HOW TO: installing a garage door opener into your 80 (1 Viewer)

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"OEM" garage door opener / H0m3l!nk

Five and a half years later, I got around to doing it myself.
Warning: This was not done on an 80 series cruiser, but on a Rav4 instead.

On a side note, every mod I make on the car has to be completely reversible / removable if desired (i.e. no cutting, splicing, drilling etc unless absolutely necessary).

Let's cut to the chase.

Requirements: Soldering iron, small/precision flat-blade screwdriver, wire crimper, multi-meter, your 12v garage door opener, old wiring harnesses, mdv1 110 male spade crimp connectors, heat shrink tubing, suitable Toyota switch and mating connector.
The door opener HAS to operate on 12v and have a more-than-decent range (since "burying" it behind the dash will drastically diminish its range). 15-20 metres or more should be sufficient. If your remote does not meet one or both of these requirements, I suggest buying a cheap 12v remote control duplicator with extended range (as I did).
Everything was sourced on the cheap from a donor Rav4, but, should you need part numbers:
#84790-42020 Toyota Rav4 Defroster switch
#90980-10797 Housing connector to that switch
#82998-12340 Terminal repair wire (x5)
req.png

(http://s23.postimg.org/aj6va6rzt/req.png)

Remote hack: Since my soldering skills are marginal, I decided not to solder connections on the mini switch of the remote. Instead, two ("power" and "ground") wires were inserted through holes on the casing and soldered to the battery terminals. Then, I jammed a rubber spacer between the mini switch and the casing so that the remote is "on" as long as current flows through the wires (without the need to "physically" press the button).
The back of the Toyota Rav4 defroster switch has 5 pins and a blank spot (the colours of the wires are my personal preference and not indicative of what you will find on your connectors):
#1 Wire Green w/ White Stripe to Illumination -12v
#2 Wire Blue w/ Black Stripe to ON -12v
#3 Wire Red w/ White Stripe to ON +12v
#4 Wire Green w/ Yellow Stripe to Illumination +12v
#5 Blank
#6 Wire Red w/ Yellow Stripe to Remote positive
The other end of the wires were terminated with the mdv1 110 male spade connectors (the black ground wire from the remote and the blue/black wire from the housing connector were terminated together on a single spade connector).
These posts clarified the details for me: Help wire factory defrost switch to fog lights... and 115V Matrix Switch Wiring
The following picture should make everything clear:
rem.png

(http://s22.postimg.org/9wukf45un/rem.png)

Switch hack (would never have thought of this myself, again, props to NLXTACY): This step was not necessary, but since I wanted to replicate the push/release button action from the original remote, the push/stay pushed nature of the defroster switch was undesirable. So, using several small flat-blade screwdrivers as pry bars I managed to separate the actual switch from its casing. The following picture shows two of the four tabs that need to be pressed (the other two are on the opposite side).
Inside, there was a sliding pin which "locked" the switch in place when pressed (again, the arrows in the illustration depict the "offending" pin). Once it is removed, the switch will only close the intended circuit as long as you keep pressing it.
switch.png

(http://s18.postimg.org/8cx1rxm93/switch.png)

Bench testing: After having assembled everything, a 9v battery was used to test the connections.
Both the icon illumination and the operation of the switch along with the indicator light function as intended (explanatory illustration ensues):
bench.png

(http://s14.postimg.org/acvnua5cf/bench.png)

Vehicle integration: Decide which switch blank space on the dash you want to use and "fish" behind for unused connectors.
I used the connector intended for the side mirror heater switch for no specific reason.
Pin receptacles #1 and #4 provide 12v when the parking lights are turned on, thus will be used for the icon illumination while pin receptacles #2 and #3 provide 12v when the ignition key cylinder is turned to the "ON" position.
Note that while the polarity of the receptacles for the illumination is unimportant, the polarity of the "ON" circuit must be observed carefully (in my case, #2 was "+" and #3 was "-").
Tuck away the remote (tape it to the black housing connector to protect it from bumps if you want), remember to thread the defroster housing connector through the removed blank space and replace whatever trim piece you removed.
Connect the switch to the housing connector, push it into the blank and you are done!
cons.png

(http://s10.postimg.org/xeu45tg2f/cons.png)

Result: Everything works as intended, albeit with a reduced range. The icon (interpreted as a sliding garage gate in my case :flipoff2:) illuminates with the parking lights, the pressing of the switch closes the circuit as long as the ignition cylinder switch is in the "ON" position and lights up the indicator light.
res.png

(http://s30.postimg.org/ccuq9pdy7/res.png)
 
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UPDATE: Everything was working fine, until the decision was made to upgrade the garage door.
Unfortunately, the new rolling-code transmitting remote was powered by a 3V coin battery, so I had to modify the circuitry to accommodate for the lower voltage demand.

After some research on the matter, I decided to use an LM317T chip as a voltage regulator and two resistors to calibrate the desired output voltage:
LM317_T_pinout.png

(https://s10.postimg.org/fyye1wnjb/LM317_T_pinout.png)

Boring stuff: The LM317T voltage regulator is able to handle a maximum of 40V input voltage which can be regulated to anything between 1.2V and 37V on the output voltage pin.
The above means that you could use this chip on a car (12V) and power 3V, 6V or 9V remotes, a truck (24V) and power 3V, 6V, 9V or 12V remotes, or even a motorcycle (6V) and power 3V remotes (the input voltage needs to be at least 2-3V above the desired output one).
The selection of the suitable resistors is governed by the following formula: Vout=1.25(1+(R2/R1))
Electronics pundits suggest to use either 220Ohm or 240Ohm resistors for R1 since they "provide good stability" (whatever that means).
So, the formula to calculate an approximate value for R2 is: R2=220((Vout/1.25)-1) [or R2=240((Vout/1.25)-1)].
Resistor combinations for output voltages of common remotes:
3V = 220 and 330 (or 240 and 330, or 240 and 370)
6V = 220 and 820 or 1000
9V = 240 and 1500

For my application, I opted for a 220Ohm 1/2W (5% tolerance) resistor and a similar spec'd 330Ohm one.
Glorious wiring schematic ensues:
Remote_3_V.png

(https://s13.postimg.org/lf5rqgkyv/Remote_3_V.png)

The schematic is pretty much self-explanatory. Take extra care to insulate (preferably with heat-shrink tubing) any exposed connections or pins.
Before insulating though, it is a good idea to check with a multi-meter if the output voltage is indeed the desired one:
Initial_testing.png

(https://s7.postimg.org/mspjb3n1l/Initial_testing.png)

Finished product checks (with OEM defogger switch):
Final_testing.png

(https://s1.postimg.org/hei5cit5p/Final_testing.png)

Ready to be integrated in the car:
P1020583.jpg

(https://s17.postimg.org/jexq5irh9/P1020583.jpg)

Useful links:
DIY: Integrate a 3V (3 volt) garage door opener remote to your vehicle (newbie frien - Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum
Garage Opener
Variable Voltage Power Supply Using The LM317T
 

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