Deck Lid not unlocking

[61Tbird]

Hello,
On my 61 Thunderbird, when i press the switch, I hear the motor click one time each way but it does not spin to unlock.
What could be causing this?

[Cliff Rankin]

Ok , I’m no expert but I have convertibles so I’ll take a shot. If you her a click most likely a relay or bad
Connection. Need to unbolt the lock connection bars under the car and pull up on the trunk , maybe with
Someone trying the switch and get the trunk up to see what’s going on. Once the trunk is open it’s not as bad
As it seems. Get a test light and the shop book and do
Some basic test and post what you find. I will try to help.
As I’m sure others will too.

[Joe Johnston]

I have a 63SR and can only recommend following everything step by step as posted in the Convertible Top Manual. A few jumpers and a test light should get you going. Without the manual you are only guessing.

[GeoffInCarlsbad]

I have a 1961 convertible as well. But, what do you mean by the deck lid not unlocking? IF you press your Top UP/Down switch you are hearing the motor "click" but then nothing happens? There is not lock on the deck lid. If the motor is disengaged, the lid is just on hinges. Does the motor get hot if you keep the switch on? Also, are you running your engine while trying to erect or lower the top?

The easiest thing to do is to hook up a 12v to the connections on the motor to see if it works. IF it does, as suggesting, it could be a number of different issues, all of which are easy to fix, but a little more difficult to determine. It just takes time to debug 1 by 1.

These motors don't last forever, so i'd start with that first.

[61Tbird]

The Motor does get hot when I keep the switch on.
I have tried it with the motor running and motor off.

The Motor is fine

[Jim Wulf]

The Motor does get hot when I keep the switch on.
I have tried it with the motor running and motor off.

The Motor is fine

I'm having some difficulty with this. Are you referring to the car's engine or one of the three CV top mechanism motors? It's obvious the engine is going to get hot when you run it.

We need a serious, thoughtful description of the exact symptoms of the malfunction. "motor click" is just not descriptive enough. I'll take a guess here and just speculate that the flip lid is drooping causing an open circuit to the deck lock motor. I've seen it many times.

Jump the deck open relay as described in the shop manual and open the deck lid so you can physically see what's going on in there. This is very easy to do - it just takes a little effort. Make sure you use heavy 10 gauge wire for the jumper as outlined in the shop manual. There's a lot of amps flowing through the jumper and it gets hot in a hurry.