Homelink modification. Always on to vehicle ready

Since our Rav is parked in our driveway with the EVSE mounted in the garage, having Homelink is convenient, but also risky should the vehicle get broken into.

As with all Toyotas, Homelink is always on. No key needed.

This is a very simple fix, described in other forums.

First, I removed the black plastic trim adjacent to the headliner. It just pulls off, then slides out from under the headliner.

Then I unplugged the mirror. To give myself more room, I removed the mirror. Just 1 Torx screw, then it slides upward from the mount.

The plug has 3 wires. Red is hot, blue is switched on with the vehicle, white/black stripe is the ground. I stripped away some of the housing to give myself more room to work.

Just cut the red wire and connect the plug end to the blue wire. This will give switched power to the Homelink buttons. I did this by stripping the wire with a utility knife and soldering. Then just some electrical tape to isolate the wires.

The Homelink memory is retained even though it loses power when the vehicle is off.

Weekdayskier said:

The plug has 3 wires. Red is hot, blue is switched on with the vehicle, white/black stripe is the ground. I stripped away some of the housing to give myself more room to work.

Just cut the red wire and connect the plug end to the blue wire. This will give switched power to the Homelink buttons. I did this by stripping the wire with a utility knife and soldering. Then just some electrical tape to isolate the wires.

The Homelink memory is retained even though it loses power when the vehicle is off.

Click to expand...

Helpful information, I think I'll use this to connect my dashcam so there are no wires. However, I believe without a key the power can be turned on in both the accesory and full on position, but traction drive system will not be on. Won't this still allow use of the gdo without a key?

I don't think anything works without the key. That's different from having the key in your pocket. Once the car is asleep, nothing turns on

You are correct, power does not turn on without a key. That's a great tip, Thank you! Maybe when I connect my dash cam I'll make this mod too.

Any place I could find pictures on how to remove and which wires to tap? I want to install a dash cam and this would be perfect to wire to.

fusiondynamics said:

Any place I could find pictures on how to remove and which wires to tap? I want to install a dash cam and this would be perfect to wire to.

Click to expand...

Heh, heh, heh. I just finished making the switched power mod and connecting / installing a dash cam. I will upload photos soon, probably this weekend. Stay tuned.

Awesome! I have also been waiting for a guide of some sort. Thanks so much for this! Could you let us know of any pitfalls that you may have experienced along the way?

dstjohn99 said:

fusiondynamics said:

Any place I could find pictures on how to remove and which wires to tap? I want to install a dash cam and this would be perfect to wire to.

Click to expand...

Heh, heh, heh. I just finished making the switched power mod and connecting / installing a dash cam. I will upload photos soon, probably this weekend. Stay tuned.

Click to expand...

Khaihon said:

Awesome! I have also been waiting for a guide of some sort. Thanks so much for this! Could you let us know of any pitfalls that you may have experienced along the way?

fusiondynamics said:

Any place I could find pictures on how to remove and which wires to tap? I want to install a dash cam and this would be perfect to wire to.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Disclaimer: None of this is recommended for your vehicle. Disconnect battery, take all necessary safety precautions and proceed at your own risk if you choose to pursue your own modifications.

So I installed a DVR last Friday evening and took photos during the process. Here is a link to the DVR I used:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GIDXPKU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And here is a link to the album with 11 photos of the process.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115954433365048378822/albums/6058668372332238545

The wiring / soldering is tedious work. Due to my advancing years and diminishing eyesight, and the incredibly small nature of the wires & electronics, I used a magnifying hood with an LED light for all the fine work. The photos follow the sequence below:

Photos 1&2: Remove the cover between the rear view mirror and the headliner. If needed use a flat screwdriver to pry at the front. The cover comes off very easily it just needs to be popped loose, then slide forward to get out of the headliner.

Photo 3: Unplug the connector from the rear view mirror. Remove the torx screw holding the mirror, and slide it up to remove the mirror.

Photo 4: Uh-oh. There's a circuit board in the DVR 12v supply. Hmmm, it's a 5v DVR. P5: The CB doesn't fit into the cover...but it almost does. P6: I marked the negative power in & out on the CB with a sharpie dot. I had to un-solder the capacitor and re-solder in a new location. There were already holes in the board. Pay attention to the capacitor polarity. Next I VERY carefully cut the end off the CB next to the capacitor. I soldered short black & red wires for power in (to the capacitor wires. Then I cut the mini usb cable end about 7" long, stripped the jacket to expose ~3/4 inch of red/black wires, stripped the ends and soldered to the power-out side where the original cable was connected.

P7: The CB fits!

P8: This is tricky work. At the rear view mirror plug, I separated the wires:
Red +12V hot
Blue switched +12V ignition
bk/wht Gnd

I used a razor knife to scrape the insulation from the blue and red wires. Be careful, do not cut / damage the wires. As far away from the plug as I could, I cut the red wire ONLY, twisted it to the blue wire and soldered together. This disconnects the rear view mirror assembly from constant power and makes all mirror functions switched by the ignition as originally described in this thread.

Next, I scraped the insulation from the white/black wire, soldered my CB ground to that and CB red to the blue/red solder joint. Then I cut some very small strips of electrical tape and wrapped each connection, and the entire bunch. - see photo 8.

Finally, I carefully tucked the CB behind the plug wires, re-installed the mirror and connected the plug. I had to bend the CB LED and tuck everything in just so in order to get a good fit (photo 9). At this point the DVR supply cable exits near the headliner and I replaced the cover (photo 10).

Photo 11: The finished install as seen from the driver seat.

A couple of final items. I wound up moving the DVR down the windshield about an inch from what is shown in the photos as it interfered with my hand when I adjusted the rear view mirror position. Now it works well and doesn't interfere with vision, isn't in the passenger view, and doesn't interfere with my sunshade.

So how did I get the suction cup to stick to the windshield on the paint dots? Well I went through a few attempts. I thought I had it when I boiled water about 1/8" deep in the microwave, then placed the vinyl suction cup in the water for a few seconds before applying to the windshield, but it fell off in a half hour or so after things dried out. So I considered a few things but settled on this since I had the materials available. I applied an very thin coat of clear silicon to the outer edge of the suction cup, made very sure that I placed it exactly where I wanted it. I'm confident that should I ever want to remove the mount, I can peel it off, then rub the thin layer of dry silicone with my thumb and it will come off. My other thoughts were vaseline - but this melts in a hot car, or silicone vacuum greases - very thick, heat resistant, but not your average garage item.

I have a DVR for the rear also, but I'm not sure if there is switched power available on the door hinge side, maybe near the flat-fix kit or something. I plan to look for a wiring diagram, but if anyone has one or knows which wire (Tony Williams?) please let me know.

I have the same dashcam and I got this mount that allows you to clamp on to the rear view mirror hinge: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131183332412?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's a tight fit but I think the end result is way better than the bulky suction cup. I'd also recommend taking a black marker to all the silver/chrome bits on the camera. I did that and put some gaffers tape over the flash and now it's very difficult to see the camera from outside the car unless you're actively looking for it.

For my install I was able to run the power using the supplied cord from the center armrest under the driver's seat and then behind the plastic covers that run along the side of the car and up through the headliner.

Thanks for the detailed instructions and photos. they look really detailed and helpful. I will have to keep an eye out on the soldering section. I'm going to try this with DevinL's mount. I picked up the same dash cam. I can't believe how cheap they are nowadays with really decent quality to boot.

dstjohn99 said:

Weekdayskier said:

The plug has 3 wires. Red is hot, blue is switched on with the vehicle, white/black stripe is the ground. I stripped away some of the housing to give myself more room to work.

Just cut the red wire and connect the plug end to the blue wire. This will give switched power to the Homelink buttons. I did this by stripping the wire with a utility knife and soldering. Then just some electrical tape to isolate the wires.

The Homelink memory is retained even though it loses power when the vehicle is off.

Click to expand...

Helpful information, I think I'll use this to connect my dashcam so there are no wires. However, I believe without a key the power can be turned on in both the accesory and full on position, but traction drive system will not be on. Won't this still allow use of the gdo without a key?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pictures. I tried to go the route by removing the overhead panel with the lights. Came to find that the wires are tightly wound and taped tight to the insides. I gave up after trying to pry those little wires loose. This seems like a better way to access the wires. I bought one of those power kits from ebay and will probably use that.