Joycey989

On my 1991 vert I have been having problems with the rear deck-lid release switch.
Both the door switches and the console switch work flawlessly. But if i use the most convenient one that is right on the deck-lid there is no click or pop. Nothing happens. I have pooped the button out and the switch seams to work fine. in even tapped the two wires together and no click. I checked the wire with a multimeter (Im a noob at wiring issues so i probably didn't do it right) and it didn't even seam to be getting power. So I started at the switch and worked my way down the wire and searched for any break. I found nothing. I followed the wire down from the deck-lid to the inside of the cargo compartment where I stopped cause I wanted to get some other opinions before I start tearing up my car. Anyone have any suggestions? Also does anyone know where the wires go to?
Thanks a bunch!

Joycey989

I can upload pictures if that would help as well.

jesredvette

Geez, what am I missing here? I have an '88 vert and am not aware of any deck lid release switches except for the doors and inside the console. Just where is the switch on the deck lid located? Parts manual shows no such switch either. Pics?

Joycey989

Here are some pics of the areas and buttons. Maybe this can help. I don't want to have to tear my whole car to pieces to fix this button unless I know it will work.



The yellow button is the one that i am having problems with. But all the other buttons work.


This is the button on the door jesredvette. I don't know if your year has that one. Or the one in the picture above. I have 4 buttons. One on each door, on in center console, and one on the decklid as shown above.


The wire comes down from the deck lid near the passenger side deck lid hinge. It then turns and goes into the back of the cargo compartment. I took a close up for the next picture.


These are the wires that run from the switch into the back of the cargo area and I have no idea where they go from there. If it helps at all its on the passenger side and those two bars are the tension bars or something along that line.

Thanks for the help!

jesredvette

This button must have been added after '88. Mine doesn't have it; wish it did. Thanks for the pics.

Jamesnns

10:1 your broken wire is in the lower right hand (looking from the rear) corner. You'll find a big wire cluster there along with a coupler. 10:1 you break is there.
Ask me how I know.
1991 vert owner.
Just lift up the carpet and dig down deep, you'll find the coupler, thats where you'll find the break.
If you cant find it, PM me, I'll go look at mine and give you the color codes for the wire.

Joycey989

So the driver side near the far back of the cargo compartment?

Hooked on Vettes

Here's tbe schematic for a 89. Can't say for sure the color of the wires are the same as a 91.

A Brown/White wire at the switch goes to the Bow release relay in the rear storage bin.
Sounds like you've already traced that wire.

You should measure 12 volts on that wire at the connector of the switch
since it's hot all the time. No 12 volts would indicate a break in the
wire.

If you were to manually ground that wire you should hear the relay click.

The other wire Tan/White, goes to the Park Neutral switch on the transmission shifter for an
automatic transmission. If the shifter is in Park or Neutral the wire is grounded. So if you set your
meter to read ohms, you should read zero resistance to ground on that wire of the connector.
If you don't the wire is open some where between the connector of the rear Bow relase switch and
the Park Neutral switch. The Park Neutral switch must be working because your Console switch works.

If you have a manual transmission there is a switch that closes when the
emergency/parking brake is engaged.

If you can't find a good ground for your meter lead, use Pin A on the
diagnostic connector above the drivers right knee.
(The connector you pull codes from. Top right pin).

[F|E|D|C|B|A]
[G|H|I|K|L|M]

Jamesnns

No, the passenger side, under carpet..waaayyyy back, near your speakers, near your tail lighht area, ...dig deep, you'll find the coupler.
The wire(s) are color coded. Just look at the color of the wires at the switch on your deck lid, its the same color wire. The coupler had about...15-20 leads to it, so its not small. look slike (to me) that a lot of the brake lights/lights etc went thru that coupler.
My break was there...you'll find it.

And...lol...I cant find my FSM...dang!

Joycey989

So if i read 0 volts at the switch when the car was in park (but not running. just off in the garage) and yet the other switches work. So you are saying measure the volts in the wires connected to the bow release switch in the storage bin? Thank you guys a bunch for all the help! Ill go outside and measure it soon.

Hooked on Vettes

Unplug the connector at the switch.

You want to verify which of the two wires is causing the problem.
You said you know the switch is not the problem.
One wire goes to the Bow release relay in the storage bin.

To verify that wire is not the problem you touch one lead of the meter lead
to that pin at the connector plug and the other meter probe lead to ground.
You should measure around 12 volts. If you read zero volts, the wire from
the connector to the relay is open.

Or you can use a piece of wire and ground that wire. You should
hear the relay click along with the Bow release solenoids. That would
tell you the wire from the relay to the connector of the switch is good.

If that works, the problem must be the other wire that goes to the Park
Neutral switch is bad/open. To find where the break or bad connection is
use an ohm meter and measure continuity of the wire.
Once you find the area of the wire that is open you need to physically trace the wire.
That is a difficult task because the wire is bundled with other wires usually
in convoluted tubing or wrapped in tape.

The Park Neutral switch is attached to the shifter under the center console.

Here's a picture that shows the routing of the wiring.
I'd reseat connector C425 if your wiring is the same as in the diagram.
If there is a break in one of the wires it's most likey where the wire bends.

Joycey989

GREAT NEWS! I finally found the break in the wire! Now I just have to find a new connector and fix it! Hooked On Vettes nailed it in the last post. The first picture shows c425 connector boxed with red. Well this part is broken in the car. Here are the pictures

The picture below shows a zoomed out part of the break.


This is zoomed in alittle bit more to show it better.


And finally not only do you get to see my city boy hands but you also get a perfect view of the part.



Now my main question is about this connector. Does it have a fuse in it? How should I go about fixing it?

Joycey989

So I tapped the two wires together after cutting the connector out and the solenoids popped so all i need is that connector. Why exactly is that connector there?

Hooked on Vettes

I'd just solder the wires together and wrap them in electrical tape.
The only purpose for that connector was to make it easier to install
the wiring harness for the switch. One wire is already fused. The
other wire is ground so no need to be concerned about it.

You probably have water getting into that area. The jute material
is soaking up the water and caused the connector pins to corrode.

Joycey989

So I pulled the carpet up only to find a small perfectly circular hole. If you look up under the rear wheel wells you can see a gap between the Fiberglas body and the black plastic in the well. You can't see the hole or at least I could not from that angle. I think maybe when it was driven in the rain by the previous owner some of the water managed to get thrown into that space and some managed to get up near this hole. letting a small amount of water get in there. so I made a temporary plug with duct tape (You cant see it under the carpet so it doesn't look trashy!). In the first picture below there is an arrow pointing to the spot where the hole roughly is. It is underneath the carpet. on the side. The other side of the car seams to have a glob of factory sealant. The Sealant matches the stuff that is already used in other places of the car where two panels meet. So I'm guessing that got washed out or something unless its just not there? Or maybe the factory forgot it? (I forgot to take a picture of the hole) I was wondering if someone else could take a look in their convertibles and see if its there or not.



Now onto the wire repair. Since I dont have experience soldering things I decided a high quality crimp and electrical tape would do the trick just fine. So I crimped, Pulled on the wires to make sure they were in their tight (They wouldn't budge with a good amount of force. They are in there for good) and wrapped the wires up tightly so they won't get pulled out. After wrapping the wires individually, I also wrapped some electrical tape around the two wires in 3 different places to keep them together. Above the crimp, on the crimp, and below the crimp. So if the wires need to move they will move together.



I am happy to say the button now works flawlessly ! Thanks a bunch for the help!

Jamesnns

Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fastbanana

reviving this thread to thank these users from a literal decade ago. Just fixed my deck lid button which was broken in the SAME spot. VERY frustrating to slip back together but got it done with some male/female connectors and wrapped up tight with electrical tape.