Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
My car has developed a problem in that the deck lid will not raise all the way with out assistance.It will go up about two-thirds of the way and then stops. I have twice realigned the deck lid as best as I could, thinking it possibly had gotten out of alignment but it did not do any good. If I give it some assistance to get to max height the rest of the system works perfectly. I have owned this car for about five years and have had no previous problems with it. What can I check, fix or replace to solve this problem?
I await your reply with much gratitude.
Dave, Since I sent you the request I did some more work on the car. I took the screw drives out and took them apart to insure they were working
properly which they seemed to be except that one of the drive worm gears
moves back and forth in the housing, about 1/2 inch. The other does not
but it does not seem to hinder the operation of the unit. At the time I took them off, I noticed that the right unit was not holding up any of the
weight of the decklid, it was being held up by the left unit only. I thought that strange so when I put them back in I measured each side and set them to the exact same height. I also discovered that the upper pin attaching the screw drive to the deck lid brace, was very worn and sloppy in the deck lid brace. I replaced it and I also cleaned and lubed all the parts in both units. At any rate, when all was done I tried the system
and it is now owrking fine. I don't know if it was the cleaning and lube,
but I doubt it as they were not very dirty and still had plenty of grease
in them. I believe that somehow the right unit got out of synch with
the left and the left was doing all the work and that was not enough oomph
to raise the lid all the way. By the way the motor did not stop when the
lid stopped, at least it was still making noise but obviously not turning
the screw drives. I hope this info can help you in the future if someone
else has the same problem.
Thanks for your time and input and if I ever need help again with the retractable I know where to look.
Thanks again, Gene Ross
Gene Ross
852 N. Hay Street
Montebello, CA 90640
Answer -
Gene
I doubt that the deck alignment is your problem. In fact, if you're happy with the way the deck positions itself (by looking at the gap around its perimeter) when resting, you're done. There must be another cause to your trouble.
If you'd kindly use the follow-up feature of the Allexperts system, I'd appreciate a bit more information, and let me know ...
Q1. When the deck lid "stops" too soon would you say it's because the motor "tires" and gives up...or because there's a sudden loss of voltage to the motor and it quits abruptly? You'll likely have to have a friend activate the system so you can judge these alternatives. Hint: If you're alone, you could splice in three wires (three long wires) to the switch connections and take the switch with you to the rear of the car. When you're done, simply remove the temporary splices and re-install the switch.
A1. If you find that the motor tires, you'll need to check to see if it gets 12V+ to 13V+ power when activated.......OR......
A1. If you find the motor abruptly stops you'll need to check the action of the Deck Open limit switch.
In both of these cases you'll have to remove one or two inner panels from the trunk area and maybe the back seat to get at the relays. Before you start taking a bunch of things apart, let's focus on the deck actually stopping:
Tell me the answer to Q1 and:
Q2. When you manually assist the deck to its fully upright position, you mean the tray then unfolds automatically and everything else is OK, as you've said?
Q3. While the deck is opening to its fullest and you're listening to the motor strain (or not), do you notice any strain or binding of the deck lift arms (the skinny shock absorber looking ones)?
Q4. And when you manually assist the decklid, you mean the system is still ON and the decklid motor is sill running and the lift arms are just thankful someone with stronger arms has arrived, right?
I got down to the end here and realized Q4 is yet another alternative. I assumed the motor stopped electrically when you said the decklid stops moving...
Really, before you take anything apart, let's make sure I'm hearing what you're saying. DUH!
Looking forward to your feedback. We'll get your beauty back in shape in no time.
Dave
AnswerGene, thanks for the nice comments. I was a little leery of having you rip apart the car 'cause some owners are a bit queasy about peering around the panels. Obviously, you're not. Good work finding the solution so quickly. The screw drives can be small like they are as long as they are working in tandem with the assist springs. When they're not...well let's just say you've cured one ill and provided a lot of preventive maintenance for the future.
Have fun with your baby.
Dave
