DIY Electronic Trunk Release

[Bones]

I used a Viper 522T, about $40.00 at Circuit City. It’s a fairly generic solenoid and sold by different brands.

Looking at the third picture:

1)I bolted the mounting bracket first. Try to line up the solenoid, same angle that it would pull the latch. Straight shot.

2) Install the solenoid in the middle of the adjustment screws. This way, you can adjust the pull upwards or downwards. More tension or less.

3) The way the solenoid works is when you apply power to it, the cable is pulled real hard for a second. Ground and power does not matter which post you connect it to. In the picture, it is grounded right to the trunk. Just a few inches away, can’t see it because of the Dynamat.

4) Power wire. This wire runs up to the dash, to the alarm. I un-tapped the factory wire loom running on the driver side and ran the wire inside the looming. Then I re-taped it.

5) Notch the plastic that cover the trunk latch just above the stock trunk release cable.

6) I used a standard bicycle brake cable housing to slide over the steel cable of the Viper solenoid. The length of the housing should line up with the stock trunk release cable. The uncut or covered end of the housing should be towards the latch.

7) See picture
8) See picture
9)See picture

10) I made a loop with the Viper solenoid steel cable by soldering. The solenoid comes with a steel cable attachment, but it was a little bulky so I opted to solder it. The tension should be tight but not to tight. You can do small adjustment by moving the solenoid up or down (step 3).

11) You can test by touching the power wire to 12volts for a second. The trunk key and stock release cable are still operational.