still stays down inside its housing as if the trunk is closed. Any help would be appreciated!

 

ttt.... REALLY need help with this

 

The only advice I can give you for a quick fix is put your handle in the middle of the hatch and slam that thing as hard as you can, you may have to do this multiple times. Thats what i had to do on my old 86 SC.

 

Try putting a screwdriver in the center of the pull down and see if it activates. If not, I believe there is an article on it on the main page.

 

I've had the same problems with my trunk motor.

try this first....
Take off the plastic panel to expose the motor. Loosen (not remove) the 3 bolts that hold the motor assembly in place. It should slide up and down now. Slide it ALL the way up and tighten the bolts. Now try closing the trunk...if the motor is still working, it should catch and pull the trunk down (with a big gap though). If it does, and if the motor seem to work properly now, then loosen the 3 bolts and slide it back to the origional position.

that trick worked for me twice. For some reason, I cant get a screwdriver to do the same thing.

If it doesn't work, and the motor is dead, just swap it with one from a junkyard. It only cost me $10 and took less than an hour to replace.

hope this helps ya

 

This happened to me twice. The motor raises and lowers, and sometimes if it gets stuck lowered it won't close that hatch. Down inside the housing there is a switch when hit will raise the motor. This might be your problem and a simple fix, when you hit the switch you'll see and hear the motor raise.

 

Just a newbie question,
what years did those come in? I saw it on a '89 f'bird, but b/c of the interesting condtion of my car you need to use a screwdriver to 'pop' the trunk, then to lock it again. I'll look again this weekend, but i didn't notice any motors, or provision for one.

 

Thanks for the ideas... anyone have anymore???

I am not sure what years or models they came in. Maybe they started coming in the IROC's in 85?? I have no idea.

 

If you want to eliminte the motor just adjust the latches height until you can shut it normally then unplug it and leave it. When adjusted right the hatch will close like any other non motorized trunk.

 

The electric hatch pull-down started on all f-bodies in '86. 82-85 had the manual latch, and that manual latch can be swapped onto an '86-92 f-body (with a key change, of course).

Rezinn & Mark are right about the fix. I bet last time you opened it, the gas struts didn't pop the hatch up quickly enough, and the motor raised up all the way, "felt" the hatch lid's hook, and started to lower itself again. While it was lowering itself, you lifted the hatch up, and the motor stopped. At this point, the motor is too low to be activated by the hatch lid's hook.

Look for a little tiny black metal lever, right where the hatch latch would side into the pull-down unit. This lever is what the hatch lid's hook is supposed to touch- but right now, the motor's too low. Press that lever down gently with your finger (or a screwdriver). The motor will kick in, and lower down all the way, then you'll hear the relay "CLICK". Now, let up on the switch. The motor will raise up all the way. You don't have to (and shouldn't!) mess with the motor's alignment bolts. If you misalign the motor, you can cause it to pull down too hard (and snap the plastic housing or strip the plastic gear), or, you can cause the window to seal improperly, and you'll get a leak.

I usually push down on my hatch after the motor grabs it and pulls it down; I figure that way, the motor won't break, since I'm helping it pull the hatch down.

Oh, and Steve, the motor itself is self-contained. All it needs is a +12 source wire, that's on all the time. You could run one out of your fusebox, using a male quick-disconnect crimp connector shoved into one of the "BAT" fuse box terminals. Put a 10 amp in-line fuse on that wire!! That's all the motor needs. It gets it's ground through the mounting bolts. You could swap it on, no problem. While you're at it, grab all the door locks from the donor car, and get the key from the junkyard, too!

 

I stuck a screwdriver in there, and there are only two things that move when touching them witha screw driver. Neither one of the two caused any movements or signs of life. Do I need to hit the switch while I have this lever pushed down?

 

I had this problem with my 91 firebird. I got so sick of the motor screwing up that I decided it cut the wires and raise the motor to the level where when you close the trunk it clicks into place (bolted that thign in there good) and now it locks. YAY! no need for that stupid motor.. now i can just slam the trunk as hard as i want without having to worry about the motor breaking... although i've heard the purpose of the motor is so the hatchback glass does not shatter... hasn't happened to me yet..and i slam that ****er pretty good. good luck

 

I've had my car since new and over the years I've had to go in and hit the switch, like Tom described, a few times because of a lot of snow on the trunk lid or weak struts.

Before giving up I'd check the fuse, too. It could be blown. Maybe you will be lucky and that's all it is.

 

I believe the fuse is fine... I wasn't sure which fuse it was, but I checked the one that siad Lid and a few others and they were all ok. When you flick the switch in the center console, you hear the switch click in the trunk motor. I tried pressing down on some things in the motor with a screwdriver and have a friend hit the switch inside the car but it didnt do anything.

I pulled the fuse for the light that stays on when the trunk is closed... should I put that back in and try the screwdriver trick again? Does that fuse also control the trunk motor? If so, the fuse is fine, but just not in there right now.

This is killin me... I'm back at Rutgers and don't even have my car with me because of this... around here you will be robbed the very first night you leave the car unlocked, or with the trunk open in my case.

 

I wouldn't trust the Rutgers parking lots either; I always put myself underneath a streetlamp! I believe that fuse does control the motor; pop it back in, and see what happens. Two other things could've happened:

The steel motor gear stripped out the plastic worm gear, and kept spinning, and spun itself into oblivion.

The plastic pull-down body cracked in half due to heat, and the motor is all the way up, but it's blocked from raising all the way.

Hopefully it's just got no power. To double check, remove the hatchback's plastic cover that goes over the spare tire location. Then remove the rear hatch cover. You'll see the motor, with one wire (orange? Can't remember) leaving the unit. Check that wire for +12 volts, with either a meter or test lamp.

 

Yea Tom... I park on an end spot (so people don't bang my doors) and under a light (to help minimize potential break-in's) every single night.

I'll pop the fuse back in and try again this weekend when I get home. If that doesn't work, I'll try checking for 12 coming from the wire leaving the unit. Hopefully it works, then I can put money into the car for things I want, rather than for things I need..... if u know what I mean

 

You dont park your car anywhere with your hatch unlocked do you? Are you telling me that someone could walk up to your hatch and open it! You know my car was like that when I bought it. The car was sitting at a closed down gas station. It appears that someone was sleeping in there too. There were some sheets and a sleeping bag in there. They also tried to steel the car, huh good luck the engine was shot.

>Oh yeah back to the hatch topic. Take that plastic pannel off so you can see the whole assembly. For now you might want to unbolt that motor and disconnect the wires so that it doesnt kill your battery. Are you saying that the motor doesnt make any sound at all? Might be burned out. Dont worry about the hatch release button. I shouldnt have any affect on the motor. After you disconnect the motor try and pull you that piece up that is sopose to raise up and down. Now make sure you leave the black single wire attached. That goes to the hatch release button. With this piece pulled up try and close your hatch. It shoudl lock down. You will be able to lift the hatch up about 2 1\2 inches but it will not open all the way. Do this for now if your is just sitting there for anybody to open it. I would hate to see a third gen go like that.

I share your pain of the cheap plastic assembly that breaks. I would have a hell of a story on what I did to fix my hatch then break it again because I locked my keys in my car. Well that story is way to long. Hang in there and I'm going to go get some pix of my hatch assebly. This should help you see what is tring to be explained. Pix are worth a million words.

 

You dont park your car anywhere with your hatch unlocked do you? Are you telling me that someone could walk up to your hatch and open it! You know my car was like that when I bought it. The car was sitting at a closed down gas station. It appears that someone was sleeping in there too. There were some sheets and a sleeping bag in there. They also tried to steel the car, huh good luck the engine was shot.

>Oh yeah back to the hatch topic. Take that plastic pannel off so you can see the whole assembly. For now you might want to unbolt that motor and disconnect the wires so that it doesnt kill your battery. Are you saying that the motor doesnt make any sound at all? Might be burned out. Dont worry about the hatch release button. I shouldnt have any affect on the motor. After you disconnect the motor try and pull you that piece up that is sopose to raise up and down. Now make sure you leave the black single wire attached. That goes to the hatch release button. With this piece pulled up try and close your hatch. It shoudl lock down. You will be able to lift the hatch up about 2 1\2 inches but it will not open all the way. Do this for now if your is just sitting there for anybody to open it. I would hate to see a third gen go like that.

I share your pain of the cheap plastic assembly that breaks. I would have a hell of a story on what I did to fix my hatch then break it again because I locked my keys in my car. Well that story is way to long. Hang in there and I'm going to go get some pix of my hatch assebly. This should help you see what is tring to be explained. Pix are worth a million words.

 

Here is a quick fix just to get the thing locked.

 

Here is the button that you have to press in to lower or raise the hatch. When you close your hatch the metal latch locks down on that assembly and also will press this button down that tells the motor to lower. Now as its shutting it only gets so far before this a plastic piece flips a switch down to shut off the motor. Then when you hit the hatch release button to open it, these rubber springs that cusion the hatch will lift it up about one inch. This will make that little plastic peice flip that switch up telling the motor to move the other dirrection and lift back up. The problem with mine is that it lifts up to far locks on the metal latch and goes back down. Dont unbolt the whole assembly if you dont have to. That thing is perfectly in place and the smallest move cant get you my problem.

All this looks like a good design by GM but what is the problem here? PLASTIC PIECES So what might be wrong with yours that was the samething wrong with mine... A worn out plastic button, switch, or gear caseing for the motor. All of this was cracked up and busted when I got the car. Then I fixed it just to break it again. Use JB weld to fix it and nothing else.

>well hack at it and if you need anymore pix just ask.

 

L98IROC89,

I had the same problem awhile back.Every once in awhile I've had to use the "button"/latch reset trick. One day I tried the "button"/latch reset trick and I didn't work. I brought it to a local gas station where the mechanic had a camaro as well. He swaped his working latch motor and relay?(as a test subject) into my latch housing and it worked. He then wanted to order/ thought that motor only came with the whole latch mechanism unit($150+) I called the dealer and was able to get just the motor and relay. I don't recall the exact price, but I believe it was less than half of a whole new latch mech. You can replace this part yourself in about a half hour.

Hope this helps.

 

Today my trunk motor just quit working and after reading your guy's input I think that I should be able to get it working. Thanks for all your help! *** bless!