Thaddeus

Hey,

If y'all remember from an earlier post, I had this thing going where the motor would spin, the cam arm would lift up and down, but the hatch wouldn't open.

I finally figured out how to fix the dang thing. It took a week of fiddling around, made longer by the fact other things broke while fiddling (like the backing plate the reciever bolts into in the chassis, and the cam arm rivet ) . But I got it all together and it's working (for now).

(1) Remove the reciever from the car without damaging stuff.
(2) Ignore that big nylon cylinder. It is not germane to triggering the latch. It only lifts the hatch after the latch is freed.
(3) Look at the flappy thing that goes up and down when the arm is cycled. I took a tiny bit of sheet aluminum, made a v shaped piece that would shim over the edge, and secured it with 2 nylon zip ties. This built up the surface by about 1/16".
(4) Reinstall without breaking anything.

It works. I'll let you know if my little fix works long-term. I'm thinking the nylon zip ties may wear away (they actually act as the working surface) and need replacement, but I would rather they wear away than the latch that's attached to the hatch (which is expensive to replace).

cheers

Thaddeus

jserio

Hey Thad, How bout a pic.

Thaddeus

I will post pics tomorrow... I just can't bring myself to disassemble it now that it's actually working!...

Thaddeus

Bump

Sean79 5spd

The same thing can be accomplished by inserting shims between the hatch receiver casing (black)and the rubber insert (yellowish). This pushes the male hatch part on the lid farther forward towards the release mechanism. What happens is that the rubber insert wears overtime and lets the male part on the lid move too far back when closed.

This fix is on the Nichols site.

Mike87S4

On my car I did not need to make a shim I just used 2 small zip ties, the thickness of the zip ties was enough to make it work.
Mike Egan

jserio

I pull my release button and I hear a noise but I have no release.

Nicole

Are those pictures still coming???

Red UFO

Yes, pics please!

bigs

If anyone is interested in this remote hatch release repair, PM "Ketchmi." He just recently fixed mine, and it works perfectly. He might even have pics... You'll have to ask him. Mine had the same problem - pulled the release, heard noise, but nothing happened. Now it works like a charm.

ColinB

Copied this from the other current thread on this subject.
I've tried all the tips on this site, plus Wally's, plus Nicols and others to get my hatch to open properly. No luck. Perhaps the motor is tired. I'm considering changing the release system for a spare solenoid-type mechanism I have from my VW MIcrobus. It's a very powerful device and has the added virtue of operating with a satisfying 'clunk' instead of that geriatric wheeze. It is a little tall for the available space though and I may have to find a smaller unit. Has anybody done something similar?

Colin 89GT

Thaddeus

You can see the little metal shim on the waggley thing, held in place by the nylon zip tie. The nylon tie actually serves as the working surface. Sorry the picture is kind of crappy...

This served daily duty for 2 months with no signs of degradation. I retired the unit about 2 weeks ago in hopes that a new one would help reduce hatch squeaking. The remote release was still working fine.

docmirror

My fix was the cut piece of plastic oil bottle, stuffed in the well behind the round pushup button. This keeps the hatchdoor piece closer to the actuator. Works fine, we tried several other fixes, didn't work. It's cheap and quick. No squeaks, muss, fuss.

IcemanG17

Sounds very familar to mine....I tried adjusting it every which way (sometimes the hatch wouldn't secure at all) but nothing worked....I will try the oil bottle shim next!

Barry Johnson

I've tried the plastic shim 'oil quart fix', but still no go either. I'll have to try Thad's idea, although I can't make out whats what in the picture.