Can't open the hatch on my '89 951 with the key
10-26-2014, 06:43 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Can't open the hatch on my '89 951 with the key
So turning the key has no effect on opening the hatch. I can turn the key and tug up on the spoiler to no avail. I can hear a switch clicking when I turn the key, but no love from the motor.
When I use the interior hatch release button the motor works and the hatch releases just fine. Well, I need to go and lift it a little, then it pops up.
But the interior button activates the motor, which pulls the cables no sweat. The key makes something click, but no action from the motor.
Where do I go from here?
When I use the interior hatch release button the motor works and the hatch releases just fine. Well, I need to go and lift it a little, then it pops up.
But the interior button activates the motor, which pulls the cables no sweat. The key makes something click, but no action from the motor.
Where do I go from here?
10-26-2014, 07:58 PM
#2
Mine does the same.
My mechanic said the micro switch is bad.
I never bothered replacing it as I won't be able to use it anyway after my 968 TRS Spoiler gets installed.
My mechanic said the micro switch is bad.
I never bothered replacing it as I won't be able to use it anyway after my 968 TRS Spoiler gets installed.
10-26-2014, 09:05 PM
#4
Nordschleife Master
The rear hatch on the '89+ 944 uses a micro switch to activate the release motor. The switch is probably bad, happened on my friends car. You can open the hatch by crawling through the back and manually turning the hatch release arm.
The click you hear is just the switch movement.
The click you hear is just the switch movement.
10-27-2014, 10:23 AM
#6
Racer
Join Date: May 2008
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My '89 has this problem too, I've never bothered to troubleshoot it as it's a dedicated track car. Both of the ones on my street cars work fine.
They must have used a rather feeble micro switch for so failure to be so common, they're usually as reliable as hammers.
They must have used a rather feeble micro switch for so failure to be so common, they're usually as reliable as hammers.
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11-08-2014, 05:54 PM
#12
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Ok, received and installed a new microswitch today. Hatch still doesn't open with the key. When I checked that microswitch harness, it's not getting power.
Besides Fuse #1, are there any other fuses that link into that central locking circuit? I've deleted the stock alarm, would that have something to do with this?
Besides Fuse #1, are there any other fuses that link into that central locking circuit? I've deleted the stock alarm, would that have something to do with this?
11-08-2014, 11:09 PM
#15
Three Wheelin'
Hey Doc,
Maybe I'm confused...but the key on the rear hatches of every one of these cars I have ever owned turned a mechanical set of bars which released the individual pinch locks on each hatch pin.
It is my understanding that the key has nothing to do with the microswitch that runs the motor in the back...if it relied on that then you would never be able to open the hatch of one of these cars when the battery was dead, which I do every day when I work on my 86 Turbo (because it doesn't have a battery in it).
Do one thing for me...get someone to turn the key from the outside while you take a (10mm?) wrench and barely touch the nuts holding the locking mechanisms up to the bottom of the sheetmetal in the hatch (you'll have to pull the carpet out of the way)...loosening them slightly that is. Do each one a tiny bit, evenly, and see if the hatch pops open.
This happened when I got my Turbo back from the body shop...they had tightened down the bolts holding the hatch pin locks too much, so when the hatch pins seated in they were to tight with the locks, and would either not seat properly and therefore not lock, or they would get stuck. I climbed up into the back of the car while someone turned the key, and backed all the nuts off by 1/16th to 1/8th of a turn and the hatch popped right open and has worked perfectly ever since.
Ethan
Maybe I'm confused...but the key on the rear hatches of every one of these cars I have ever owned turned a mechanical set of bars which released the individual pinch locks on each hatch pin.
It is my understanding that the key has nothing to do with the microswitch that runs the motor in the back...if it relied on that then you would never be able to open the hatch of one of these cars when the battery was dead, which I do every day when I work on my 86 Turbo (because it doesn't have a battery in it).
Do one thing for me...get someone to turn the key from the outside while you take a (10mm?) wrench and barely touch the nuts holding the locking mechanisms up to the bottom of the sheetmetal in the hatch (you'll have to pull the carpet out of the way)...loosening them slightly that is. Do each one a tiny bit, evenly, and see if the hatch pops open.
This happened when I got my Turbo back from the body shop...they had tightened down the bolts holding the hatch pin locks too much, so when the hatch pins seated in they were to tight with the locks, and would either not seat properly and therefore not lock, or they would get stuck. I climbed up into the back of the car while someone turned the key, and backed all the nuts off by 1/16th to 1/8th of a turn and the hatch popped right open and has worked perfectly ever since.
Ethan