Adding a Physical Interior Liftgate Power Switch

[markboris]

I was at a friends this morning who also has a Mach-E and she said the one thing she misses is a simple power button to open and close the liftgate. She doesn't like having to turn the car to accessory and make three selections on the center screen. She just wants to push a button.

I thought it couldn't be that difficult to wire up a switch to do this and I was right. I took a look at the wiring diagram and found that both momentary switches in the liftgate do nothing more than short an incoming wire from the BCM to ground. The BCM is located at the front passenger footwell at the top. Extremely easy to access just remove the panel that hides it and you can get to the wiring. The wire that is needed to tap into is solid brown and located at the large top plug connection. I tapped into it and ran the wire to the center console where I installed a small momentary switch just below my subwoofer volume control. For the ground I used the black/blue wire going to the parking brake switch in the console. All the black/blue wires throughout the car are grounds. I had this momentary switch laying around but I am going to change it out with one that is much flatter.

I now have a working power button that will open and close the liftgate from inside the car without having your key fob, or phone. The car can be on or off but the doors have to be unlocked and in Park. It works just like the one in my 2014 Escape did. I could have mounted the switch is several easy to see locations but like to conceal my work (like I did the subwoofer volume control) so nothing looks "added on". Just drop your hand down in front of the console and they are both easy to use. Besides if I ever needed to remove it, all I'd have to do is put a little flat plug in the hole and no one would know any different.

It took me about an hour to do the entire thing but now that I did it, when I do hers, probably should only take 30 minutes. I took quick photos of where I tapped into the wiring and it was before I permanently attached and taped up the wires.

Edit 1: Replacing the max defrost switch on the headlamp panel with a liftgate switch #57

Edit 2: Using the useless Park Assist button to activate the liftgate in this post #276

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[macchiaz-o]

Neat work!

Is the ActiveX lined cover of that panel with the gear selector and the parking brake button just held onto the box with velcro?

I was sort of pulling on mine a while back (I get fidgety) and heard a tearing sound similar to removing velcro. So I stopped... I don't want it to be lose if it's held by tape or something. But I've been curious about it since then.

 

[markboris]

Hey Jonathan, no, it is not held in by velcro. There are four clips holding it down. Just pull up on the corners and it will lift off.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Hey Jonathan, no, it is not held in by velcro. There are four clips holding it down. Just pull up on the corners and it will lift off.

Awesome, thank you, Mark.

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

While I do use the rear hatch somewhat often, I always kick under the bumper to open it (had an Escape for 4 years and was use to it) but rarely need to open or close it from the inside. I was at a friends this morning who also has a Mach-E and she said the one thing she misses is a simple power button to open and close the rear hatch. She doesn't like having to turn the car to accessory mode and make three selections on the center screen. She just wants to push a button.

I thought it couldn't be that difficult to wire up a switch to do this and I was right. I took a look at the wiring diagram in the repair manual and found that both momentary switches in the rear hatch do nothing more than short an incoming wire from the BCM to ground. The BCM is located at the front passenger footwell at the top. Extremely easy to access just remove the panel that hides it and you can get to the wiring. The wire that is needed to tap into is solid brown and located at the large top plug connection. I tapped into it and ran the wire to the center console where I installed a small momentary switch just below my subwoofer volume control. For the ground I used the black/blue wire going to the parking brake switch in the console. All the black/blue wires throughout the car are grounds. I had this momentary switch laying around but I am going to change it out with one that is much flatter.

I now have a working power button that will open and close the rear hatch from inside the car without having your key fob, phone or needing to turn on the car. The car still needs to be in Park for it to operate just as before. It works just like the one in my 2014 Escape did. I could have mounted the switch is several easy to see locations but like to conceal my work (like I did the subwoofer volume control) so nothing looks "added on". Just drop your hand down in front of the console and they are both easy to use. Besides if I ever needed to remove it, all I'd have to do is put a little flat plug in the hole and no one would know any different.

It took me about an hour to do the entire thing but now that I did it, when I do hers, probably should only take 30 minutes. I took quick photos of where I tapped into the wiring and it was before I permanently attached and taped up the wires.

Impressive, obviously you know your way around car electronics. Which leads me to a thought. I had a loaner MME for the day yesterday. After the day I told my wife the only thing I'll really miss from my current KIA is the ventilated seats. So how hard would it be to add this? Do they make after market ventilated fans/systems?

 

[markboris]

Impressive, obviously you know your way around car electronics. Which leads me to a thought. I had a loaner Mach-E for the day yesterday. After the day I told my wife the only thing I'll really miss from my current KIA is the ventilated seats. So how hard would it be to add this? Do they make after market ventilated fans/systems?

Hi Rich, one manufacturer that comes to mind right away is Katzkin. I have gotten their leather seat covers in the past and they are excellent. They also offer a heated and cooled system they call Degreez which I bet you can get the cooling part as a stand alone kit. https://katzkin.com/degreez/

There is also another company, Champion Seat Systems, that does offer a stand alone cooling system for car seats but I have not used them before. You would still have to bring the seats to an upholstery shop to have the system installed. Not something I think you should do yourself unless you have all the proper tools to work on seat upholstery. Wiring it up would be easy though. https://championseatheaters.com/ss/products/seat-cooling/

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

Hi Rich, one manufacturer that comes to mind right away is Katzkin. I have gotten their leather seat covers in the past and they are excellent. They also offer a heated and cooled system they call Degreez which I bet you can get the cooling part as a stand alone kit. https://katzkin.com/degreez/

There is also another company, Champion Seat Systems, that does offer a stand alone cooling system for car seats but I have not used them before. You would still have to bring the seats to an upholstery shop to have the system installed. Not something I think you should do yourself unless you have all the proper tools to work on seat upholstery. Wiring it up would be easy though. https://championseatheaters.com/ss/products/seat-cooling/

Thanks Mark. I'll look into them. I guess the easy solution is one on top. I'll just wait to see if it's going to be " a thing" once my car gets hear. I anticipate July; so should be nice and toasty in Atlanta.

 

[markboris]

Thanks Mark. I'll look into them. I guess the easy solution is one on top. I'll just wait to see if it's going to be " a thing" once my car gets hear. I anticipate July; so should be nice and toasty in Atlanta.

I have had one vehicle with cooled seats and rented several. I never found it to be a necessity but then I don't live in your area. While it is hot here during the summer (was 98 yesterday and we are not even in summer heat yet) it is very dry. I think our humidity was 18 yesterday. The Mach-E seats are very comfortable and with the perforated material they breath quite nicely. I have Space Gray seats so they don't really get hot at all when the car is sitting in the sun plus I do have a shade over the glass roof that does help keep the car cooler inside.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

My previous minivan had a power tailgate and a a cockpit switch. My Mazda CX-5's gate isn't powered. Funny how you miss the little things.

Bookmarking his page. Thanks.

 

[DJJeffT]

While I do use the rear hatch somewhat often, I always kick under the bumper to open it (had an Escape for 4 years and was use to it) but rarely need to open or close it from the inside. I was at a friends this morning who also has a Mach-E and she said the one thing she misses is a simple power button to open and close the rear hatch. She doesn't like having to turn the car to accessory mode and make three selections on the center screen. She just wants to push a button.

I thought it couldn't be that difficult to wire up a switch to do this and I was right. I took a look at the wiring diagram in the repair manual and found that both momentary switches in the rear hatch do nothing more than short an incoming wire from the BCM to ground. The BCM is located at the front passenger footwell at the top. Extremely easy to access just remove the panel that hides it and you can get to the wiring. The wire that is needed to tap into is solid brown and located at the large top plug connection. I tapped into it and ran the wire to the center console where I installed a small momentary switch just below my subwoofer volume control. For the ground I used the black/blue wire going to the parking brake switch in the console. All the black/blue wires throughout the car are grounds. I had this momentary switch laying around but I am going to change it out with one that is much flatter.

I now have a working power button that will open and close the rear hatch from inside the car without having your key fob, phone or needing to turn on the car. The car still needs to be in Park for it to operate just as before. It works just like the one in my 2014 Escape did. I could have mounted the switch is several easy to see locations but like to conceal my work (like I did the subwoofer volume control) so nothing looks "added on". Just drop your hand down in front of the console and they are both easy to use. Besides if I ever needed to remove it, all I'd have to do is put a little flat plug in the hole and no one would know any different.

It took me about an hour to do the entire thing but now that I did it, when I do hers, probably should only take 30 minutes. I took quick photos of where I tapped into the wiring and it was before I permanently attached and taped up the wires.

Miss this also. How hard on a scale of 1- 10?

 

[markboris]

Miss this also. How hard on a scale of 1- 10?

I guess it all depends on the person. For me, I would say it is 1-2. For someone that does not like dealing with electrical, maybe 3-4. I can't see it being any higher than that.

 

[macchiaz-o]

I guess it all depends on the person. For me, I would say it is 1-2. For someone that does not like dealing with electrical, maybe 3-4. I can't see it being any higher than that.

What's a 10?

I hope it involves tapping into the 3-phase outlet from the AC inverter and piping it into an IBM System 390 that's trailering behind the Mach-E and overriding 17 of the Mustang's built in modules with custom "fog computing" logical overlays for the primary goal of generating new works of music to keep the subwoofer as productive as possible.

 

[ChasingCoral]

While I do use the rear hatch somewhat often, I always kick under the bumper to open it (had an Escape for 4 years and was use to it) but rarely need to open or close it from the inside. I was at a friends this morning who also has a Mach-E and she said the one thing she misses is a simple power button to open and close the rear hatch. She doesn't like having to turn the car to accessory mode and make three selections on the center screen. She just wants to push a button.

I thought it couldn't be that difficult to wire up a switch to do this and I was right. I took a look at the wiring diagram in the repair manual and found that both momentary switches in the rear hatch do nothing more than short an incoming wire from the BCM to ground. The BCM is located at the front passenger footwell at the top. Extremely easy to access just remove the panel that hides it and you can get to the wiring. The wire that is needed to tap into is solid brown and located at the large top plug connection. I tapped into it and ran the wire to the center console where I installed a small momentary switch just below my subwoofer volume control. For the ground I used the black/blue wire going to the parking brake switch in the console. All the black/blue wires throughout the car are grounds. I had this momentary switch laying around but I am going to change it out with one that is much flatter.

I now have a working power button that will open and close the rear hatch from inside the car without having your key fob, phone or needing to turn on the car. The car still needs to be in Park for it to operate just as before. It works just like the one in my 2014 Escape did. I could have mounted the switch is several easy to see locations but like to conceal my work (like I did the subwoofer volume control) so nothing looks "added on". Just drop your hand down in front of the console and they are both easy to use. Besides if I ever needed to remove it, all I'd have to do is put a little flat plug in the hole and no one would know any different.

It took me about an hour to do the entire thing but now that I did it, when I do hers, probably should only take 30 minutes. I took quick photos of where I tapped into the wiring and it was before I permanently attached and taped up the wires.

Cool modification! Not to be critical, but isn't that where you would want the ejector seat button?

 

[markboris]

What's a 10?

I hope it involves tapping into the 3-phase outlet from the AC inverter and piping it into an IBM System 390 that's trailering behind the Mach-E and overriding 17 of the Mustang's built in modules with custom "fog computing" logical overlays for the primary goal of generating new works of music to keep the subwoofer as productive as possible.

Cool modification! Not to be critical, but isn't that where you would want the ejector seat button?

I belong to a lot of forums but I have to say, there are more comedians on this one than all the others put together. ?

 

[macchiaz-o]

I belong to a lot of forums but I have to say, there are more comedians on this one than all the others put together. ?

As a full on real-life introvert, this forum with its abundance of anxious worrywarts is the best outlet for my pent up, good spirited "comedy." ?

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