legacycentral bbs

EDIT: I installed the keyless entry kit and it works great! Check out detailed instruction a couple posts down


i've got a 1990 Legacy L Wagon, and the driver side door's lock cylinder recently broke. i know that the first gen Legacys have actuators on every lock except for the drivers door. i was hoping to add that missing actuator to the drivers door and connect it to a keyless entry system, which would then lock/unlock the rest of the doors in the car. i know i could just replace the lock cylinder, but i want the convenience of remote lock/unlock.

i found these kits on amazon and was hoping that somebody could confirm that this will work correctly and has everything i need? or recommend something else?

http://www.amazon.com/Crime-Stopper-CS- ... 679&sr=1-1
or
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Central ... 679&sr=1-3

i know they both come with extra actuators, but i figure it wouldn't hurt to have extras lying around, or i could sell them for cheap to anybody else here doing a similar project.

i did find this image in a similar thread, which was helpful...

(from http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... &view=next)

Hey! That's my car! lol.

Both of those kits should work for what you want. It looks like they come with remotes and everything so you should be set.

Binford, I was just wondering . . . does the actuator prevent the door card from being installed?

93Leg-c wrote:Binford, I was just wondering . . . does the actuator prevent the door card from being installed?

It clears the door panel in the location in the picture. It is kind of difficult to figure out where it will clear, but right there it does!

The one pictured is a '93. I have also done a '90 in case anyone was wondering about pre vs post facelift differences.

Wow, that's cool!

Would you be able to do a write-up on it? I'd like to add that to my ss and TW and a DIY thread would really be great! Please? Pretty please?!?

I went with the Universal Central Door Lock and Unlock Conversion Kit. I found the actual website of the Amazon seller, Kapsco Moto, as well. It looks like they only sell motorcycle stuff, but they do have these kits under their alarm products, and for only for $27.99 + shipping from Canada. I was a little worried that it was going to be cheap quality, but the kit is solid, and really simple. It comes with 4 actuators, remote module, 2 key fobs, and all the wiring and mounting hardware. They give you a simple wiring diagram, but no other instructions for installing the hardware. The closest thing I've ever done to something like this was install a small powered sub under my driver's seat.

http://www.kapscomoto.com/Shop-By-Produ ... -p897.html

The install was pretty simple, I did it yesterday in about 3 or 4 hours. I should have taken pictures, but was in a rush to get it done.

Here are the detailed steps I took to install the keyless entry system.

1) Disconnect the battery

2) I disconnected the door wiring harnesses for the power locks and windows (located behind a plastic carpeted panel next to your left foot if you were sitting in the driver's seat).

3) Then I completely removed the door from the car in order to have enough room to do the wiring work (remove the 4 bolts at the door hinges, disconnect the rubber hose from the car body and pull out the wiring, also remove the door panel at this time).

4) I sacrificed an old wire hanger to aid in threading the wiring through the rubber hose between the car body and the door (is there a technical name for this?). One at a time, I taped about 6" of each wire to one end of the hanger, then threaded the open end of the hanger through the rubber tube. A little lubricant made for less work. The picture below is of the wire hanger + actuator wiring.



5) I didn't need to install the other 3 actuators since my Legacy already had them in the other doors. So to prevent clutter, I just cut off all the extra wiring from the kit's harness that would have been used for those other doors. I taped off the ends of each of these wires to make sure they wouldn't short out on anything else (I'm not sure if this was necessary, but I did it to be safe). This extra wiring came in handy for step 7.

6) Now I reinstalled the door and reconnected the power window and power lock wiring harnesses.

7) After that was done, I mounted the actuator just like in Binford's picture in my first post. It fits right behind the arm rest of the door panel. I put the door panel back on to ensure that it fit correctly with the actuator installed. Also, the wiring in the kit was a little short, so I used the extra wiring from step 5 to do some splicing and complete the connections. I waited to secure the actuator rod to the locking rod until the actuator was working via remote. The picture below was taken with my camera phone (before taping the wiring together and routing it alongside the other door wiring).



8) Then all I had to do was place the remote module under the dash, and run wires to the battery and ground (requires drilling a hole in your firewall if there isn't one there already). I reconnected the battery, then connected the keyless entry system's wiring harness to the remote module.

9) I tested to make sure the actuator was working properly with the remote. At this point I messed around with the location of the locking rod connection until it would lock and unlock all the other doors in the car at once (secure the set screws with loc-tite). Then I put the door panel back on and tested again to make sure that it was still working properly. Lucky for me, I got it setup correctly on my first try.

There you go, its a lot of words, but wasn't very difficult to install. Let me know if you've got any questions, or if any of my explanation was unclear.

Cheers!
Brunt

drywalll screws ftw lol

by the way you only need 1 ctuator and a entry kit.

Five years later, anyways...

I did this yesterday to my -92 legacy, works like a charm.

Though my keyless entry kit does come with blinking turning signal-lights when you lock/unlock the doors, what would be the easiest way to connect those?

I cannot think anything else than removing the dash panel and wire it behind "hazards" button. Any easier way?

PARKING LIGHTS ( + ) RED (+) LOW IN DRIVERS KICK PANEL

It's a red wire. You take the lower drivers side dash panel out. The parking light wire is in the 3 plug brick, which you will see when the panel is out. The plugs are Black, Blue, and White.

If you need info on any other wires associated with Keyless entry or alarms, you can get diagrams for most vehicles on www.bulldogsecurity.com

Binford wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2010 1:15 am Hey! That's my car! lol.

Both of those kits should work for what you want. It looks like they come with remotes and everything so you should be set.

Hey saw this post and was doing the same thing and got the same actuator. Was wondering what color wires did you connect the the actuator wires to?

Out of curiosity, have you checked out the site linked above?

http://www.bulldogsecurity.com/bdnew/ve ... grams.aspx

So I am still having trouble with the wiring of the actuator to my alarm system. Did you use any relays or hook the actuator and alarm wires to the central system? I have a 92 legacy sedan.

You will likely need a relay for the actuator. What is the actuator's amperage draw?

I think the draw is around 3amps. I was thinking I might need a relay, but was trying to find out if they did because I didn’t want to buy something I didn’t need.

If the amp draw is only 3 amps it would likely be fine without a relay, however it’s good practice to use a relay. I’d double check the amperage draw before you decide not to use a relay.