Remote Boot Opening

[Joosh]

Hey peeps!
Thinking of wiring in a boot opening solenoid thing 'cos I'm sick of feeling like a poor man opening my boot with a key.. I mean, who does that nowadays? I wanna feel like I'm opening the boot remotely on my new Rolls Royce! Or if we're sticking to the whole "jdm goodness" thing, like my last post, my Lexus IS400!

Just wondering if anyone's done it already and how difficult it is? Would a switched live or a permanent live be better? I'm wanting it to be on a switch that's actually in my car, not on an alarm key fob or anything max power like that! Also, where would I source my live from? I thought for a permanent live going to the interior light? But it's then the wiring from there that's gunna be a little difficult unless I wire the switch above my head next to the light?

And then once it's all wired up, is it hard to get the solenoid part of the deal into place? I assume it's just as simple as mounting the solenoid near the boot release mech in the boot door? I've seen a few kits on eBay with switches, wires and the solenoid thing for about 20 quid so that might be the way forward no?

Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated! (And sorry if anyone is offended by the whole "poor man boot opening technique"! It's just for the lols!)
Cheeers!

 

[pollyp]

or fit a k11 fuel cap/boot release cable like this one

 

[Joosh]

Oh you legend! Where would I get something like this? or are they only on certian models that are pretty rare as is?

 

[pollyp]

search boot fuel release in the buy sell section, loads there.
or ebay.

some cables are only boot release while others are both fuel & boot release

 

[--alpina--]

I have a complete kit in a box incuding a barreless fuel flap that i got for £15 of here and still i havent got around to fitting it been in the garage since lasr summer i think! Was told its a mission to do so as you have to lift the carpets up to route the bicycle cabling ... I personallh would fit a solenoid easier!! Well for me i guess cos my keyfob has a button for boot like most cars have this function on the fob... But its personal choice.

J

 

[cgten]

I'm about to fit a boot/fuel release cable to mine (totally agree, opening the boot/fuel cap with a key is for cavemen). You can pull these off a scrap Micra and not pay much. In fact I'd recommend this because by removing it from the scrap car, you'll know how it fits to your car and save you a load of time.

It should be easy to fit, just a bit time consuming. From what I can tell, assuming you have a 3-door, you'll need to remove the rear bench and the passenger side trim under the rear window. You'll then need to pull some of the carpet up and run the cable down the side of the sill to the driver's seat. The mounting hole for the leaver should already be there. If you have ever set up bike brakes, you'll understand how this works.

 

[cgten]

Oh almost forgot... Make sure you take the boot lid latch, this is different to the one on your car, as the cable pulls it whilst the lid is down and that's what opens the boot. Not sure if that makes any sense.

 

[Joosh]

Aye I've seen photos of them and I can see roughly how they'd work! Seems the hardest part of it would be pulling the interior apart! And finding one obviously!

 

[cgten]

Invest in trim leavers if you can and don't already have some. If you're doing OEM upgrades they'll come in handy and won't scratch the plastics.