How To: Wireless Trunk Release

[KiLLeR2001]

When I bought my kouki 180sx tail lights I said to myself that there is no way in hell I'm carrying another key just for the trunk. Which was not a problem for me because my manual lever works fine.

However, it wasn't until last week when I was buying groceries (something I rarely do) and I had a few bags in my hand and in the other hand holding onto my Nissan key when it dawns on me... This key can't open my trunk. Herp a fucking derp. So I have to proceed to unlock my door, open the door pull the lever (with bags in hand) and then pull the trunk up. Pretty lame right? Yeah I thought so too...

Items you will need:

- DEI 522t Trunk Release Kit
- Plenty of 16 AWG wire
- Soldering iron / solder
- Electrical tape
- Phillips screwdriver
- Wire stripper/cutter
- Bosch relay

Here is everything laid out...

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0458.jpg

Now this isn't necessarily a hard install, but it will take a few hours if you want to do it right and hide the wires as best as possible.

The first thing I needed to do was to inspect the trunk latch mechanism.

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0459.jpg

The manual wire you can see I've highlighted yellow, you will want the solenoid to mount from this direction (right side). Red arrow indicates where your new wire from the solenoid will be going.

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0460.jpg

This is the little piece you will feed the wire into and then screw down to lock into place. It's important to remove all the slack so that the solenoid can get a good pull on the wire when you go to activate it.

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0462.jpg

Solenoid mounted. I used one of the 8mm tail light stud/nut combo to mount it. It was really nice of Nissan to use 20 studs to mount the tail light assembly to the chassis LOL. At this point you can hook up a ground wire from the chassis to one of the prongs on the solenoid (it doesn't matter which one).

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0461.jpg

Here is the little clamping piece fed through the wire and then tightened down. You will want to make sure your solenoid is mounted firmly before finalizing this step.

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0463.jpg

Relay setup.

Here is a diagram...

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/trunkrelay.gif

Now for Viper alarm systems, I had to locate the red w/ white stripe wire in the main harness. Thank god it was right out in front so I didn't have to fishing for it in my cluster bomb of alarm wiring... LOL

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0465.jpg

**Note: You can use the supplied button switch as the ground signal instead if you don't have an alarm system. But the whole point of this install is to utilize your cars alarm system so the remote will pop your trunk.**

So pretty much the only annoying part of the hole process if feeding / hiding the signal wire from the front of the car all the way to the back. The same idea would apply for the 12V source wire too but since I relocated my battery to the back, this was a lot easier.

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0466.jpg

This is my common area for hiding wires, LOL.

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0467.jpg

12V source wire hooked up to the battery terminal and then fed out of the box and underneath the interior. Don't forget about installing the 15A fuse (unless you like fires).

Here is everything all mounted up...

http://tehl33tsite.com/240sxdd/black240/restoration/interior/trunk/IMAG0469.jpg

Finalized product. Black wire on the solenoid is to chassis ground, and the green wire is from the [30] of the relay which supplies 12V once the ground signal from the Viper alarm system is activated... As you can see I used another tail light nut to mount the relay to the chassis, props again to Nissan. :)

The only delay I had with the install was with the Viper alarm system itself. I was pressing the AUX button and nothing was happening. So I had to dive into the user manual and figure out wtf was going on... Apparently you have to hold the AUX button for a good 3 or 4 seconds before it sends out the ground signal to the solenoid. Hearing the relay click and solenoid pop open the trunk is sweet sweet music to the ears.

**Note: This was performed on an S13 hatchback. If you have an S13 coupe or an S14 you will have to take note of the differences and make changes accordingly, but the same steps apply.

If you guys have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[Banana_Cute]

Nice mod man.

[EnemyS15]

Well done!!!!

[ultimateirving]

thats pretty sick dude! i missed my trunk pop from my old cars. might be worth wile to do for a weekend

[brndck]

very cool idea and good write up!!! +rep. lol

[chiboy002]

this thing is a pain in the dickhole to work with when it fails or battery dies. be sure you have a backup plan and aren't using it cause your cable/lock is broken

[KiLLeR2001]

this thing is a pain in the dickhole to work with when it fails or battery dies. be sure you have a backup plan and aren't using it cause your cable/lock is broken

True. But I didn't remove the stock manual cable or the cylinder lock lever, everything is still in tact, and all 3 methods of getting into the trunk are functional. (Key lever, manual lever, and now wireless control).

[hOngsterr]

very nice, also with they key lock for the tail lights you can use your stock lock, what you can do is add 3 washers and it spaces the lock closer to the key hole thats how much it took mine to fit, so now i just use my oem key for all my locks.

[KiLLeR2001]

I see, but wouldn't that affect the way the lever sits into the plastic housing? I thought about doing that too but it looked like it would bend the cylinder linkage from the difference in space.