Hello all,

I am having a strange problem with fuse # 24 (7.5 amp) which controls the interior lighting. The doors and headliner lighting works fine, but the hatch light does not work at all. If I open the hatch, it blows the # 24 fuse every time. Help???

Secondly, the doorjam warning lights do not work, is there a simple way to pull them out to check the bulbs/connections? There does not seem to be a way to pop them out from the outside.

Lastly, the hatch will not open via the hatch release ***** by the seats. If I pull the *****, they both give every indication of working and I can hear them working, but the hatch release itself does not disengage. Whats up?

As always, your help is greatly appreciated.

 

Troy,

Electrical problems are often poor grounding. Wally P. has a very comprehensive annual maintenace list that's highly recommended. It's been re-posted in another current thread but should show up in archives.

The hatch release is probably an adjustment issue. I had success getting mine to work by shimming the back side of the male hatch mechanism (under the mounting boss between the allen bolts) and sliding the release mechanism (behind the tool carrier) as far down as it will go. It was a real trial and error process... just kept adjusting until I got it to work reliably. If this fails, you may have a broken catch lip on the female side and searching the archives will assist you with this as well.

Hope that helps.

 

A circuit that blows the fuse instantly can be a pain to troubleshoot. One thing that can help a great deal is to make a simple tool.

Take one of the blown fuses and solder a short piece of insulated wire to each of the little metal tabs on the outer end of the fuse (where the numbers are). Solder these wires to a small 12 volt light bulb.

Plug the tool into the problem circuit. The bulb will allow enough current flow to troubleshoot the circuit, but not enough to burn wires or cause circuit damage.

I would start by taking the hatch lights out of the circuit.

This may be belaboring the obvious, but each of the interior lights has a built-in switch for OFF, ALWAYS ON, and AUTOMATIC (with the doors and hatch opening) operation. Some have a switch button on the face of the light, while some swivel the light unit for the switch operation. It sometimes take new owners a few days to discover how the lights operate.

For the hatch relaese problem, go to
<a href="http://www.nichols.nu/tips.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nichols.nu/tips.htm</a>

Be sure to bookmark this site - you will use it a lot.

 

Thanks Mike and Wally.

Will try, test and read accordingly.

 

Just a guess. But you may have a problem with your latch on the hatch. Maybe the car thinks the hatch is closed, even when open.

There is an electrical connection at the base of the hatch release motor assembly. You may have a short somewhere or the actuall release hardware may be a bit sticky.

I had the exact opposite problem. When closed, the car thought the hatch was open. Therefore, the door and dome lights would never operate correctly, assuming a door was always open. I had to replace my hatch hardware.

Chris Magid
1984 928s x2

 

Good point, Chris. I also had a loosy-goosy wire in the trio that runs into the motor (bottom left from above) and the motor would run but the hatch wouldn't open. I'd forgotten about that.

 

Chris and Mike,

Did either of you experience the #24 fuse blowing because of the hatch release mechanism and the car thinking open when closed, etc.?

I am hoping that I have only one problem not two.

 

Troy,
One last and simple thing...
Wally - I think? - posted a reply a while back.
Drop/pull one of the light units thats working, then drop the hatch unit.
Compare wires -color and location- someone could have hooked it up wrong.
Clean things up around the lower lhatch latch.
Open hatch. Have someone cycle hatch ****/lever.
See how much it moves.
If there is an adjustment you can make do it one way - say, up - and see if the release works better. If not try the other way.
If no adjustment try shimming one way or the other. check archives under search feature.
Mike L.,
Sorry, didn't read one of your post's -same-same-.

 

Thanks for all your help. We appear to have success.

I pulled the interior hatch light and after trial and error (and a couple of fuses) I found the light had been hooked up incorrectly when I had the interior redone. Work great now. All lights come on when doors are open, etc. Delay/timer works too.

The hatch assembly did have a loose wire and now when I open the hatch the lights work as well.

In trying to adjust the hatch assembly for the hatch to unlock via ****, I found also found a wire that was cut in the actual lock mechanism (key). I am assuming that this controls the alarm. Pulled out the soldering iron, fixed and will test today when I put it back in.

It is amazing how what seems to be little things, when you finally figure them out, can create alot of havoc and aggravation

In any event, thank you.

 

I have a similar problem with the hatch. As little as a month ago it would pop the hatch about 3 out of 5 times. Recently, it sounds like it pops it, but does not fully release it. A slight push on the hatch will yield a "click" indicating a re-latch so it is at least trying. Or I could open it with a key. I can hear the motor and see the arm moving. I followed the tips for adjusting the mechanism only to have no pops. I tried several locations but only the original position provided any result. I read the information about fashioning shims but was confused on them. Any ideas?

 

Troy thanks for the update.
Wally,
You were right again...by proxy this time.
If you get run over by a bus can the Rennlist have your brain?
For the interest of science ...and...er...
928 maintenance.
Now, where was I? Lemme see, drop the Alt. , again... . For testing.
Parallel kickdown switch. Clean sunroof rails.
Sure do enjoy a week off so I can enjoy my sHARk (sic).

 

Open the hatch and look into the bottom receptacle while someone operates the hatch release. Note the small metal flap that moves in the receptacle. This is what releases the latch. It needs to move the latch a little more.

The adjustments to the motor are intended to achieve max movement of the flap without straining the motor/gearbox. Do that.

If the hatch still won't release, check the tightness of the latch attach screw top and bottom.

If that doesn't help. read the info about shimming again. There are two places that can be shimmed.
One is to shim the top portion of the latch mechanism so that it is better aligned in the lower portion. You usually want to make the bottom of the top part of the latch move forward, so you add shims under the back of the top piece.

The other place for shims is on the little moving flap. You can make a U-shaped shim to go over the flap so as to make it push the latch a bit further. Erik (I think) used part of a plastic clip used to hold papers. I made one of metal. Someone else used part of a plastic oil bottle.