1991 300TE Hatch close-assist not working

[dieseldaddy]

Been a while since I've been on here and posted.
First of all, Very sad to hear about Phil. So true what his daughter said about him...he always made me feel like an old friend just from calling him on the phone.

Next up, my 1991 300TE has a seized up rear wiper motor. Every time I pushed the button on the dash it would blow a fuse. Radio out, cig lighter, etc.

I removed the motor to try to clean it up back to working condition. No luck btw...
Ever since I removed it, the auto-close assist feature (whatever its called) on the hatch stopped working. I assumed it was part of of the connection to the wiper motor. Well, I took the motor's gears out so it would at least not blow the fuse anymore then reinstalled the motor on the hatch. Plugged the connector back on, no fuses blown, and still no auto-assist closey thingy. Connections seem OK. All wires attached well.

Any guesses what I did wrong?

[87tdwagen]

Generally the close assist has an actuator that is mounted to round bar just above the lock assembly. The closing of the latch (lock) activates the pull-in feature. Sometimes the actuator rotates on the bar so that the latch closing does not activate the electric switch to engage the pull in. This can be manually adjusted to resolve.

The path of least resistance though to try first is to spray WD40 or some other lubricant into the latch assembly with the hatch open and then just work the latch back and forth several times, spaying more lube into the assembly. Just work the latch by hand and use the release button to release and repeat. If that works you'll hear the pull-in motor engage. If not then proceed to the advise in the first paragraph.

Hope that helps

[dieseldaddy]

Thanks! I'll try that tonight when I get home.

[dieseldaddy]

87tdwagen + PB Blaster = my new best friends.

Thanks!!