DIY Trunk soleniod

[Bones]

Using a standard trunk solenoid, I added a bicycle brake cable housing to the solenoid’s cable. I notched the side of the latch cover. Then I hooked or tied the solenoid’s cable to the same latch as the stock one.
There are only two wires. One goes to ground, the other to a relay for a momentary switch or the AUX button on the alarm. I routed the wires along the factory wires.

[eTiMaGo]

Cool, so how do you operate it?

[ChinoCharles]

Either with a button in the car or if you're really slick you hook it up to an aux on your aftermarket alarm system so you can operate your trunk release from your key fob, thus opening up the option of shaving your stock trunk release.

This thread title is misleading though, because this is not a DIY! This is a teaser!

[eTiMaGo]

Understood, thanks for the update!

Shaved hatch handle sounds pretty cool, the trunk release does look quite low-tech on the HB

So yes, more details on the installation process please!

Oh and, it's interesting to see the emergency hatch opening handle on the inside, there goes my dream of carrying kidnapped people in my trunk

[spkrman]

kidnap a small child or a midget, sure :)

[the_saint]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

Oh and, it's interesting to see the emergency hatch opening handle on the inside, there goes my dream of carrying kidnapped people in my trunk

Yeah, here in america they always ruin the fun.

[eTiMaGo]

well dead bodies would be all right I suppose.......

[vodkalush]

bones, anyway you could give a step by step write-up on this? Also what size/type/brand is the sol? and where'd ya get it from?
I've been wanting a power trunk....

[spkrman]

IMO yaris would look awesome with that funky lock shaved off the rear.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by vodkalush

bones, anyway you could give a step by step write-up on this? Also what size/type/brand is the sol? and where'd ya get it from?
I've been wanting a power trunk....

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.

12) To hook up to the alarm refer to my original post