trunk popper

How much power should be sent to the trunk popper?
i just yanked one off a car from the junkyard.
im guessing that it needs 12v but i dont know how much current it can take without damaging the solenoid.

anyone feel like taking a measurement for me?
thanks

I diddnt even take a measurement, i just hooked it right to the 12 volt batt source and it worked fine, however i was told i should probably put a fuse between the wire, forgot which amperage though. then i just got a basic toggle swich from advance auto and put it in my glove box. im geussing you took one from a 9C1 right? thats where i got mine from, it fit right over the bracket i already had

I got mine from a civi Caprice. I took the OEM switch too that goes down on the lower part of the driver's side dash. A constant 12V source with a 10 amp fuse worked like a charm. I even wired it to my keyless entry system.

i snagged it from a civvie caprice. like a 89 or so.
it was newer than mine, which is 84, but older than the ones with the single headlights and new lght piece.
i will hook it up to a 5-10 amp fuse i guess.

were your cars wired for a trunk popper?
i just realized that i would need to run a wire from the trunk to the dash...
blond moment.

so im guessing i have to take out the back seat, lift up the carpet and drill a hole in the dash.
anything else?
how did you go about it?

Yup... I had to wire it myself. Under the carpet, behind the back seat and through the insulation. I didn't need to drill any hole though. I just used the already existing opening behind the seat. Tucked everything in nice so nobody knows thew wire's even there. I soldered and heat shrinked (shinked, shrunk... whatever) all my connections to make sure there wasn't ever gonna be any failed connection or short. It wasn't too hard. On a difficulty scale of 1 to 5 I give it a 1 1/2.

i mean drill a hole to put the button in the dash...

the bottom rear seat just pops out if you push on it right?
i seem to remember hearing that it does, but im not sure.
well its gonna be a cool project to keep me busy i guess.
what with school and all.

i mean drill a hole to put the button in the dash...

The button (or switch) I got was sort of a slider kinda push down style switch. It was black with a little white picture of a car with the trunk open on it. Since the OEM hole was rectangular for it, I drilled a hole and carefully used a razor blade to shape the hole the rest of the way.

i just got a momentary button to put near the ashtray area.
i could put it there or in the footwell, but i dont want to pop the trunk while driving...

Even though I didn't do it this way, I believe that technically the power is supposed to be run through the neutral/park switch so that while the car's in gear, the trunk can't be popped.

Even though I didn't do it this way, I believe that technically the power is supposed to be run through the neutral/park switch so that while the car's in gear, the trunk can't be popped.
I wanted to do it that way but i'm not too electrical savvy so i just put it in the glove box, i'm also working on trying to rig up a light on the dash that comes on when its open, there is a light lense that says "T-Gate Ajar" on the temp guage thats not used, i think ill put it on that one.

i was thinking about getting an LED to tell me if it was open while i was at radio shack, but couldnt figure out in my head how to do it effectively, so didnt.

what color is the neutral/park switch.
is there even one on my car?
i can put the car in whatever gear i want without my foot on the brake, which is odd IMO.

mine is like that also, i think only newer cars have that feature where you press the brake first to shift, its a safety thing

Correct. And these cars do have a gear positioning switch. It's neccesary to keep the starter from cranking while the transmission is in gear. Now if I only knew where it is.
Oh and BTW my car has the tailgait light too even though its not a wagon. I think they just made up a bunch of the same instrument panels so they could just all e throw into the car regardless of if its a coupe, sedan, or wagon.

mine might have it. idk. i have a bunch of lights that never come on on the place where the "fuel economy" gauge would have been.

ok, i got the bottom half of the seat out but the top half is screwing me up.
help...

it works.
woo hoo!!

Don't yah love it when things work out like they're supposed to. Lol, I had the same reaction when I put mine in.