Adding Homelink Garage Door Opener

[janskim]

Draper noticed you had a radar detector installed. Can you post how you went about tapping power and running the cord. I'm interested in putting one in my X miss the one from the previous vehicle.

 

[Stic-o]

We had the homelink set up factory in my wife's old Volvo. I never ever could get it to work, in our current place or our last place

 

[peterk9]

Mind taking a shot that gives more perspective on the roofline with it in? I can't really tell from the pics. Brave man though, glad it turned out well.

Now...the question. What is so special about homelink? It's it just a garage door opener?

The Homelink can be programmed for 3 different devices. Although I haven't tried it, I've often thought about seeing if I can program it to turn on my TV as well.

 

[JDraper]

Draper noticed you had a radar detector installed. Can you post how you went about tapping power and running the cord. I'm interested in putting one in my X miss the one from the previous vehicle.

You can tap the same wires I did for the homelink if you want to manually turn it on and off. I ran a set of wires down to the fuse box and found a ignition operated source and tapped into it there so it comes on when the vehicle starts.

 

[ATLcanuck]

Does Homelink come standard on the limited trim, or does Ford just not offer it on the Explorer?

 

[JDraper]

It's in the limited on the driver's sun visor. You can buy the visors and retrofit any '11 Explorer with them, but if I remember correctly the visor with homelink is in the $250 range.

 

[Lucille]

We had the homelink set up factory in my wife's old Volvo. I never ever could get it to work, in our current place or our last place

My previous car was a volvo xc90 that came with homelink. We could not get it to work either.

 

[JDraper]

To make homelink work properly, you have to first baseline program it using an existing remote and then program it to the garage door head unit. This is the second one I've installed with good success.

 

[uniquename]

Thanks for the second pic, much better perspective. I like it.

I don't have the problem of finding remotes...I think I would do a momentary switch if I can find one that looks right. If not, I may start looking around ebay for a homelink.

 

[AntRock]

Does Homelink come standard on the limited trim, or does Ford just not offer it on the Explorer?

the limited comes with something similar but not as good. With the homelink it records or copies the signal from your remote so no matter what the frequency it will work. With the crappy one that comes in the limited you have to manual program it or if you live in a gated community w/ a high frequency transmitter it wont work at all.:thumbdwn:

 

[Joe Dirt]

Awesome install!

So how heavily were you sweating when you plunged the ol' knife into the headliner?

 

[peterk9]

the limited comes with something similar but not as good. With the homelink it records or copies the signal from your remote so no matter what the frequency it will work. With the crappy one that comes in the limited you have to manual program it or if you live in a gated community w/ a high frequency transmitter it wont work at all.:thumbdwn:

In the brochure I have it is referred to as a Universal Garage Door Opener. Sounds like I'm going to have my work cut out for me. I was thinking it was the Homelink. Better keep my original transmitter handy!

 

[peterk9]

the limited comes with something similar but not as good. With the homelink it records or copies the signal from your remote so no matter what the frequency it will work. With the crappy one that comes in the limited you have to manual program it or if you live in a gated community w/ a high frequency transmitter it wont work at all.:thumbdwn:

I just read the programming instructions from the Owners Manual I downloaded and they seem to be somewhat similar to the one I used to program the Highlander's 3 button Homelink. The only difference seems to be that that the 3 button opener gets its signal from the door opening unit instead of the transmitter.
If the residence is in a gated community, there is an 800 number to call to help set up the opener.

 

[w1kedz]

I just read the programming instructions from the Owners Manual I downloaded and they seem to be somewhat similar to the one I used to program the Highlander's 3 button Homelink. The only difference seems to be that that the 3 button opener gets its signal from the door opening unit instead of the transmitter.
If the residence is in a gated community, there is an 800 number to call to help set up the opener.

If you program it from the actual garage door opener unit, that means the unit is registering the remote, not the other way around. The original homelinks just copied the signal of the old remote, so it worked with the existing opener, most likely you won't be able to use this system with a gated community, unless there is an undocumented feature. The administrator of the gate would have to register your car's opener with the gate opener if they were even compatible.

 

[JDraper]

Awesome install!

So how heavily were you sweating when you plunged the ol' knife into the headliner?

Just a little. I had already done the exact same install in the Focus, so I knew what I was in for. This one worked a little better because I clamped it in place this time. The buttons on the Focus's remote are recessed a little when you push them in.

The worst part of the whole install is dealing with the thickness of the headliner. The homelink cover just won't snap into place and stay there because it's clamping distance is less than the headliner thickness. Using the epoxy on the pins and clamping overcomes this issue.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Yeah, that's why I hogged out some of the padding on the headliner in Snowball, just so the clips would grab. I like the epozy idea though.

 

[AntRock]

I just read the programming instructions from the Owners Manual I downloaded and they seem to be somewhat similar to the one I used to program the Highlander's 3 button Homelink. The only difference seems to be that that the 3 button opener gets its signal from the door opening unit instead of the transmitter.
If the residence is in a gated community, there is an 800 number to call to help set up the opener.

I called the 800 number and i had to tell them the model number of the remote for the gate. They told me that the frequency is to high and it will not work. The only way it will work is if they installed a special transmitter on the gate receiver and they would do it for free but they had to get approval from my association. I have the home link in my Ram and Touareg and it was just so much easier holding the remote up to it while holding the homelink button down and it would record the signal. I am hoping i can get a homelink that will fit in the spot on the visor and replace it.

 

[FordService]

Does Homelink come standard on the limited trim, or does Ford just not offer it on the Explorer?

Hey ATLcanuck,

Just to clarify, the Limited does come standard with a universal garage door opener. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Seni

 

[w1kedz]

Hey ATLcanuck,

Just to clarify, the Limited does come standard with a universal garage door opener. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Seni

and to further clarify .. the Universal Garage Door opener is NOT a HomeLink

 

[beemer273]

Setting homelink to community gate

I live in a condo complex downtown and wanted to program the homelink to open it. Couldn't get it to work so I called the number in the owners manual.

First of all, these guys are really fantastic. They are knowlegable and will go the extra mile to get it to work. Even offered to upgrade the gate control unit for free!

However, it did take three calls to fix it. At first they wanted lots of info on the gate. Turns out, our gate is an old style with fixed dip switches and not a rolling code. At first, the homelink guys told me it wouldn't work and they would build me a custom visor. However, after my third call getting them all the info they wanted, I told them the brand of remote control I had. Once they heard that, they realized they could custom program what I already had in the car. A five minute process of pressing lots of buttons on the visor reprogrammed my left button and now presto, it works. Thanks homelink!