924Board.org

[Tor K Refsland]

I bought a 924 some months ago, but i still haven't figured out how to open the rear hatch from the inside. I can still open it from the outside using the key, but it seems awfully unnecessary to have to turn off the ignition to get it open.
There is a switch below the dashboard that is supposed to open it (don't know if this is standard), but the switch is completely loose as if the only thing left is the switch cover and the switch itself is no longer in position.

Have anyone else had a similar problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[ideola]

To my knowledge, the only 924 that came standard with an electric hatch opener was the 2.5L-based 924S, although it may be possible that it was available on really late model year ROW 924 2.0L (post 1983), or maybe added by a dealer or previous owner. So the first question is, what year and make is your car?

The easy fix for not having to turn the car off to open the hatch is to get another key and I happen to have key blanks available

Personally, I keep all of my ignition keys on a removable style key ring, so I can take the rest of the keys off while leaving the ignition key in the ignition.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[Tor K Refsland]

The car is a '84 model, and it is completely original, so the switch has always been there. I have thought of getting a spare key, but I also want the interior hatch opening switch to work, as this and the backup light are the only components of the car that doesn't work properly.
It's always fun when everything is up and running on a 25 year old car!

[ideola]

And I did confirm earlier today that the electric hatch was indeed an option on the 1984 ROW 924 models. So there you go.

The switch itself might be broken, they're tiny, and I've never attempted to open one up. The good news is that as far as I know, they're all the same as the mirror changeover, rear wiper, and headlamp washer switches. They come up for sale used all the time on eBay, at least over here...I'd be happy to keep a lookout for you if you'd like. I also have a couple in one of my car that are blank, with no symbols on them that I've put in place of the normal switch blanks, so you could try to find one of those...I think finding an actual sunroof switch in that style will be hard given their relative rarity.

In the meantime, have you removed the switch from the console, or at least looked to see that the wiring is still intact (you should be able to do so by removing the ash tray). If the wiring is there, and the switch itself is broken or non-functional, you could purchase a really cheap dual position switch at a local parts store just to test and debug the rest of the electrical circuit. Then if you know the circuit is working and you just need a switch, you can wait until you're able to find a genuine replacement.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[Ozzie]

The hatch switch looks like a window switch but is different.
The wires are soldered on at the back and no pins to make it shallower to fit in the kickpanel.
Come up on Ebay regularly.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-944-968-Rear-hatch-switch_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1e5991bdcbQQitemZ130351742411QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
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Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance