Opening your garage door with your factory alarm
I've been wanting to do this project for a while and I finally got around to it. My wife's '01 Tahoe has a HomeLink transmitter, so I've been wanting a built-in opener in my Camaro. This is the coolest/cheapest thing I could think of. This project was done on a 1997 Z28, so for other models YMMV.
***Disclaimer***
These instructions worked for me. The BCM is a pretty pricy part to replace. There is a possibility that it could be damaged by incorrect wiring. I offer no warranties. Basically, if something in your car blows up, don't call me.
***Disclaimer***
The general steps:
1) Perform the Progressive Unlock Bypass mod
2) Hardwire wires to your existing garage door opener’s switch
3) Connect “free channel” from step 1 to the opener via a 12v relay
Stuff needed
1) "Quick Splice" wiring splices
2) Some wire (I used about 8 feet)
3) A 12v relay
4) Soldering iron
5) Multi-meter
The Quick Splice looks like this:
I bought a pack of four from Home Depot for $0.50
I just used some wire I had laying around the house. There's not a lot of voltage on it so it doesn't have to be too heavy gauge.
You can get a 12v SPDT relay from an auto parts store for pretty cheap. I used a SPST relay from a TV chassis.
Total cost of the project was $0.50.
The details:
I looked around and the only references I could find to the progressive unlock bypass mod are here: http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100374&highlight=Progressive
and here:
http://members.aol.com/kustomz28/progressivebypass/progressivebypass.html .
Unfortunately, these instructions are incorrect. At least for ’97. The splicing portion of the instructions use the wrong side of the cut wire.
1) Progressive Unlock Bypass mod
Look under the glove compartment and you'll see a black plastic panel. Remove the two push-in clips close to the glove compartment door that are securing this panel. This allows the panel to drop down and you can access the wiring above it.
Remove the four screws in the kick panel piece running beside the passenger's seat. Remove the kick panel assembly. This allows for a lot more room to work on the wires.
Look for a green plug in the wiring below the glove compartment. The plug will have five wires in it. They are tan, gray, gray/black stripe, orange/black stripe, and red/black stripe. We'll be working with the gray/black stripe, and the tan.
Cut the gray/black stripe wire. Be sure to leave enough wire coming to the plug to splice into later. This will leave a short wire going back into the green plug and a longer wire going into the car's harness.
Splice the gray/black wire going into the harness into the tan wire using a Quick Splice.
Now, one press of the unlock button unlocks both doors, and the second press of the unlock button shoots a short 12v pulse out of the gray/black wire from the green plug.
2) Hardwire garage door opener
Open the case of your garage door opener and remove the battery.
Use the Multi-meter (set to ohms) to determine which pins on the back of the switch get shorted together when the switch is depressed.
Solder two lengths of wire to the pins on the switch that were identified earlier. I made my wires about two feet in length to make sure I had enough.
Modify the case of the opener so that the wires can pass through somewhere so you can reassemble the case. My opener is a Genie Intellicode and the opener has a hole in the bottom already so I passed the wires through there.
Reassemble the case and put the battery back in. You can test this mod by stripping the wires that are hanging out of the opener a little and touching them together. When these wires are touched, the garage door should activate.
3) Connect “free channel” from step 1 to the opener via a 12v relay
Solder one of the wires coming from the opener to the "common" pin on the relay, and solder the other wire to the "normally open" pin on the relay. It doesn't matter which wire goes where. You can use crimp-on spade style connectors if you use an automotive style relay. I just soldered mine, since the relay I used is smaller than a match box.
Solder two lengths of wire to the "coil" pins on the relay. Again, I used about two feet each.
Connect one wire from the coil pins to the gray/black wire that goes back into the green plug. I used a Quick Splice for this as well.
Connect the other wire from the coil pin to a good ground point. There's a silver stud with a nut on it in the kick panel area that I used for a ground.
If you soldered your connections, wrap the relay up with some electrical tape to make sure nothing gets shorted after the dash is reassembled.
Find somewhere under the dash to tuck all your wires where they'll be out of the way of the kick panel and the black plastic cover.
Find somewhere to put the garage door opener. I tucked it in a plastic pocket that's behind the kick panel. In retrospect, it'd probably be better to bring it up into the glove compartment so it'll be easier to get to if you have to change the battery. If the wires you solder to the opener are long enough it'd probably be easy to get it in there.
Reinstall the kick panel and plastic plate.
Pressing the unlock button twice on the key fob or pressing the unlock button on the door should now open/close the garage door.
I'd like to know if you successfully complete this mod, so please email me with success stories/questions.
