Garage Door Opener into a 996

Has anyone tried putting an opener for one of those oldskool automatic garages in their 996? I'm refering of course to the ones that need remotes with a specific code in order to open them (usually you open them up, trip the PIN switches to the right code to program it). I'm thinking of taking one appart, wiring a porsche switch to it and then putting the whole thing under the center console or maybe in the dash if there is enough room. Any thoughts or alternatives?

You could just get one of the "headlight-flasher" models. I've heard this one works just fine: http://www.f2ptechnologies.com/

Omar, you've been around here long enough to know many of us have done that. You can just slide a plastic spatula behind the "horseshoe" and it should pop out. I usually start at the top corner (left or right), and once the top is loose, I move the spatula down about 2/3 of the way to the bottom and pry that part out. Repeat the process on the other side. For instructions on wiring your Garage Door Opener to the middle three spades on the switch, check out Kirby's DIY with pics. http://gallery.rennlist.com/gallery/albur29 The Targa Shade switch is part # 996-613-119-10-A05. (see pic#1) Just to clarify, you don't HAVE to hard wire for the opener to work, but you DO have to tap into the existing wiring to get the switch to illuminate when you turn the car lights on. Illumination Wiring - On the Windshield Wiper Rheostat switch (or another illuminated switch), look for a blue wire that has red hash marks on it (not a red stripe up the side of the wire). That is a positive (+) line for the icon lighting. Then find a brown wire (ground wire) on the switch, which is the negative (-) wire. Those are your 2 leads to tap into. Illuminating the Switch - The 2 outside vertical spades are the correct ones to use for switch illumination and they will work either in parking or headlight mode. Pic #1 actually shows the Shade switch up side down, and it looks like open/closed garage doors. I installed the switch on the left side of my horseshoe so the switch "bump" and closed garage door icon are on the left, and the open garage door icon on the right. All you have to remember is that the positive (+) lead is on the closed garage door side of the switch (the side with the bump) and the negative (-) lead is on the open garage door side of the switch (the flat side). Here is how I wired my garage door opener. Open you garage door remote and turn it over to the side opposit of the buttons. Use a paperclip to touch two connections to see if the door opens. Once you find those two soldered points, that is where you want to attache your wires. (See pic #2.) Then I ran the wires from the switch (in the horseshoe) toward the front of the car. I then connected the wires from the garage door opener to those wires and clipped the opener under the dash. (Pics #3 - #6.) I put the opener in that location so I can easily change the battery and can remove the opener easily when I sell the car. This cut down the range of the opener because it is below the dash, but I can still open the door as I am pulling into the driveway, so it is not an issue.

^....................niceeeee Tim. btw, how's the blue interior holding up? Do you find it gets tiring at all?

Tim--this might be a dumb question, but it will probably not be my last . . . Do you think the switch that you have would also work in the center console, where I have two blanks behind the ashtray? Thanks, jon

I have mine the same way with targa switch, but my power is tapped to the fuse and then the unit is up front in the battery compartment. I also did this in an earlier 996 and used the oval plate beside headlight switch. Drilled two small holes in it, one for a pushbutton, other for LED. Worked like a charm.

I took the easy, clean way, and wired it so that the 12 VDC flash pulse (for flashing headlights) supplied voltage to trigger my opener .... also, by happy coincidence, 12 VDC powered. Only wiring is in the trunk, and directions are found in a number of P-car forums.

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Omar, My interior is Graphite Gray with deviating Metropol Blue carpet. I like the contrast because it makes the interior a little darker. When I see a pic of an interior that is all Graphite Gray, I am always surprised at how light the interior is. I have not tired of it at all. In fact, if I ever get a 997 it will be Carrara White with Sea Blue interior. Here are a couple of pics of the interior.

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Jon, yes it will work in the rear center console. All of these types of switches are the same size.

There is a white Turbo with blue interior and deviating stitching at my dealership. You are correct! It is very good looking!

hijack... Tim, When you use your TomTom, how do you power it, the supplied power cord from the lighter socket? Bruce

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I hardwired my Nuvi, so you don't have to use the power cord via the cig lighter... would think that you can do the same for the TomTom. I pretty much followed these directions: http://www.drumart.com/nuvi/ The only thing I did different, is that I did not use the fuse box to hardwire, but used the phone cables behind the console. This is the same cable a lot of us have used to hardwire radar detectors, i.e., have used the same cable for my Nuvi ansd Escort hardwire. See directions in this thread I posted last year for hardwiring the Escort: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/335015-radar-detector-hardwiring-for-dummies.html Hope this helps.

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Bruce, yes I use the cigarette lighter power cord. I removed the power cord when I took that pic. I was thinking of doing the mod that Dutchie mentioned, but since my 996 will be gone in May (lease end) I decided not to do the mod.

I did the same "Garage door" opener following Tim's exact description above and it worked great, Thanks Tim... I like this way bc I can put everything back to stock including the garage door remote in case we move again to a diferent house. I had to get a new "Batwing" w/ blank switches and place the "Targa" switch there since I used up the other 2 in the "horse-shoe". The interior looks a lot cleaner with this Mod. Hey Tim, I have the same interior color as your car w/ the same "comfort seats" too but your car is 4 yrs newer than mine

For those who don't want to do the soldering themselves, Ebay offers a solution. I know it has been sold with the targa switch that looks a bit more like a garage door. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORSC...2em118Q2el1247

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Here's a write-up if you can use Homelink devices: Homlink DIY -td

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Tim, I followed your instructions along with Kirby's to add my Garage Door mod and just wanted to say thanks! It came out great and with these instructions in hand I had no problem getting the switch to light and work perfectly! I set it up the way you did and I'm very happy with it. BTW, I used a spatula and it works like a charm! Thanks Again!!!

I did mine myself. In my case, Liftmaster makes a key-fob garage door opener. I bought a Targa roof switch from my dealer, took apart the opener, desoldered the button, soldered wires to the board and connected them to Targa switch. The electronics for the remote are behind the A-pillar on the drivers side at the top for a completely stealth installation. Range is great due to the location. In fact it is better than the range I get in my other cars with full size garage openers.

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You are welcome. I am glad the instructions helped.

Here is my DIY

Get the Flash2Pass, much easier, nothing shows, you can get additional units for all your cars and it will work with just about any garage door opener as it has a receiver unit in the garage that connects to your opener. And you can take it with you if you get a new car. I bought it and love it, got it for my wife too, then my business partner and his wife as an Xmas gift.

Tim, not to hijack the thread but where did you get your trim rings? Eric, Suncoast, alot of vendors have quit selling them. I got a set from DPS and they are terrible. If I can get them off (yeah stupid me..superglue) I'm scared to order another set because it's hard to tell true quality and finish from the website!

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I got them from Brandywine Porsche. One of the rings was warped, but I straightened it by very gently flexing (not bending) it from the middle to the end. I repeated that process until it sat evenly on a flat surface.

Do you think it would be tacky to put the opener switch in one of the blanks just behind the ashtray?

Anyone else have this problem? I'm trying to put this in the horseshoe on the dash, but it won't fit quite right. Has anyone tried to install this in the horseshoe? From the pic you can see that the distance between the slots in the switch (red) is smaller than the distance that is in the hole (green). It's odd that the fitments would be different. Any thoughts? Targa rocker switch.jpg

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Dammit, I just got suckered into posting in this necro thread.

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Glad you did -- I hadn't seen this garage door mod -- now I have to do it. All of my existing switches are gloss, so I don't think I'm going to get the targa switch (that only comes in a matte finish). Does anybody know if Porsche makes a blank glossy switch (in other words, with no markings on it)?

You could also get one of these Home link units from a Cadillac (EBay $10 - $30) and stick it to one of your cubbies or ?? with auto trim tape. Drill a small hole in the back of the cubby and run the wires to the phone prep connector. Works great especially if you have more than one garage door to open. Try to buy one with the connector & some wire on it to save having to solder the 2 wires on.

PeterP, You can either get a used switch or just live with the finish difference. I used a new switch and placed in the center console. It was pretty hard to tell the difference.

or you could do this with a Home Link from most any visor mount unit. But it is a lot more work.

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Thanks for posting that, I just bought one for $16.95 on ebay with the wires....

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I gave up on trying to get that switch into the horseshoe and ordered a spoiler switch, which I know mounts in the horseshoe. It appears Porsche makes different mounts for these switches. When I removed the window switches in the center console, the mounts for the switch were different from the mounts in the horseshoe. I think that is the reason all the threads that I've seen show the mount in the batwing. I don't want to change my batwing, so I'm going to continue to get this mounted in the horseshoe. I'll spray it black and not connect the LEDs, so I won't have a light, but that's my preference. So, peterp, you might want to consider using an existing switch, with the texture you want, that you know fits where you want to put it. At the risk of continuing a " necropost " I can post pictures of the differences of the spoiler, when I get it, and targa switch if anyone is interested.

Here's another step by step guide to assigning a switch in one of your unused dash buttons to open your electric garage door. You Tube

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Pretty good...but did you watch it to the end? It stops before the job is complete.

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It appears that the video loops back to the start at 22:00 - however up to that point the installation is complete.

Did this one to mine last week. Haven't hooked up the light but I will do that soon. One thing to mention, the range was cut in 8th. I went from 50 yards or so to open the garage door to right in front of it before it gets signal. Not critical and love the slick use of the targa switch, but worth noting. Cheers, D.

For the record, I did this mod 5 years ago, using a Targa switch in the center console (don't have heated seats, so used one of the blank spots). Works great! Ran a line from one of the window switches to provide light at night. I've never changed the battery, and NO problems with signal range. I was concerned about signal degradation, but even with the guts buried in my console, it works as well as it ever did.

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Can you share what type of remote control you were using and was it the same one you had been using before? I am planning on doing this, but will use a HomeLink module like this one from eBay ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEIGE-NEUTRA...4AAOSwjTlZgCll ) so I don't have to change batteries or disassemble to reprogram it. I don't know if I want to go through the work if the range is going to be too short as our factory HomeLink in an Audi has a pretty short range already.

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I used the previous generation of Genie that I carried over from my old garage door opener when I replaced it with a newer one. Didn't want to get into soldering in my new one as it has several more buttons and the old version just had 1. Made for a really simple install. I am going to move it around a little bit and see if I can't make it better. It might be setting on some foil back there or something. D.

I am thinking of doing this nice little mod myself . Assuming that i will put this device at the central console aboeb the PSE switch , is there an easy way to power this control unit as well and remove the battery ? has anyone done this as well ?

I used one of the high beam openers. It sucked. I wired a $5 EBay switch to an opener and hid it in the center console. It was better. An opener hanging from the pax visor is best.

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Now you talkin' plain crazy. D.

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A lot of garage remotes use an A23 battery, which is 12v. The A23 looks kind of like a AAA battery cut in half. If your remote has that battery, I would imagine you could safely hardwire it to power (which would be 13.5 volts or so from the car battery). If your remote has a tiny "button type" battery, then it operates at probably something like 3v and you would need a way to step down the voltage from the car power. Also, I would make sure you have something very solid to solder the power to inside the remote. If the internal remote battery holder has small and/or weak connectors, or tiny power wires inside the remote, then it might not be a good idea wire power to it in case the weak connectors break and you end up with a short. The HomeLink units have pretty solid wires to connect power to (you still have to disassemble the button side of the HomeLink to connect the Porsche switch).