I've had this mod on my cars for over 15 years. I've changed houses three times and cars at least that many, and I still do it to every car (house) I have. This was done to my S on day 3.
This mod connects your garage door opener to the high beams, so you can
open the garage door by 'flashing' the high beams. Very Cool.
And no more batteries to buy.
Note - sorry this mod does not work on cars with DRL (daytime running lights).
The Cruise buttons aren't as handy to operate as the high beam switch, but if you don't want to be "flashing" your neighbors you may want to try this option. Or as an option for owners who use their high beams a lot and are concerned about continuously operating the garage remote. This option is wired under the driver's dash instead of under the hood and gets +12v from the Cruise button. See instructions here.
![]() | Splice wires using crimp connectors |
![]() | Soldering Iron to jump out the switch on your remote. |
![]() | 18 gauge wire and 'tap-in' style wire connectors (RS# 64-3053, 7/$1.79) |
![]() | 9-volt battery clip (only for remotes using a 9-volt battery RS# 270-325 5/$1.49) |
![]() | plastic bag and tie-wraps |
![]() | Optional - 5.1 volt zener diode (RS# 276-565A 2/$.99) if you're chicken. See Option 2 below. |
All part numbers are for Radio Shack.
See instructions here on how to wire this up, it's not too hard, only a few parts.
![]() | LM-317T adjustable voltage regulator (RS# 276-1778, $1.99) |
![]() | 220 ohm resistor (RS# 271-1111 5/$.99) |
![]() | Two 0.1uf capacitors (RS# 272-135 2/$1.29) This is a change, fixes a problem on some remotes |
![]() | For 3v remotes - 330 ohm resistor (RS# 271-1113 5/$.99) |
![]() | For 6v remotes - 1000 ohm resistor (RS# 271-1118 5/$.99) |
First, you'll need to decide where you want to mount your remote. You can access the high beam wires from either fender well, the left inside fender by the master cylinder, or inside the car under the dash. I usually put mine in the engine compartment to get better range, but this varies with different vehicles. I figured the rf signal from the remote has to penetrate more stuff if it's inside the car, but that may not be your case.
Check out the photos below and see how you want to tap into the high beams. Bear in mind you will have to connect both positive and negative wires to the high beam circuit. You can't run the remote negative power wire to ground, because the high beams have +12 volts if the low beams are on. Honda decided to complicate the wiring by switching positive with the low beam switch and negative with the high beam switch. Go figure.
Inside left fender, by master cylinder. See photos A &
B. You want the red/yellow (positive) and red/blue (negative) wires.
Inside the car, under the dash. See photos C & D.
Again, you want the red/yellow (positive) and red/blue (negative) wires, on
connector C301. This location is more difficult to connect the wires,
but gives you 'inside' installation of the remote if you find a place for it
under the dash.
Inside either fender, behind the headlights. This is where I
put mine. See photos E & F. You want the red/yellow
(positive) and red/blue (negative) wires on the left (driver) side, or the
red/white (positive) and red/blue (negative) wires on the right (passenger)
side. Look for the wires in the wire bundle coming from the high beam (duh). Make sure you get the polarity right, you fry fewer remotes that way.
Put the remote in a plastic bag and mount it somewhere. If you look at photo F you can see I just tie-wrapped mine in the fender. First Class, huh?
I have used 12-volt style remotes and 9-volt style, both powered from the car's 12 volt system, and have never had a problem. It's possible that some 9-volt style remotes will burn out prematurely if you power them from the car's 12 volt system, I just don't know. And I don't care, they're your remotes, not mine. (just kidding). I would be surprised if they burned out, but it's possible.
If your remote is the 9-volt style and you want to be absolutely sure it will survive this mod, you can purchase the 5.1 volt zener diode (in the parts list) from Radio Shack, and install it in series with the positive power wire going to the remote. See photo G. The zener will drop 5 volts, meaning if you supply 12 volts, the remote sees 7 volts. In most cases the car's electrical system will be supplying 13.5 to 14 volts, so the remote will operate on 8.5 to 9 volts, right in the 'normal' voltage range for a 9-volt device.
This photo shows a 9-volt garage remote with a spare
9-volt battery clip attached to the original clip. This is an easy way
to make the power connection. The diode is soldered into the positive wire, which is BLACK. The RED wire is negative. When using the 9-volt clip the polarity gets reversed. |
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You cannot use a regular diode, you must use the zener diode specified. A regular diode will not work at all if you wire it like I have shown. If you wire it backwards, it will work, but it will only drop 0.7 volts instead of the 5 volts like the zener does, so there's no benefit.