okay guys, you know how we all have "cadillac trunks", you know, those trunks that "close themselves". Well, mine stopped closing itself. It still latches when i put the trunk down, but it won't "pull itself shut". I think the motor/fuses burned out, but im not sure.

Is there anyway that it could have been "knocked loose" or anything that wouldn't require new parts?

Also, what exactly is the purpose of it closing like that; does it have a practical purpose or is it just for show? And if it rains, will it leak????????

Thanks guys!

Obviously, check the fuse or fuses first (on yours, I'm not sure if there are any separate relays or fusible links). More than likely it's the pull down motor. Mine went out last year and I bought a new one on Ebay for about $80.00. You'll no doubt be able to get a used one cheaper than that, depending upon whether or not you want to take a chance on a used one possibly failing in the not too distant future. If you can still get one through a dealer, it will probably be expensive (however, what isn't expensive through a dealer?).

They aren't difficult to replace. After I took off the carpet covering mine, I saw that it was only held on by three screws. The only problem I had with mine is that the latch bar on the new pull down motor was a little too big to fit in the latch mechanism on my trunk. GM used these motors on several of it's models, so I'm assuming the latch bar was for another make. It would be a good idea for you to do a test fit to see if the latch bar fits into the trunk latch mechanism before you install the pull down motor (something I failed to do...I just love doing a repair twice!!). I had to switch out the latch bars, so don't throw away the old pull down unit until you are done. If you have to switch out the latch bars, make sure that the switch on the pull down motor is in between the tabs on the pull down latch bar (looks kinda like a light switch). I didn't do that, either, and the pull down motor continued to run until it drained the battery (make that redoing the repair three times now!!!) :banghead: . That's why you hear a click after the trunk has been opened or closed. It's one of the tabs on the latch bar flicking the switch off. This may sound confusing, but if you take a good look at the pull down motor, you will see what I'm talking about. May not be a bad idea to take a couple of digital pics before you start, just for reference. If you do have to switch them out, be careful, it's a little messy (grease on the inside) and the gears have to line up just right. You may have to rotate the gear on the latch bar to match the "height" of the latch bar you are replacing. If you look right in the middle of the top two arrows in the pic below, you will see the latch bar I am talking about. I don't know if "latch bar" is it's technical name, but it will do for this discussion. If you don't have to do this, then just ignore this long, boring paragraph (is everyone tired of hearing "latch bar" yet?).

Yes, there is a good possibility your trunk could leak. Mine looked like it was closed, but I had my 8 year old son get in the trunk and after closing it I shined a flashlight around the edges and he was able to tell me where I was shining the light. I thought about leaving him in there, but I don't think he would have smelled too good after a few days. Besides that, I wouldn't have anyone to do my laundry or get me a beer. :drinker

As for the purpose of a trunk pull down, I read somewhere that it was designed to lessen or eliminate the "impact" of a slamming trunk lid so as not to disturb the vehicle's passengers. Whether or not this is true, I just don't know. Good luck.

I think they just used the pull down motor because it's cool to watch the trunk close by itself like that :banana:

If you want it to close all the way you can take the latch part out of the motor and twist it down by hand. At least it'll work that way until you get it fixed. There are a few posts around here about problems with it. Do a search and you should them.

THANKS guys for all the help. Just so happens that i own a junker 82 eldo (used to fix mine when it was in a wreck) so maybe i can use the pull down motor from it if it still works???

hey again everyone. I took out the pull down assembly and found out that the problem was actually that they little black box that the switch is on- the screw that connects it to the car had broken off, so it wasn't holding in place.

What would happen is that instead of pulling the swith off/on it would pull the WHOLE box out of the way since it wasn't screwed down properly. Now im trying to superglue the screw part that broke off onto rest of the black box and maybe it will work again....

Notice the cadillacforums page sitting in the trunk.... :rolleyes:

Hope the glue holds up. If not, I am assuming the pull down in your '82 is similar to this one.