I've had this thing for ages now but finally got around to putting it in.
I wanted it to be just like the one my 1990 Z24 came with. Those of you with 2nd gens probably know what I'm talking about. They have a button right behind the glove box door.
I'm not sure exactly but I think the button came from a wrecked Malibu. It was some sort of Chevy as it lit up mostly white. I put some red mylar into it to make it light red.
I have the one for the 02-05 j-body but didn't like it since it didn't light up.
So here's the pics. Worked out exactly as I wanted it to.
Cool looks good...
Now make me one
Thanks
Shaun
www.ShowStopperTuning.com
great minds think alike I guess. I was at the wrecker last week and picked up the small yellow button from a grand prix, and I'm mounting it in the EXACT same place you decided to put yours. I had a good laugh seeing the similarities of our idea...
i put mine inside the center console. theres that little lip that comes down inside there. mine came from a 89 Buick from insde the glove box. mine works good. dont have to reach as far to press it.
1998 Sunfire, 2.2L auto
how long did you leave the wires. I would assume if you took the radio bezel off, there must be some sort of quick-connects on the back of the switch?
hey kevin you need to right up a how to on this.
I left a few inches of wire so I can pull off the panel and disconnect the switch.
The connector on the back was actually the reason I ended up with that lighted switch in the first place. When I ordered the j-body switch new from the dealer, nobody could find me a part number for the connector to go with it. All I got was the switch. I had that for... well probably 2 years or so before my salesman at the dealership I go to called me up and said they had the remains of a Malibu in the back and that it had a switch on it I could take. He'd known I was looking for that connector from a wrecked j-body.
When I went and pulled it out, I found that the switch was different but the connector was the same. Score. Then I realized that the switch I'd pulled was actually lighted. The switch housing and the connector are identical but the button itself and the trim surround piece for it were different. On the j-body, the switch and surround are round and solid and only two wires are connected to the 4-wire connector on the back. On the switch I pulled, the switch and surround were square, and it had all 4 wires connected. That's how I knew it was lighted. So I ended up making it red and using that whole switch instead. The square shape even fit my spot better.
So yes... there's a proper connector on the back that's easy to pull off if I have to take that dash piece off.
As for a how-to on hooking it up... it was fairly simple. To pop the trunk, you need to send a 12v pulse to the solenoid. There's only one wire running to the solenoid (black with a white stripe) so that's easy enough to find. I cut it right near the hood-release handle. From there, I made things a little more complicated because I wasn't sure whether it was safe or not to allow the 12v back into the BCM, which is where the other end of that wire goes. I put a diode there between where I cut it and the BCM. I ran a wire from there directly to the switch, putting an inline fuse-holder on it just to be safe. When all was finished, I blew two 3 amp fuses and a 10 amp fuse before finally settling on a 15 amp fuse there. I took a 12v always-on power source from the back of the radio harness (orange 18 gauge wire) and hooked that to the other side of the momentary contact on the switch. So when the switch is pressed, 12v goes from the radio harness right to the trunk solenoid, through the 15 amp fuse I put in.
For the light, I took the dash-lighting from the back of the radio harness as well. It's one of the gray wires. I then ran a ground directly to a grounded bolt on the dash.
With the radio out, it's easy enough to test the wires with a volt meter. I used the wiring diagram from the Haynes manual to pick the colour and then just double-checked the voltage right through the radio connector itself before cutting into the wires.
Really, the toughest part of the whole thing was cutting into the dash to put the switch. I had no idea there was a steel subframe right behind where I was putting it so you can imagine my surprise when the dremel caught the steel and just about wrenched itself out of my hands. I think I might have bent something in it. Since I couldn't really see where I was cutting to, even with the top dash and the HVAC ducting removed, I finally just got the drill out, crossed my fingers with the hopes that I wouldn't drill directly into anything important, and went to town. I pulled back the drill as soon as it went through and didn't do any further damage. Then I used the dremel to grind out the hole to the size I needed. Hell, I probably took away more weight in the steel support than I added to the car with the switch.
I have no trunk release switch on the inside of my car. :-(
Some J's didn't come with these factory? I never knew that. I always assumed they all did because I have the base of base models and it came with one.
Clean and creative install nonetheless.
Proud member of
JBOK (J-bodies of Kentucky)
Many of the older cars have the manual release on the floor by the driver's seat.
At some point they discontinued that. I believe they may have moved to using the solenoid release in all models (I'm not sure on this) so the cable-pull release was no longer an option.
I believe that even the older models that have the remote trunk release don't have the floor-pull. Not sure on that either.
What I AM sure of is that for 00 and 01, there was no interior release at all. In 02-05 they put a non-lighted switch on the dash around the driver's left knee.
I have an 01. It has the cable manual release on the floor by the driver's seat.
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NCR-SCCA
My loaded '99 Z ONLY had the trunk popper on the keyless entry remote... No button or manual handle. Very disappointing...
And to top it off the button on the remote wouldn't pop the trunk if the car was running. So if I had to get at my subs, etc and the car was running, I would either have to turn it off or use my extra key to manually open it if i wanted to leave it running.
Rob
Sold 2/2/05
CAS wrote:I have an 01. It has the cable manual release on the floor by the driver's seat.
heh. So much for being sure on the 00-01 having no release at all.
I thought they did away completely with those handles.
REDGOTE (ROBZ IL CAV) wrote:And to top it off the button on the remote wouldn't pop the trunk if the car was running. So if I had to get at my subs, etc and the car was running, I would either have to turn it off or use my extra key to manually open it if i wanted to leave it running.
I believe that in 00, with the new BCM, they changed it so it would engage so long as the car is below 5 mph or something. I can definitely pop mine from the remote with the car running and even moving slowly. It's annoying though, having to fish for the remote dangling from my keychain hanging from the steering column. Much easer to reach over and pop it from the glovebox button. It's always in the same place.
My '01 has no release at all, it sucks. I want a button like you, my buddie's '03 has a similiar one stock below the column.
This thread has everything you need to go ahead and put one in.
Incidentally, before going to all the work to cut the hole for the switch, I first shaved the edges off a beer cap so it was the same height as the switch and taped it to the spot I was mounting it.
I wanted to ensure the door would still close properly without hitting the switch before putting all that effort in.
If you're using the same spot and not the same switch, then you'll probably want to do some similar test.
The one I used, and the stock one that comes on the 02-05 cars, will fit just fine where I put mine.
if we have a 01 sunfire what year model should we take the poper off of ? what all is needed the button and poper or is there other wires that are needed?
ITS ALL FUN IN GAMES TILL SOMEONE GETS SHOT IN THE LEG
I know nothing about poppers or how to install one. Maybe someone else can chime in here with advice for that.
If you have an 01 though... and no popper... then don't you have the pull handle beside the driver's seat like CAS does?
Or do you just not like that one.
Mine came with the remote release so the solenoid was already there. If you've got no solenoid, then you'll have to put one in and run a wire to it.
You might as well get an aftermarket kit though so you can have an interior release button and a remote.
I've got a 98 Sunfire with no interior release at all. The only way to get in is with the key. However, I was looking at the latch today and it has a spot where the manual interior cable would fit. Does anyone know what the part number for the interior cable and interior latch assembly (down by the left edge of the driver seat) would be. I am interested in retrofitting an interior latch handle and cable so I could open the trunk from the inside. I believe those are the two parts I would need. Thanks!
i have a 96 z24 ...that i ordered new, it has the manual trunk release by my drivers seat as well as on my keyless entry. dont know which year they stopped putting them in nor do i know if they put them in randomly.....strange though.
ClassGlass / RkSport / Eibach / Motegi / Ractive / Borla / K&N
Wild Weasel wrote:I have the one for the 02-05 j-body but didn't like it since it didn't light up.
Waaaaaaahhhhhh....
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