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Can someone try their trunk switches/sensors?

Started by David #19063, March 12, 2005, 01:34:22 AM

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David #19063

I was wondering is one or more of you would check your mid-90s Cadillac trunk switches?

With your trunk open, please try to discover which switch/sensor triggers the trunk pull down.

There is a little black lever on the trunk lid itself that moves when the latch catches.

Also, on the car itself, where the latch catches is a larger lever/flap that seems to press down on a little black lever. (The little back lever is flipped up/down by two metal tabs sticking out of the bottom latch that powers up & down.)

Maybe someone can try them to see if one or the other is the trigger switch or if they both have to be tripped.

Please post what you learn.

Thanks.

NOTE: When you power down the latch with the trunk open, you may want to hit the trunk open button to raise the latch before you try and close your trunk.

David

David #19063

Hey, its Winter up here...I could use a little help.

Thanks.

David

David #19063


Jim Tighe

I had responded previously about my 91 Olds with this bleeping feature.  Can you, for the time being, disable this pull-down gimmick and close the lid manually?  Pull a fuse, or whatever???  Dont know what else to suggest, but wish you the best.

David #19063

High Jim,

Unfortunately mine is stuck in the full up position.

I want to disable it when I can get it down in the full lowered position and unplug it.  But I cannot get it to go down.  (I need some anti-viagra pills for the car...LOL!)

Then Ill just use it as a regular trunk.

David

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

David,

Havent you heard of 100 mph tape.   But, the glue is a bugger to get off if left on for too long.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV.

P.S.   Cant you see inside the mechanism to see how it worke, or better still, go to a Used Car Yard and check out one that works there.

Tod - North TX CLC

David -

Ok, if you are just trying to get the latch to pull back down, this might help (I havent looked at mine, so I am going by memory here).

As I recall, the latch hook on the trunk itself completes the ground to the pull down motor.  When the latch hook touches the pull down unit, then the motor pulls the unit down until a switch on the motor itself is tripped, at which point the motor stops (in the fully latched position).

Here is what you will need to do.  Check that you are getting power to the motor with a tester.  If not, you should check the fuses first, or start looking for the short.

If you just have to get the thing down, unplug the connectors then supply + power to the motor (this will be hit or miss - there are a lot of different pull down units, so I cant tell you which contact should get the + power - just try each of them until you get action), and touch a ground wire  to the pull down unit hook - this should start the motor turning (assuming that the motor is still functional).  Do not let the motor pull all the way down (you will not be able to slam the trunk hard enough to latch).  This will take a little testing to get the hook at the right place to allow the trunk to be closed tight enough.

Let me know if this works, or if it isnt clear.

David #19063

Tod,

I bought a Torx screwdriver today and I am going to take the unit apart.  I am getting power to it.  I used a tester and the second wire in dimly lights the light, and the fouth wire lights it brightly.  Could be the motor is bad or the switch.

Wish me luck.

David

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

David,

Do you have the Workshop Manual for it, or, arent you going to have it long enough to bother about getting one, ha ha.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV

JIM TIGHE

How in the names of Henry Leland and Charles Kettering did the "Standard of the World" allow itself to lapse into this sort of disfunctional silliness???  Have you been able to close the (&**percent$#^ thing yet?  Jim

David #19063

Now Bruce...yes, I bought one on ebay and it was supposed to have been mailed on Monday...however, your dig is valid.  

I change cars like Hugh Hefner changes girfriends...LOL!

And I soon aas I can sell my 71 Electra and 56 Windsor, I should hope to get some others.

David

David #19063

Hello Jim,

Not yet, but today I finally bought some Torx screwdrivers (like wasnt phillips good enough?) and I will take it off and try to repair or manually screw it down.

I will not pay Cadillac $250+ for something that should be only $25.  Ebay and salvage want $60, and they could bad out tomorrow.  But they say they think the Fleetwood Broughams is different than all the front wheel drive ones.

David

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

David,

They use Torx Head screws because you can get more pressure on them than the simple Phillips Head.

And, dont forget that when you throw a person in the boot, they are hardly going to have a Torx Head driver on them, but they might just have a Swiss Army knife on them with the Phillips Head attachment.   Cant have anybody getting out you know.   It is hard enough sticking them in there in the first place.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV

David #19063

Well, I took the unit off and took it apart.  The motor would work going up, but not down.

So I manually screwed it down so the trunk would shut tight.  Not gently, but a good firm shut, but not needing to slam it either.

Problems like this are why Cadillac (GM or any other car maker) is in trouble.

Of course, not to mention $800 a piece shock absorbers.

David

Porter 21919

Not too bad, it worked for ten years.

All the luxury cars with the bells and whistles suffer from luxury feature failures.

Sounds like the switch is defective if the motor is working.

David #19063

Porter,

Yes, it worked for 11 years.  

My issue is the price of one, I bet GM pays less than $9 for a complete unit, but sells it for $312 and some change...I just called the local Cadillac Dealer and that is what they priced it at.  Thats a crime.

Actually, the switch is fine.  I checked it with my tester light.  Probably a bad contact on the motor.  But when I opened the gear section up, grit fell in the lube so I didnt bother to work on the motor, faster to just do what I did.

David

Porter 21919

Nothing is designed to last forever. I had to replace the front door latch mechanism on my 90 Van back in 98. The van runs great with 155K, maintainence is the key to longevity and high mileage.

Your 94 Brougham is low tech (fortunately) compared to the newer FWD stuff. I would imagine the new ones are even worse.

Cadillac dealer parts $$$ ? Forget about it.

Jim Tighe

Poerter said something about "luxury features" and how long they last.  The cars that built the reputations of Cadillac and Packard and Lincoln and Pierce-Arrow, etc., were machines that were built to higher standards.  They were acknowledged as superior to the mass-market cars not because they offered more gadgets, but because they were built more carefully of better materials.  The hedonistic "luxury feature" that doesnt work is a bad joke on a good day and a nightmare on a bad ( rainy day, in this case ) one.  Cads and Lincolns and the other top-dollar cars used to be "quality" cars, not just "luxury" cars.  Real luxury comes from innate integrity, not from power gee-gaws.  As an example, a 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood was a really superior car, whereas a mid-90s Fleetwood was basically a gussied-up, overgageted Chevy Caprice, which was neither a "Cadillac" nor a "Fleetwood." Just as the last "Lincoln Continental" was a stretched, high-techery Taurus/Sable.  Henry Leland would never have let either of his creations come to this.

David #19063

To all,

I broke down and bought one off of ebay, $36.50 including shipping.:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7962938810&fromMakeTrack=true TARGET=_blank>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7962938810&fromMakeTrack=true

Most go for double of what I paid...but I was the only bidder.  

Took less than 5 minutes to remove the old one and put in the "new" one...just 3 Torx screws and the plug.

Sure beats $312+tax at the dealer!!!

David