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Homelink Universal Garage Opener Install

69K views 155 replies 57 participants last post by  JohnFinnell 
#1 ·
Since trading in my old 2007 Dodge Caliber for my new 2013 JKUR, I have not missed a thing about the old car, except for the Homelink Garage door opener... Seems like something so simple to include on a Jeep, yet Chrysler hasn't done it yet. So I decided to install one myself. I did a lot of research into what other people have done, and decided to install it above the rear view mirror - I think someone on a different JK forum did it here too.

I wanted to share back with the community and hope this helps others out there looking to do the same thing.

I bought a Homelink unit off of ebay for ~$35.

I knew that the location I wanted to install it was very space limited. I took out the front overhead to get a better look and measure the space. I saw that it would fit with a little downsizing, so I had to trim the one end of the unit where the circuit board sticks out of the box. Here, I soldered the pos(+ White) and neg (- Black) wires directly into the circuit board and clipped away the rest.

Electronic engineering Electronics Computer hardware Circuit component Electronic component


From here I measured the holes and created a template to drill the holes into the overhead. This part is very important to measure twice, drill once!

From reading other threads, I knew that the thickness of the overhead would not allow the homelink faceplate to clip into the homelink unit. Some people used cotter pins or tried glue.. I wanted to avoid that if I could, so what I did instead, was drill the holes just big enough that the faceplate would clip into the holes and overhead instead of through the overhead and into the unit.
For the three buttons I used a 15/64 drill bit.
For the LED, I used a 13/64 drill bit.
For the clips, I used a 5/32 drill bit (This worked perfectly)

Floor Flooring Wood Games


When placing the unit onto the overhead, I tried to fit it up as high as I could, however, there is a slight curve to the plastic and I tried shaving the corner of the unit to fit more flush with the inside of the overhead.

Here comes the next problem. Because of the extra thickness of the overhead plastic, the rubber buttons on the faceplate will not reach the buttons on the circuit board. I found that the best thing to use was eraser ends from a mechanical pencil. I lucked out because the diameter of the eraser fit perfectly with the button holes in the Homelink unit. This idea I got from another creative Jeeper. You will need to shave the eraser ends to get the perfect thickness.

Electronics


Now that this all has worked out so far, time to place the homelink unit onto the inside of the overhead. This is tough and there are other ways to do this. First I used a glue gun to glue the unit down. Then I melted 4 small holes on the plastic walls beside the unit and strung fishing line through them to tie it down more firmly. Then I used electrical tape to tape it down.

Technology Room Machine


In hindsight, I wish I had used something more sturdy (and not elastic), such as metal strapping...

Next step - wiring into the Jeep. I didn't want to run wire all through the dash to the lighter... seemed like a lot of pulling things apart that I didn't want to do. Instead, I spliced it into the power source for the rear view mirror. This may not be an option for some Jeepers out there, so you may have to open up your dash afterall...

I honestly thought this part would be easy. I found the wiring connector pin identification diagram for the mirror at this website:

Mopar Connector Repair Kit Website

There are 5 wires going to the mirror. Two are thicker (a white and a black). At first I thought that the white would be the source, but it wasn't, even thought it is the "Backup Lamp Feed", I registered no voltage on my multimeter. The Black is the ground though. The Red is a source only when the keys are in the ignition set to ON, however, when the keys are out, the voltage reads 0 V. The Yellow with Light Blue (pin 4) is the "Reading Lamp Driver" and has a 12V source when the keys are in and set to ON. It also has a small 0.7V feed when vehicle is off. This I think is what you need in order. I hope that this will enable the homelink device to at least remember garage codes.

It would have been nice to have something more substation for a source, but I think this will work (I'll let you know if it doesn't later)

After splicing black to black and white to yellow/LB, I wrapped everything up and put the Jeep back together.

Here's how it looks!

Yellow Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Windshield


Hope this helps others out there looking to do this great Mod!
 
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#7 ·
This will be one of my first mods when my jeep comes in. I just ordered a black version off ebay for $29 shipped. But I have a question about wiring. I have read on other forums these homelink units do not need power to remember codes, but sounds like you wired it to have power all the time. My concern is if I leave the jeep in the driveway with the top off or doors off, anyone can just open the garage if there is power to the homelink unit all the time. I would think you would want power with the key in the ignition only. Thats how my current audi system works. So does anyone know with certainty that these units need power to remember codes?
 
#8 ·
They don't require power to remember the codes. I found this out after the fact, but It says on the homelink website that it is optional to do a constant 12V supply or only when the engine is on. The wire I used only supplies a 0.7V supply when vehicle is off. This is not enough voltage to power and operate the device. My rational at the time was only that it may be enough to keep the device's memory savvy, but it sounds like you don't need that afterall.

The auto dim rv mirror doesn't have a constant 12V supply I found.

Good luck!
 
#10 ·
daggo66 said:
What is this "overhead" you are referring to? Are you talking about the header? What happens when you take down the soft top or remove the hard top?
Overhead a.k.a. the header. I wasn't sure what to call it. It's that plastic piece above the rear view mirror in which I installed the homelink unit behind. This plastic piece doesn't move with either soft or hard top on.

To take it off you have to remove the sun visors and upper corner pieces first.
 
#14 ·
B.F.J. said:
Since trading in my old 2007 Dodge Caliber for my new 2013 JKUR, I have not missed a thing about the old car, except for the Homelink Garage door opener... Seems like something so simple to include on a Jeep, yet Chrysler hasn't done it yet. So I decided to install one myself. I did a lot of research into what other people have done, and decided to install it above the rear view mirror - I think someone on a different JK forum did it here too.

I wanted to share back with the community and hope this helps others out there looking to do the same thing.

I bought a Homelink unit off of ebay for ~$35.

I knew that the location I wanted to install it was very space limited. I took out the front overhead to get a better look and measure the space. I saw that it would fit with a little downsizing, so I had to trim the one end of the unit where the circuit board sticks out of the box. Here, I soldered the pos(+ White) and neg (- Black) wires directly into the circuit board and clipped away the rest.

From here I measured the holes and created a template to drill the holes into the overhead. This part is very important to measure twice, drill once!

From reading other threads, I knew that the thickness of the overhead would not allow the homelink faceplate to clip into the homelink unit. Some people used cotter pins or tried glue.. I wanted to avoid that if I could, so what I did instead, was drill the holes just big enough that the faceplate would clip into the holes and overhead instead of through the overhead and into the unit.
For the three buttons I used a 15/64 drill bit.
For the LED, I used a 13/64 drill bit.
For the clips, I used a 5/32 drill bit (This worked perfectly)

When placing the unit onto the overhead, I tried to fit it up as high as I could, however, there is a slight curve to the plastic and I tried shaving the corner of the unit to fit more flush with the inside of the overhead.

Here comes the next problem. Because of the extra thickness of the overhead plastic, the rubber buttons on the faceplate will not reach the buttons on the circuit board. I found that the best thing to use was eraser ends from a mechanical pencil. I lucked out because the diameter of the eraser fit perfectly with the button holes in the Homelink unit. This idea I got from another creative Jeeper. You will need to shave the eraser ends to get the perfect thickness.

Now that this all has worked out so far, time to place the homelink unit onto the inside of the overhead. This is tough and there are other ways to do this. First I used a glue gun to glue the unit down. Then I melted 4 small holes on the plastic walls beside the unit and strung fishing line through them to tie it down more firmly. Then I used electrical tape to tape it down.

In hindsight, I wish I had used something more sturdy (and not elastic), such as metal strapping...

Next step - wiring into the Jeep. I didn't want to run wire all through the dash to the lighter... seemed like a lot of pulling things apart that I didn't want to do. Instead, I spliced it into the power source for the rear view mirror. This may not be an option for some Jeepers out there, so you may have to open up your dash afterall...

I honestly thought this part would be easy. I found the wiring connector pin identification diagram for the mirror at this website:

Mopar Connector Repair Kit Website

There are 5 wires going to the mirror. Two are thicker (a white and a black). At first I thought that the white would be the source, but it wasn't, even thought it is the "Backup Lamp Feed", I registered no voltage on my multimeter. The Black is the ground though. The Red is a source only when the keys are in the ignition set to ON, however, when the keys are out, the voltage reads 0 V. The Yellow with Light Blue (pin 4) is the "Reading Lamp Driver" and has a 12V source when the keys are in and set to ON. It also has a small 0.7V feed when vehicle is off. This I think is what you need in order. I hope that this will enable the homelink device to at least remember garage codes.

It would have been nice to have something more substation for a source, but I think this will work (I'll let you know if it doesn't later)

After splicing black to black and white to yellow/LB, I wrapped everything up and put the Jeep back together.

Here's how it looks!

Hope this helps others out there looking to do this great Mod!
I was also disappointed that there was no garage door opener option for my 13 Sahara JK and because my garage is full my Jeep sits in the driveway (under a Covercraft car cover) and I didn't want a sun visor clip on because anyone could break into the Jeep and open my garage door. So I bought a key fob opener with three buttons which works like a charm and goes into the house with the keys when I park the Jeep. Problem solved!
 
#16 ·
What bothered me most was that when the remote gets cold from being left in the jeep, the battery acts sluggish and doesn't supply enough power to operate the garage door. So I would have to sit there in front of the garage for five minutes pushing the remote button to get it to work. Sometimes I have to push the button mounted on the wall in the garage and make a run for it before the door closes on me.

This, I no longer have to do. So happy!
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the write up. Got my homelink installed tonight. Took about 2.5 hours from start to finish but most of it was just making sure I did didnt drill holes in the wrong spot and getting the unit mounted solid while still getting the buttons to work. The eraser trick to get the buttons to work with the thick plastic worked out perfectly. To mount the outer trim I just drilled holes tight enough for the clips to fit through snug, no other method for fastening the trim/buttons. For mounting the unit I just drilled 4 holes at the base of the ribs and ran zip ties over to the top to hold it down. Turned out solid, the first time I zip tied it down I ended up pulling it too tight and 2 of the buttons were being pressed just from pressure. I just trimmed the erasers and zip tied it back down. . I ended up wiring into the rear view mirror wires also. I used the black for ground and pink for power. Pink has 12V with key on and 0V with it off and everything seems to be working fine.Just wanted to say thanks again.
 
#18 ·
I have to make a correction to my post. The Yellow and Light Blue wire I initially spliced into for 12V power was giving the device too much power. It was still measuring 12V, however, I didn't cut into the wire to measure the amperage, which I suspect was the problem. The LED on the device seemed to burn very bright and the device would hum when the buttons were pressed. I was also not able to clear the memory by pushing the two outer buttons. Nor would the buttons blink when holding them down for the required time.

After splicing back into the Red (or Pink) wire, the device worked fine. The only set back with this wire is that when the car is in reverse (for example, when backing out of the garage), power to the device is cut. You have to place the vehicle back in park or forward in order for power to goto the device. Not a big deal, just something I'll have to get used to.

At least it works!
 
#21 ·
I am interested in doing this mod. I am a novice at electronics. What type of connector would you use to patch in to the existing power and ground? Anyone have a picture or a link?
 
#22 ·
OrangeJeepGuy said:
I am interested in doing this mod. I am a novice at electronics. What type of connector would you use to patch in to the existing power and ground? Anyone have a picture or a link?
Nothing special, just strip the sheathing off the wire about 2 cm in length (don't cut the wire). Wrap the stripped wire end from the home link device around the 2cm of stripped wire powering the rv mirror. Wrap the wires with electrical tape and that's all you really need to do.

You could solder it but that could get messy and more then is necessary.
 
#23 ·
For the advanced tinkerer who knows how to desolder and solder well, I cut the used HomeLink case into 2 pieces. The switch is actually a separate PCB and I replaced the 8 conductor flat wire with 1ft of 4 pair 24GA communications wire. The PCB holes are small and you need to get the desoldered holes very clean. I used a vacuum desoldering tool (Hakko 808).

With the now much smaller switch unit, you can mount it more places. The front of the armrest or in my case just above the left front speaker grill where you can just pop the side panel off and get into it easy. I used Shoe Goo to glue it in place. Mounted the larger remaining portion of the unit on the metal plate under the steering column. Plastic dash cover just pulls off there.

I plan to tap into the dash end of the mirror cable bundle that is exposed there in the left side dash end space for switch 12VDC with 18" of #20 wire.

- Mike
 
#47 ·
#24 ·
K7MDL said:
For the advanced tinkerer who knows how to desolder and solder well, I cut the used HomeLink case into 2 pieces. The switch is actually a separate PCB and I replaced the 8 conductor flat wire with 1ft of 4 pair 24GA communications wire. The PCB holes are small and you need to get the desoldered holes very clean. I used a vacuum desoldering tool (Hakko 808).

With the now much smaller switch unit, you can mount it more places. The front of the armrest or in my case just above the left front speaker grill where you can just pop the side panel off and get into it easy. I used Shoe Goo to glue it in place. Mounted the larger remaining portion of the unit on the metal plate under the steering column. Plastic dash cover just pulls off there.

I plan to tap into the dash end of the mirror cable bundle that is exposed there in the left side dash end space for switch 12VDC with 18" of #20 wire.

- Mike
Pictures please, that sounds like a great idea. I was thinking of doing the same thing, desoldering and soldering in toggle switches or pushbuttons, that would eliminate the problem of the case and pushbuttons not meeting up.
 
#25 ·
Pics are on my to-do list. Seems the phone (with camera) was inside the house on the charger each time I got out to the Jeep. Spent this weekend wiring my ham radio gear battery power and control head to the dash. Radio gear is under the seat. That is described in another thread. Of course I did not have my phone with me during the install so know picture of that either yet.

Anyway not much to see, just picture the bezel under the left dash AC vent. I left room for toggle switches to the left.
 
#27 ·
Possible that when in the reverse the autodim is disabled for better viewing. I tried mine in reverse after initial installation and it worked. Perhaps stored energy was enough and I was fast enough to use it. Really, what are the chances you need this to operate while in reverse though? Mine is a 2013. Since I installed my unit the left side dash, I tapped into the wire behind the left dash end cover, was easy to get to there.
 
#28 ·
Really, what are the chances you need this to operate while in reverse though?
Well, I can imagine that many people hit the Garage door button when backing out of the driveway.

Also, I'm still waiting on my jeep (ETA May 14th) but in my current F150, I have the auto-chromatic mirror and the dimming feature turns off when in reverse for the reason mentioned above. So that visibility is not affected when in reverse.

dp
 
#29 ·
Nice write-up. I was going to go this route, but really like the look of the Homelink mirror and the auto dim feature. Mine came with the basic mirror and I was used to the Homelink buttons on the mirror as every car I owned prior to this for the last 8 years has had this feature.

I'm surprised that Jeep didn't add this feature to the at least the autodim mirror with map lights on the new models, just blows me away since all they needed to do was put a different mirror in there. I will probably switch out the mirror I have with a new one if Gentex comes out with AutoDim + Map Lights + Homelink which they currently do not have.
 
#31 ·
What kind of mirror would work in a JK? I think I would also like to go this route. I have never used the map lights anyway.
 
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