Adding an inside Liftgate Power Switch

[mkhuffman]

This is the switch that I bought from an online auto wrecker. I just swapped the liftgate switch from the Exploder cluster to my original (and buggy) MME switch cluster.

Same here. So now +2.

Sponsored

 

[waldo22]

Yep, but my point was really that the liftgate/fuel door combo switch could be removed from that Escape cluster and give someone an extra momentary contact switch to use for another purpose, and the foglamp switch from the Exploder cluster could be repurposed as well, possibly as a latching (stays on) switch.

I just got one from eBay from an Exploder without the foglamp switch that came with 6" of cut harness with the connector, so I'll be able to re-use those pins.

I'm really concerned about just jamming wire into the connector. It's not just the unreliability, it's having a loose wire flopping around that can cause shorts. It either needs to be properly crimped, or use repair wire with terminals that @markboris posted above. (about $17 plus shipping, though, yikes. The dealership is asking $130. For 5 wires. Absolutely ludicrous.)

Here are some open-barrel crimping tools:

• open-barrel crimpers, $18
• box of 0.1" terminals, $8
• box of 6 different sizes of terminals, $20

 

[waldo22]

Quick update, I bought 3 different types of these switches, both with the foglamp button and without, and with the fuel door / hatch combo button and did some testing.

The good news is that the fuel door button gives us an extra normally open momentary contact closure switch, as we hoped!

The disappointing news is that the foglamp button doesn't appear to connect directly to any pins on the connector, but probably instead triggers a message on LIN bus #15 (pin 6 in the connector).*

When you press the liftgate switch on the cluster, it shorts pin 12 in the connector to ground. In addition to pin 1 in the connector, GND is also found on pins 3, 5, 11 and 13. That means instead of having to tap the ground wire to make this work with the aftermarket Autoease kit, you can just add another pin to any of those 4 locations that are empty in your connector and crimp it into the Autoease wiring harness instead of drilling a hole in your dash for their aftermarket switch.

This behavior is the exact same with the standalone liftgate switch and the liftgate/fuel door combo switch.

Pressing the fuel door button connects pins 2 and 4 together instead of connecting anything to GND, so you can use it to control anything that uses a normally open momentary contact closure switch, which is a lot of things.

I now have 2 extra liftgate buttons and 1 liftgate/fuel door combo assembly if anyone wants one!

*an ambitious person could hook a cheap LIN device to bus #15 and listen for the button press, then drive a relay for some purpose. It would look stock! That's above my pay grade though.

Sponsored