10 GT3

I used the same switch as Eric: the Targa sunshade switch. I bought a key-fob remote, took the case off and soldered a couple of wires to do mine. I mounted the switch in the upper dash and the electronics in the A-piller. Having them in the A-piller gives me almost double the range.

redduck996

Did you wire your 12v battery to the transmitter or used the stock battery? I have a silly question, the transmitter requires a 3v battery. Would wiring the transmitter to use the car's 12v battery be ok for the transmitter?

suncoast sells the targa shade buttom for 23 bucks,..

Orient Express

If you really insist on using your cars electrical system to power your garage door transmitter, then it is necessary to stick an appropriate resistor inline on the + line to drop the voltage to the proper input voltage for the device. The resistor will get hot, so make sure that it is not next to something that it will melt.

Or better yet, just leave the transmitter on its 3v battery, and in 5 or so years worry about changing it.

In the end there is no advantage to hard wiring the transmitter.

As an example, I have a 3v Genie digital transmitter in my Audi which I placed in there in 1998. It is still on its original battery.

gota911

I have the Targa Shade switch on order and it should arrive on Tuesday. About a year ago, I did the in dash spoiler switch, but I did not wire it to illuminate. Yesterday I tapped into the light power feeding the windshield wiper rheostat and created two pair of connectors; one for the Spoiler switch and one for the pending Shade (garage door) switch.

BuddyK

I would totally agree with that.

Wiring this stuff to the vehicle is just asking for another way to drain your car battery or mess something up. If you know your electrical system, you can do it easily, but if you don't, you're better off with the simple method - use the built-in battery I say.

redduck996

3v it is...

Kims996Cab

With all due respect .... I disagree. In my set-up, using the flash-to-pass signal to trigger the door opener: replacing the opener battery with 12vdc from the car makes for the simpler installation, by far. I did it for the simplicity .... certainly not to save on opener battery replacements.

My opener, a common, Overhead Door brand, uses a 12 v battery .... so there is no voltage mismatch be be concerned with.

Its a 10 minute hack.

fw2001c4

plantraco... or anyone else who care to chime in, when you say dash panel clicks out easily, can you elaborate? im assuming prying along the outer edges but was hoping for confirmation before i do any unneccessary damge.

i thought long and hard and ive decided on the hardwire install for the button illumination. my only question is which wire do i tap into once panel is removed. if possible, i wanna stay within that cluster. any help here is appreciated. my garage door opener brand is overhead so i need a 12v feed.

i ordered the targa/tip switch from sunset and will be clearcoating meself to have it all perfectly done as i own 01 c4.

thanks.

gota911

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.

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. In post #9 by Eric (BumperPlugs) in this thread shows a pic of the Targa Shade switch. That pic 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).

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

Hope this helps.

fw2001c4

thanks tim for your very detailed instructions... you seem to be DA GUY when it comes to my queries. it is very clear to me now.

i did try last night, using the spatula as you suggested to remove the trim piece, and the spatula cracked. it seems the spatula was too brittle and the trim piece too pliable. it gave but not enough and as i kept prying, spatula cracked. i tried a putty knife - a fairly large one 4"?? - but that too was too flexible. i'll try a butter knife as someone suggested in a post tonite.

thanks again, tim.... you are my yoda.

gota911

You are welcome. I am glad the info helped.

redduck996

Thanks for the help guys... Did the install in 20 mins last night.. It was pretty straight forward.

I just taped into the rear wiper switch for the lighting bc I didnt want to mess with the PSM button..

I didnt want to splice into the LED wires midpoint so I just wrapped and taped the two LED wires to the ends of the spades. Hope it doesnt rattle off.

newport996

Yes! The Targa roof swith is two way.....Push it one way for the gate, push it the other way for the garage....All you need is a spare homelink transmitter....I got one for like $10 on ebay from an Audi visor....since it was already designed for 12v power, I EASILY hard wired it into my car, and in my dash....Tapped the illumination and it looks like a completely stock homelink setup that operates my gate and my garage.

TOMDEG

I did this with the Targa switch about 18 mo. ago along with the PSE switch. I used clear laquer to "gloss" it. 3 light coats followed by a thick coat. It looks like factory and is holding up excellent. I also did the switch to a friends and had it control his entry gate on one side and the garage on the other.

Tom

fw2001c4

finally got around to doing the switch install. works well and looks beautiful.

for what its worth, when i connected the feed off the rheostat for the illumination, my connections were the opposite of gota911's instructions of running + to the open door icon(the flat side) and - to the close door icon(bumpy side). no biggie but i thought i mention it.

thanks all for the assist.