advice on popper

[Amack76]

ok so i am installing my tailgate popper this week and i need advice with the button. Tones directions are bangin, but i am gonna use the isuzu button. in idiots terms can someone tell me what each wire goin into the back of the button has to be, i saw the link http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1882&papass=&sort=4 but still don't get it, help is appreciated, and be as descriptive as possible. please explain what each wire is and where it comes from. ( i see in the diagram there are two green and red wires, what the heck does that mean) i know im an idiot, but when you see how beautiful my dash wll be you will love it, it will be very very origional for a vx)

[Amack76]

please help grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Amack76]

has no one done this mod b4?

[Jonnie]

Maybe everyone is pooped out on poppers?

I started mine this weekend. Put in the spring, works nice.

Still trying to figure out the best attachment point for the solenoid. I drilled out the threads on the bracket to use nuts behind instead of tring to get a screw driver in that space. I also switched the screws holding the solenoid in the bracket to hex head so to make it easier to finger tighten or use an allen wrench. All 6mm hardware. Also picked up some rubber washers to go behind the attaching hardware to take the space created by annoying reenforcement ridge in the bracket.

Seems the green wire from the solenoid will only make it to about the kick panel, so it will have to be spliced.

I don't have a switch yet, so I have not figured that out yet.

Jonathan

[paultvx]

I haven't done this mod yet... at a glance, it looks pretty straight forward. I won't get too much into the details... some of it I am not 100% sure of until I get some hands-on time with the mod.

Here are some hints that might help you to figure it out:

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3023/6switches.jpg

From left to right...

Pin One goes to a power source.

Pin Two goes to 86. For safety reasons, you probably want the switch to be inactive/disabled while your ignition is on (that way you or a passenger can't accidentally pop the rear while the VX is flying down the highway.) There's a way to do this and avoid a power drain... if I can just remember it. Basically, if you want it to work that way, you want the ciruit to have constant power until the ignition is swtiched on. It might take two relays to do this...

Pin Three goes to the pin switch... not the ground on the pin switch the other prong. When the door is ajar, the pin switch completes the circuit and turns on the indicator light in the switch to let you know the door is ajar.

Pin Four gets tapped to the Green with Red stripe wire coming out of the Defroster swtich harness.

Pin Five (below Pin Four) gets tapped to the Red with Green stripe wire coming out of the Defroster switch harness. This wire provides power for illumination. With this, when you turn on your lights, the switch will light up with the rest of the dash.

[Moncha]

Aw Paul, you beat me to it...

I'll chime in here since it's my diagram, I need to write this up so I can copy and paste.
I may not make much sense right now as I'm recovering from a bout of Suspected West Nile.

Are you only looking for info anout the switch?

On the tailgate switch diagram from left to right;

The power pin goes to a source of power. Should be a continuous source.

The switch pin goes to the power side of your relay (Terminal 86) if you use a standard 4 terminal relay. You ARE using a relay aren't you?

The Pin Switch pin goes to an optional pin switch that needs to be installed so that the Indicator ligt comes on when the rear door is open. You could hook it to the pin switch that comes with the kit and hooks into the passenger side wiring harness but, the Indicator ligt will come on if ANY of the door are opened.

The Ground pin gets hooked up to the Green wire with the Red stripe on the back of the defroster switch. Use Scotchlocks.

The Dashlights pin gets hooked to the Red wire with the Green stripe on the back of the defroster switch..
The last two are so that the light in the Tailgate switch will dim with the rest of the dashlights..

Hope it helps.. If you need more PM or email me..

[Amack76]

2 questions that i need answered 1) do i need to add a relay or use one that is already there. and 2) what can i use to hook this up to the rodeo popper switch prongs? thanks everyone. ps my dash came back from being coated i will post the pics once everything is installed.:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[paultvx]

Get well soon, Scott.

BTW, I don't think you have to have a relay. The VW I owned had a hatch release switch that worked all the time... with or without the ignition being on. Just have to make sure you have a fuse in there somewhere. Took the time to draw up some diagrams for three different ways of wiring up the switch and solenoid. Remembered how to make it work only with the ignition off and not cause a battery drain too (a 5 post relay!)

Amack: You can not use an existing relay in the VX. No way. The relay is an additional part you have to source on your own if it didn't come with Tone's rear gate popper kit. You'll need to buy some small female spade connectors to be able to hook wires up to the prongs. Take the switch with you to the auto parts store and find the right size. You'll need to buy some heat shrink as well to cover up the connectors so they don't touch eachother and cause a short. Also, don't go crazy with the wire... heavier gauge wire will be hard to work with and take up space. Use a smaller and more flexible gauge. Look at the existing wiring on the stock defrost switch harness and try to match the wire gauge. Use masking tape flags on the wires as you go so you can write on them (so you don't get the wires mixed up). Other than that... can't get any easier.


**Edit** Since the diagram didn't help anyone... I have removed it.

[Raque Thomas]

OK - maybe I'm missing something, but I can't find any directions as to where the pulley should be mounted. I looked on Tone's site, and the only mention I could see of the pulley was to loop the end of the cable up where the pulley would mount - no pics, and no further description. Bought my kit off eBay, so maybe I didn't get the full directions (the guy said he bought it from Tone - looks like his kit). Everything else is done but this step -Somebody help please!
Another question - I saw a post recently about changing the passenger door remote wiring to make it open on the first press of the button rather then having to press twice. Any of you electrical genuis's out there know if there would be a way to then hook up the popper to activate on the second press of the button?

[Tone]

2nd picture in the PDF instructions show the top of the pulley where it mounts - compare the picture to you back door and it will be clear. Someone posted their theory on how to connect the popper to the stock alarm.

[Raque Thomas]

Thanks Tone - I see it now, it's pretty hard to see in that picture if you don't know to look for it. You might want to point it out in the directions. Then again, I haven't seen any other questions here about it, so maybe it's just me! Anyway, I'll be ordering a hitch from you soon!

BTW - what I was looking for on the remote question was a way to open the hatch with the remote, like the trunks on 99.9% of the cars that are equipped with a remote opener (except, of course, the VX)

[omegavx]

If you check about half way down on this post http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1671&highlight=popper (post by johnnyapollo with diagrams) you'll find some "instructions" on using the remote's second press to activate the popper. The only problem is I dont know if anyone has actually done it or not so any real detailed instructions probably arn't available.

I do plan on doing this as soon as I get the money to send tone. So, if you figure it out please post more details :)

btw, johnnyapollo, any chance you can get us the contact information for (Gary Bucklew of Autodoc in Largo, FL) to get some more detailed information?

[ojmagg]

I love to get some more info on the remote rear hatch release, too!

Omegavx, let me know if you need any help w/ the popper...as I recall the hardest step is trying to position the solinoid so you get the propper pull on the latch.

Now if I could only get my factory hatch release button to work...

[johnnyapollo]

I've PMed you Gary's information. I'm assuming he doesn't want his info made accessible to everyone. You may want to ask him if it's OK to post.

-- John

[Raque Thomas]

Guys, I thought I was FAIRLY mechanically inclined, but I'm starting to doubt myself after fighting with this popper for WAY TOO LONG! Two problems - I can't figure out how to attach the popper connecting piece to the rod that actuates the latch on the VX. It obviously won't just hook over the actuating rod, because it will slip off???

Number two, I can't find the red wire with the green stripe. The directions say that it is under the passenger side "scuff" panel, which I assume means the kick panel. I took this off, there's a relay for the interior lights, but no red/grn wire there. Looked at every other wire behind there as weel, and no red/grn to be found - am I in the right place, or just blind?

Somebody please help before I get the hammer out!!!:wtfo: :wtfo: :wtfo: :wtfo:

[Amack76]

ok did the trunk popper today.

1) I will post picks maybe even a video tomm (too dark now), on how i modified the hatch lock. it only took 4 hours!:mad: anywho it works well i checked it, i just gotta wait till my dash comes back this week too hook up the button.

2) raquethomas & the wire. onpen the passenger door, look directly down and you will see the scuff plate (held on by four screws and a christmas tree stud), take it off. lift the rug a bit and you will see wire running there, the wire is all the way toward the left side(gotta cut the electrical tape goin around it a bit.)

Tones kit was def worth the money, but the only thing i would've preffered was that the solonoid had a metal arm instead of a wire(would be so much more easier), but i definately recommend it (and buy the isuzu switch)!

[Raque Thomas]

Amack76 - thanks for the info. I had looked there, but only towards the front of the car. The wire is closer to the back. Thanks again for your help, it's working!:p

[johnnyapollo]

The first popper I did took about 4 hours (on my truck). I was using directions posted by swordy (Andy).. this was way before Tone offered a kit, so I didn't have the advantage of using a pulley, and had to wing it pretty much. Since then, I've helped install 4 other poppers and have got it down to about an 1-1.5 hours. I think running the wires takes the longest, plus people have varying ideas about where and how to tie it in.

If you cut a notch on the latch arm for the cable to loop around, you can just use the cable lock and not worry about trying to get that hook to work.

-- John

[paultvx]

How hard is it to drill a small hole in the latch arm to loop the cable through and aorund? If you're going to cut a notch... why not drill? would be more secure.

Just wondering...

[johnnyapollo]

Unless you had a 90 degree chuck, it would be hard to drill without dissembling the entire lock assembly. With a notch, you can get a cutting wheel on a dremel in there and go at it. A hole would be a much better install, though.

-- John

[Tone]

There is always tension on the cable so really no way it can come off the arm - mine has been on for over 3 yrs, been to Moab 3 times, and never had the hook in the kit come off.

[paultvx]

Makes sense. Been at least a year since I looked at the latch mechanism. I guess this is where the pulley does it's job... keep some tension on the cable. Could be a problem without it. Only way I can think of doing it without a pulley is with a section of bicycle cable housing to route the cable in the same way a pulley would.

[johnnyapollo]

Hey Paul,

I initially tried using a section of bicycle cabling (main reason it took 4 hours the first time). The issue with doing that type of install has to do with a mount for the cable housing ends. On a bike, the cable is held straight by bracketing. Unless you fabricated something, the bicycle cable twists to one side and kinks, preventing the internal cable from contracting properly. I played with this for some time trying to get it to work, and finally gave up. I did not use the hook, but rather looped the cable around the notch and crimped using the split nut and washer as supplied. Early on, the cable came off once, but an adjustment has prevented it from coming off since.

-- John

[omegavx]

Ok, so I got a response from Gary. I'll place it at the bottom of this post.

My thoughts on his response, it sounds like he had the same problem as raquethomas was having (ie: when you unlock the doors on the door console it also pop's the trunk) His solution was to wire the safety interlock to the solenoid like you should, then you can't pop the trunk while in drive. You would have to be in park for it to fire. Maybe if we can find the wire that ties the door console into both doors we could rewire it at that location. (ie: instead of splicing the wires out at the actual relay find the controller box, if there is one, hook both doors to the first click, hook the solenoid to the second click and hook the door console to the first click) That way, the console would fire just like a first click on the fob instead of like a second click on the fob.

------------------------------
Gary's Response 1
------------------------------
It's not real simple, but I'll be glad to detail it to you when I get a few
minutes. And, just so you know, if you buy the garage door opener module
from Isuzu for $100, it could be wired easily to control a popper from the
"option" button on the factory remote. I wanted to do that, everyone I
talked to said "no way" including Isuzu factory people, so I did it my way
(2nd press of main button). After I did it my way, then I ordered the garage
door opener when I had a spare $100, just to check it out, and found out it
works on a 120V house current to 12v DC transformer. And all it does is
complete a two wire circuit. So, if I had it to do over (and didn't care
about the garage door opener aspect-which is pretty neat if you have a
dedicated garage for the Isuzu like I do- would be to wire the module as a
ground control on the primary side of a relay, with the secondary side
controlling the high amp current directly to the door opener solenoid. And
power the module with 12V from the vehicle, and throw the transformer away.
Thanks,
Gary Bucklew

------------------------------
Gary's Response 2
------------------------------
The thread you linked me to provides virtually all the details, although
it's pieced together from several posts. Do you have a specific question?
It's true, the down side of my method is that if in neutral or park, if
someone hits the "unlock" switch on the door panels (either one), the hatch
will pop. But 1) if both doors unlock off first press, and they do and 2) if
you wire the safety interlock to the shifter (as you should), there is
really no problem. I did this two years ago, and have only accidentally
unlocked the hatch a couple times, both while dead stopped. And I think it's
convienent to have a switch to pop the hatch in both doors-I use it all the
time loading and unloading my greyhound from the hatch.
Just some info.
Thanks,
Gary Bucklew