While biding my time in dealing with the power loss issues, I'm keeping busy with a few little mods. This latest one is still a work-in-progress, but I'm excited about it and had to share.
So here is my integrated gate remote mod, inspired by a
thread I saw on the Australian forums.
Also, many thanks to sabo, who was super helpful via PM. He has created a very comprehensive
guide which was my main visual reference throughout the install. Electrical work was done by a much smarter friend, while I dealt with the trim removal.
The main idea is to swap in the gear lever surround switch from another market which has an additional button, and then to wire up that button to my gantry remote.
First, a random pic of how the cup holder cover looks when rolled up. I just thought it was cool.
The centre console out with the original and the replacement switches at the side. I'm using the top TPMS setting switch, so the signal wires were tapped to this switch.
Here you'll see the entire centre console area. The circuit board with the yellow wires is the guts of the gantry remote.
The remote usually runs off a tiny battery. But to keep things maintenance free, power was tapped from the centre pin of the 12v socket.
The remote takes 12v, but a buck converter was used anyway, in order to give a constant 12v.
And this is how everything looks with all the trim back in place. Nice and OEM.
I mentioned at the start that this is a work-in-progress. And that's because after everything was fitted back, the new switch failed to open the gantry. It isn't a wiring issue, because during testing, the LED on the remote module would light up when the new button was pressed.
So my best guess is that it is a signal issue. Perhaps the signal from the remote is weaker since it's hidden under all the trim. This is also a used remote that I picked up on the local Craigslist equivalent, and I stupidly forgot to test it while sitting in the car. Next step is to remove the trim again and test the switch with the remote module outside, and if that doesn't work still I'll swap in my newer remote module.
Still, good fun, and I'm pretty sure I can get it to work soon.