Remote boot release.

Cobber wrote:

TA22GT wrote:

Thank you Judith's personal mechanic....a very precise reply. 

I have the square fob but I would need to send it off to be programmed so I thought to get the key done at the same time. I also admire your discipline but it is mindfulness I suffer from...lol.

Cobber!  No I don't have a P Scan yet but I took your very subtle and delicate hint that I should get one! I am sure I will as I go along but right now more exciting things need to be done like better brakes. 
It does appeal to me though to fit a boot release for when that day comes. Fitting it outside the car means I don't have to break a window to activate it when the car is locked. 

 

I'm so glad you got my subtle hint, Yeah, I'm as about as subtle as a 3rd ball on a greyhound!

I think you just growl and leave the biting to others!! lol
 

Obviously you have to have an actuator of some type, I use a central locking linear actuator, taking an unswitched positive from the boot light, a simple push to make button in the arm rest cubby has been a favourite, mine happens to be in the old ash tray. I also have a second fob communicating with a receiver in the boot; it allows me to control other things, but it allows the boot to be popped from a distance when returning with a shopping trolley full of groceries. Much easier than juggling keys when trying to handle a recalcitrant trolley in the rain.
M

@Airportable......I am noticing that you come up with some ingenious idea's!!

As suggested above I like the idea of having it outside the car and near the number plate lights. The kit comes with a solenoid and the push button switch. I could mount the switch between the number plate lights and cover it with a domed rubber grommet. It would be hard to tell it was a switch.
 

Yeah it's a switch that needs a key to operate it
Like this one:


just a simple on/off switch, they're used in industrial applications all the time. the trick is not to have it on the same key ring.
Perhaps keep a copy of the key in your wallet.
Then again just keep a copy of your boot key in your wallet.

Ah got it Cobber.
I was thinking if I took an incoming live to the boot lock and ran it through the new momentary switch and out to the other side of the lock it would do the same thing as the key. Yet you could still use the key..until I lock it in the boot...
I haven't got the TF in my head yet and the car is locked up so I am just working it out in my head..there's not a lot in there to help me!

There is one significant negative to mounting the switch, whether it be key or momentary low down at the rear of the car & that, dear friends is shit. I’m sorry there is simply no other word but shit.
The eddies that are created as you travel & the turbulence there in, will draw grot into your switches, either from the front or if mounted through the plastic work, the back. One salty winter & that will be it, even a good quality switch would suffer & there are precious few of those now. You’ll be so pissed off when it doesn’t work, that in your ill humour you’ll end up locking your keys in the boot.
QED
My “interesting ideas” are born out of life on the edge of the unhinged. In the past I’ve been asked to design items for inclusion in classic cars to provide more up-to-date facilities & my long suffering car acted as a test bed. As such it is tasteful littered with all manor of trinkets waiting to cause me grief. However it’s a great way to keep what’s left of the cerebellum in working order.
M

Ah yes well here in Oz we don't suffer salted roads, we keep the salt for our chips!

Fitting a remote boot release has been on my radar for a while.  I have already bought the actuator for a couple of quid from AliExpress. It can operate in either push or pull mode depending on how it's wired.  I plan to buy a weather-resistant switch and mount it between the number plate lights.  Something like this from eBay  or AliExpress.  I'll take the 12v feed from the boot light.

It all seems fairly simple apart from actually mounting the actuator onto the boot lock.  This looks like it will be best done by a contortionist!

I haven't done it yet but that is the way I am going.
I want it on the outside so no matter where my keys are I can get in if needed!
I found a 12v 16amp push button switch, supposedly waterproof and a 16mm hole which is small enough to go between the lights and I will fit a rubber gromet over it.
If you get it done first send pics!!

That sounds like it might be a marine switch with stainless steel contacts so as it wont go all green and furry inside.  Are the terminals on the back stainless?
These type of switches do resist corrosion but the weak link is the wires and terminal that connect them, though I doubt that will be all that much of a concern in your case.

I'm actually not sure if the terminals are stainless.  My plan is to solder the wires to the terminals to not use connectors and to protect them with shrink wrap tubing which might be difficult with stainless!
I'm hoping to get it done next week. Hopefully, maybe, definitely a maybe.

That sounds like a plan, but what happens when you may need to for some reason, remove the bumper that the switch is attached to? with the wires soldered on it will be a pain in the arse. You counter this by continuing as you plan but further up along the wires you add a weather proof terminal plug to allow separation for maintenance or repairs.