Tonneau solenoid for 1990 V6 TC

I have owned this TC for over 18 years and it is in great condition. However, the mechanism to lock/unlock the tonneau to putt the soft top down or to change to the hard top will not work. I am told that the solenoid is dead (to be confirmed). Does anyone know where or how I can get the part and get it fixed in the VA, DC, MD or surrounding area? I am not very technical so I need help. Thanks!

Hopefully, you know about the manual release pull cables in the spare tire compartment so you are not locked out of the area to make repairs. The two sides of the tonneau cover are held down by simple mechanisms that are used as power trunk releases on other Chrysler and Dodge vehicles. The switch is the same as the power lock switch. Open the tonneau manually and make sure wires are not pinched or pulled loose at a connector.

If you are talking about the top pulldown mechanism that is a totally different thing.

Thank you for the input. In fact, the issue is with the pulldown. I cannot get it to pull down and latch. I am aware of the manual release but this is not the problem. WHen I fold back the soft top into the compartment, the cover will not snap down as before. Same problem puting the hard top on. Any and all ideas welcome.

Allan

Thank you for the input. In fact, the issue is with the pulldown. I cannot get it to pull down and latch. I am aware of the manual release but this is not the problem. WHen I fold back the soft top into the compartment, the cover will not snap down as before. Same problem puting the hard top on. Any and all ideas welcome.

Allan

When you press the cover release button do you hear the solenoid snap? If you don't hear anything it could be power or part. If you do hear something then hit it a half dozen times and find out if one or both sides of the cover latch down. One side = one problem, both sides = another.

Before the top can pull down or maybe even latch to start pull down it has to finish the unlatch. Push and hold the top button to unlatch, you should hear motor run and two clicks when cycle is complete. Mechanism has built in circuit to make this a one touch automatic operation, sticky internal contact can cause the cycle to stall and you may need to hold power on to complete unlatch before you can latch and pull down.

If no sound heard when switches pushed check fuse and power to switches. If tauno solenoid snaps when switch pressed and still doesn't latch after several tries look for jammed or broken mechanism.

Cover is one thing, top latch and pull down is another, both get power from same place. First eliminate power and top cycle as problem, then do visual good visual inspection of mechanism.

When you press the cover release button do you hear the solenoid snap? If you don't hear anything it could be power or part. If you do hear something then hit it a half dozen times and find out if one or both sides of the cover latch down. One side = one problem, both sides = another.

Before the top can pull down or maybe even latch to start pull down it has to finish the unlatch. Push and hold the top button to unlatch, you should hear motor run and two clicks when cycle is complete. Mechanism has built in circuit to make this a one touch automatic operation, sticky internal contact can cause the cycle to stall and you may need to hold power on to complete unlatch before you can latch and pull down.

If no sound heard when switches pushed check fuse and power to switches. If tauno solenoid snaps when switch pressed and still doesn't latch after several tries look for jammed or broken mechanism.

Cover is one thing, top latch and pull down is another, both get power from same place. First eliminate power and top cycle as problem, then do visual good visual inspection of mechanism.

Finally managed to get professional help. The problem appears to be with the rear latch assembly P/N 52 53 193 that I have to try and find. Any suggestions as to where to look?

Thanks for your input that helped guide the diagnostic.

Finally managed to get professional help. The problem appears to be with the rear latch assembly P/N 52 53 193 that I have to try and find. Any suggestions as to where to look?

Thanks for your input that helped guide the diagnostic.

tcparts.com or arizonaparts.com or you can walk the u-pull yards looking for trunk latch parts that can be refit.

I contacted Arizonaparts for the TC 5253193 pull down motor for the tonneau. They don't have one but said it is the same as a GM part 4490338, which is a pull down motor used on a variety of GM models in the 1998 time frame. Can anyone verify this before I buy it?

Thanks!

4490338 is a MOPAR # not a GM one

Yes, but do you know if it is a replacement for the TC part?

Yes, but do you know if it is a replacement for the TC part?

The solenoid is a trunk latch release solenoid, and different models from the same time period have different deck releases. Last year I posted pics and simple instructions to use a big Cad release to replace our impossible to find remote trunk release, best advice is hit the U-pull bone yard, get that one for your trunk, the other kind for your tonneau and grab a trunk pull down to keep as a spare. The top pull down is a GM trunk lid pull down with an (L) bracket riveted to the latch point and you can move parts from A to B if you get the whole assembly from a salvage yard and just use what you need.

Sorry, don't know the GM part numbers, but if you're looking at the GM assembly you should be able to recognize what you need when you see it,

Does anyone know of, or heard of, a mechanic in the DC area (VA, DC, MD) who knows anything about the ChryslerTC by Maserati? Mine is a 1990 with 45000 original miles that needs more love and attention than I can provide.

I am totally confused as to what isn't working. You have the tonneau cover latches on both sides that also have manual releases. I found that with mine they needed to be adjusted a little to get positive latching and release all the time. I also found that the manual release cables can cause a non-latch situation by having a little tension on them and causing the mechanism to not latch. A little lube and some manual attitude adjustment (gingerly) and no more issue!

The soft top/hard top pull-down mechanism has a manual actuation that can be accessed in the trunk. Once you mess with this, I HIGHLY recommend taking the whole unit out and going through it...cleaning, lubing, repair/replace stuff as needed. This also required an adjustment so that I could latch the tops and pull them down with a good seal without doing CPR to the back of the car to try and get them to latch! LOL 

Lastly there's the trunk release. It's super basic and others have covered it in this thread already.

So, which is the problem? LOL