merope

Hi All,

I have had issues with the dreaded rear hatch release since I bought the car 2 years ago. The previous owner tried to fix it also, with no avail. I am determined to get it working. The situation is the following:

- Hatch locks, but barely. The motor works and spins, but doesn't open it. The PO put a shim on top of the push-down spring, to have it close the interior light circuit when closed. I guess the motor needs to be set very low for the latch to engage at all. This was his solution. At least the battery doesn't drain.
- It didn't have an insert. That's where I started. Didn't fix anything when I put in one last year, but at least I have it.
- After some research, I realized there is a parking circuit that allows the motor to spin to its closed setting. Ahha, I thought. I checked, and the 1A fuse was blown. I replaced it with a good one ... and the motor still only spins until I pull the switch. So, the parking switch circuit is broken somewhere else also. My hope is that once that is fixed, I can set the motor up higher and the system will work.

Question: How does the parking circuit route and where should I check it? I'll check on the fuse one last time, to make sure it is making contact, but if not that, where else could the circuit be broken?

Thanks!

Petza914

When I hooked up my remote hatch release I tested the motor I bought. There are 3 wires. One is ground, one is a 12v+ trigger wire to start the release cycle of the motor, and the 3rd is a constant 12v that allows the motor to finish the circle and park back at the home position, which if standing behind the car and looking down into the catch will mean the gold tab on the arm assembly is retracted toward the front of the car. What makes the hatch release is the tab cycling forward as the more rotates and it pushes on the spring loaded tab in the upper hatch latch assembly.

The homing is built into the motor itself.

If the motor won't home when installed in the car, loosen the mounting bolts and see if it will. If the geometry of the motor and arm isn't quite right or the mounting bolts are too tight, the motor will hang up in the release position with the tab forward and not complete it's cycle.

Mrmerlin

Read this it will describe how to fix your hatch motor

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...h+motor+repair

Alan

The parking circuit is entirely within the motor - as long as you have a 12v supply to it via the 1A fuse it should work - if it doesn't then the fault is inside. Check the 1A fuse again - it should never blow - so make sure it didn't blow again.

Alan

It could be that a hatch motorectomy is your best bet - they are quite the piece of crap - unworthy of the car IMO. VW alternatives are much more reliable.

Petza914

Alan, are the door lock motors the same or different than the hatch motor as the ones I pulled from my door physically look the same as the one I installed for my hatch.

merope

Ok, so I think you are all were right. I just checked the three wires going into the motor. Brown gets ground, yellow gets +12V when the switch is activated (+1V otherwise, interestingly), and the red wire gets a constant +12V, which I guess will be the parking voltage. So, since the system gets all the voltages, the issue must be within the motor itself. I'll be taking it apart when I have some time and update this thread. Apparently, the transistor can go in them, as I have seen. Even if not the best solution, I'd like to keep the car original (it is a sub 40k mi very original survivor). I don't think it has to do with how the system is bolted down, as I can get it to stop anywhere by releasing the switch at certain positions. It does not seem to be getting stuck.

A related issue: The PO placed a shim on top of the push-down spring to make it be able to make the light contact. I thought that once I get this fixed I'll raise the locking mechanism higher and that would be solved as well. As I see it now, the locking mechanism is already at its highest adjustment point. If I move it lower, it will even be less likely to close that circuit. Is there a way to adjust where that contact happens?

Another Q: How the hell do you pull out the plastic holder for the three wires? It wiggles, but does not pull out. I was able to insert the multimeter pins inside and get a reading, but I will need to actually pull it out. I do not wish to break it. Does it have invisible clips?

Petza914

If you remove the 2 vertical bolts of the lower latch piece you may find a shim or two under the carpet.ontop of the mattwp car frame. That is used to raise the female lower.latch assembly so the male upper latch assembly goes into it further. That's a little trial and error in aligning the hatch, getting the panel gap right, and getting the latches to align correctly. The hatch closing position and body alignment can be adjusted by loosening the two main hing bolts up at the top where it pivots from.

Alan

They are different - they have different numbers of connections and operate in different manners - even if they look similar.

Alan