dieseldog

Anyone know why it takes 2-3 pushes on the hatch release switch to get the hatch to pop? I know it's not the switch itself because the same thing happens when using my key remote.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Check the hatch alignment. How does the spoiler look in ralation to the side trim pieces? The bolts and adhesive holding the metal portion to the hatch glass can loosen and be pushed to the rear of the car by the pneumatic struts. This will also push the hatch hook too far to the rear until the latch is now trying to grab hold of the radius of the hatch hook instead of the flat portion. Also taka a look at the hatch hook and make sure it is centered on the latch. The pull-down unit has large square holes where the bolts mount it to the car body allowing for a lot of adjustment side-to-side and up-down. Slowly lower the hatch and verify the hatch hook is centered on the latch below.

Lon

dieseldog

side to side looks centered


Front to back is a little off but to me doesn't look too bad.

alex722607

iTrader: (3)

Well, I have a solution. I changed my body systems over to the 4th gen bcm, its the chasis brain box on those cars. It required pulling back the dash, but it was well worth it. One of the things that it allowed me to do was to modernize the trunk wiring system. Not only was the chime box in the convenience center scrapped, but so was the door lock relay and the trunk relay. The old relays are notorious for misallocation of power. The first time I used the new relay for the trunk or the built in door lock relay, it worked better than like new.

So after this long rant the main takeaways are that it is the relay and the wiring. Now when you hit the button, be it trunk or lock/unlock, it works at the first press of the button. I did this as part of a interior change over and you can find info about it if you type in "interior swap so to speak".

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

I disagree. It is off more than a little. The hatch IS pushed to the rear as I suspected. The hatch latch is trying to grab on the rounded portion of the hatch hook. You need to get the hatch alignment corrected.

This is not the only cause, but it is the first place I'd start. You also should pull off the hatch trim panel, spray the latch assy with WD40 (great solvent) then blow it off with compressed air and lube it with silicone spray or a dry graphite spray that won't attract dirt and debris.

Lon

dieseldog

I did wonder if my relay was going bad. I'll see if I can find a replacement at the autoparts store. Even if it's not the issue it's better than having a 25 year old relay.

I have no issues with the hatch closing it's just popping open with the switch.
If I use the key it opens perfect everytime. It's always a good idea to lubricate the latch assembly so I'll try that too. I do also agree with you about adjusting the hatch, but it's just something I can't do right now.

alex722607

iTrader: (3)

I would not go with a direct replacement for the simple fact that I recall it taking two to three pushes of the button as far back as I can remeber, atleast 15 years. Your best bet is to get an orion relay from the junkyard, from a 4th gen car. They changed to this style relay on those cars because it was a major improvement. What you will need to do is the following:

1). find the relay, should be on the passenger side behind the dash, taped to the harness.
2). get the relay from a 4th gen
3). get terminal connectors from clips and fasteners.com, you are looking for metripack 280 without lock if I recall for 18-16 gauge wire. When you get the relay get a pigtail with it so you can compare the terminals to what you get from clips and fasteners- should be like 8 bucks from c&f. (you can splice in the wires from the pigtail, but it is not as neat IMO) you might also want to get the terminals for your hatch switch so...
4). the hatch release switch on your car will have to be removed and disconnected. find the terminals you need, for me, it was metripack 630 16-14 guage but its a firebird style switch (again you can splice to existing wire, but I wouldn't).
5) once you get all materials proceed to wire it according to the schematic.
6). the only difference for you is that instead of there being a body control module, wire the lid release switch terminal B to the release relay terminal C2 directly. (For me it goes through the bcm because of the remote hatch release function.)

by the way, the thicker black wire at the relay is for the hatch release soleniod and the tan white is the parking brake switch. the orange ctsy wire will have to be routed to the relay and you can piggyback off the interior lights dimming ground to get the ground for the switch itself.