onthedge928s4

928 public,
I have a 88 928s4 and the rear hatch won`t release with the floor sw from either side.
you can hear the actuator rotate and see it move but the hatch will not release.I have try to adjust the lower have on the car up and down with no sucess.Is this a wear issue on a part? which one should be replaced ?actuator is connected and moving.have any thoughts
thanks bob

Greg86andahalf

Adjusting down gives the release cam more "throw" but often, not enough to release the hatch.

There is a procedure for shiming the reciever so that the tounge of the deck lid moves a bit forward where the cam can spring the latch. I cut a piece of vinyl siding into a shim and placed it into the reciever at the outside closest to the bumper. With some adjustment, the release works but is tight. a temporary fix, but I don't like it. The deck tounge is being forced.

I think the root of the problem is in the deck hinges. I can see on my car where the deck lid has migrated down. The spoiler does not line up with the outer spoiler pieces on the quarter panels, and the lip of the deck does not line up with the lip on the quarters. That is why the tounge is too far aft for the cam to hit it.

I could not get enough adjustment out of the deck hinges to slide the deck back up where it belongs. I suppose the hinges are bent from years of handling that heavy deck lid. It's on my winter list to puill the deck off and work this alignment problem out.

The same may be happening to your lid. The shim should work, but I would carefully check the fit of the deck lid. 1/4" makes a big difference.

Greg

Max

Bob, There was a thread about this some time ago; I think the general consensus was to buy a new nylon piece that goes into the hatch side mechanism. There are two pieces you will need when ordering and they are 928.512.161.02-Latch, 928.512.165.02-Clinch pin and if your the unlucky type, you may want to get an extra spring incase you loss yours during the disassembly, 928.512.163.02-Spring.

I just did mine, but did not order the parts to fix it right yet. I spent at least two hours, off and on tiring different adjustments, none of them helped in the least. Finally out of desperation I made a shim out of some .050 aluminum sheet stock I had handy and stuck it in between the rear half (outside edge) of the hatch side (male end of the latch/upper section) and the hatch. What this does is puts a little more angle on it and put it closer to the mechanism that releases the latch. It has been working like clock work ever since. I know it’s only a mater of time when I will need to fix it right.

HTH

Max

Shane

Ok something else to add to the to do list and parts list. This site is a great incentive to spend more money on our cars with all the clever tips on DIY repairs. I'm almost glad that I only get six weeks a year with my car.
<img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

onthedge928s4

are there any artists in the group?on a photographer to point out shim locationa ???

Jay Wellwood

Shane-

What color is your shark? Granatrot, is that right? Never saw that one before.

Max

Loosen the two allen head bolts that hold the hatch side of the lock. You can use card board or bussness cards for temp shims if need be. Start with about 0.25 worth and stuff it between the hatch and the lock on the back side or the side closest to you as you face the front of the car from the rear.


HTH

Max

I hope to be able to post pic's of some of my tricks soon <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

Greg86andahalf

Here are some pics.

1) Deck alignment. I think the root of the problem is in the deck hinges. You can see on my car where the deck lid has migrated down. The spoiler does not line up with the outer spoiler pieces on the quarter panels, and the lip of the deck does not line up with the lip on the quarters. That is why the tounge is too far aft for the cam to hit it. See below:




Here's the shim. All it's doing is forcing the tongue forward. I don't like the amount of pressure it is applying to the tongue. The root of the problem, in my opinion, is deck hinges which I think have bent from years of supporting the heavy deck. I tried to adjust them with no luck. Someday, I'll remove and "tweak" them.




Greg

Max

Greg, great pic's!

I never thought of shimming the backside of the lower portion of the lock mechanism like that. My hatch lid was off a little as well, and even after a tweak here and there it still would not open.

I placed my shim on the backside of the upper portion (between the hatch and lock) to get the cam in the lower portion to push the nylon latch in the upper portion further in to disengage the lock.

I guess it's true! There’s more than one way to skin a Cat <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

Cheers

Max

Greg86andahalf

Max,

Thanks.

Now I understand what you did and I like it. I may try it as I am not happy with the force being applied to the tongue the way I have it.

I still want to fix the hinges though.

Greg

Max

Greg, I noticed when I had all the adjustments right, the hatch lid would bounce freely on the plunger spring with little or no interferance between the upper or lower lock pieces. It was at that point I installed the 0.05 shim to increase the angle of the upper portion of the lock.

I will try to find a digital camera and take a few pictures.

HTH

Max

Greg86andahalf

Max,

I tried a .065 shim on the tongue and it works quite well. The first thing that I noticed is due to the better centering of the tongue in the reciever, when you hit the release, the deck pops up as it is supposed to. With my shim method, there is so much binding that the deck sometimes had to be gently pulled up with fingertips, before I could get my fingers under it to lift.

When I first started this a few months ago, I tried elongating the tongue holes, to move it aft. I also remember shimming the tounge with a couple of washers, but the thickness was so great, that the Keylock mech. did not sit in the deck at the proper angle and the round seal was gapped at the top. I gave up on that and went with the reciever shim method. I should have tried thinner shims on the tongue like you did.

Your method works well and I have removed my shim.

Thanks for re-directing me to the proper way to do this. (I STILL want to re-align my deck!)

For those of you eves-dropping, try Max's way first, re-adjust the striker cam, it should work good.

Greg

onthedge928s4

I just new when i posted this one there would be alot of responses.question ?I don`t mind the home made fix but can anyone fully with no question identify thes hatch problems and specifically
id the part or parts responsible or is this gonna be a home made fix either way.by the way thankyou everyone who particpated and those pic s
were great i needed them to identify what we as a group were speaking of big thanks
bob <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Max

Third post from the top. Part names and PN's.

Maybe Greg will post a few picks, I've had no luck getting a Didital camera yet.

What more could you ask for <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Max

Greg86andahalf

Bob,

How is your deck alignment? Do you see any downward migration as I noted in my posts and pics above? If the deck is out of alignment like mine is, then in my opinion that is what's responsible for the latch problems.

Anything done to repair the latch, while the deck is out of alignment, is not solving the original problem, at least in my case. If I could move the deck back up where it belongs, the tongue would be positioned properly without the need for shims or mods.

Greg