DIY Power Lift gate for Tesla Model S Walkthrough Video

[Mokuzai]

Ya I've sent a note to Federico about the white wire and still waiting a response. Pretty sure I can get this going with that one piece of information.

As for the left/right, I'm hoping to put the control module by the right side pole (which would get both connectors due to cable length) and the latch motor on the right side as well just so I wouldn't have to pull out the carpeted side walls of the left side of the trunk. If everything could be reversed then only a single wire needs to go over to the left side of the car and everything else can be localized to the right.

The poles look identical and I can't imagine there being a difference plugging both connectors into the right side or left side pole.

 

[Maranaz]

Hi Mokuzai,
I assume you have removed the car panelling. I was wondering is there any wiring in the original harness near the Tesla lock connector which might have been left there to connect a liftgate button for cars with automatic liftgate ? In the same way as the wiring we are tapping for power is there for a Tesla automatic liftgate ? Perhaps the white wire connects there !
Clutching at straws before getting info from COzero.

 

[Mokuzai]

The only empty harnesses in the lift gate that I can find is speaker wires for the premium sound option. I don't see anything near where the factory button would go in the pull handle. The only thing close to what the description states is the exterior trunk button. This has an oval looking plug and there are two wires...but it's currently connected. It's possible that it connects to this...but I would have expected to get a 2nd positap connector to do so.

The only extra item in the package was the little black empty plug which looks similar to the plug on the factory button pictures earlier in the thread. I had hoped that the wire would somehow be inserted into this empty plug and that would find a matching harness in the car. This would make sense if there were a harness for the button but there isn't...that I can find. Even if this were the case, the factory harness will have 3 wires...so what would the white wire connect to?

Short of finding somebody with the power lift gate and pulling apart the trunk and tracing the wire from the factory button to the source...I'm not sure what to do but to wait. Half my trunk is sitting in my garage and I'm getting really tired of seeing the bare metal in my rear view while driving.

 

[Mokuzai]

Quick update, just received a note from Federico saying he is getting information about the white wire and will get back hopefully shortly. I understand that COzero is a reseller so sounds like the manufacturer changed the product on them without giving enough detail.

If we can get this sorted out and get everything working I'll do my best to do a guide on the install.

 

[Maranaz]

Quick update, just received a note from Federico saying he is getting information about the white wire and will get back hopefully shortly. I understand that COzero is a reseller so sounds like the manufacturer changed the product on them without giving enough detail.

If we can get this sorted out and get everything working I'll do my best to do a guide on the install.

Fredrico now says the white wire is not necessary !
Good luck with the installation . Keep us updated on how it goes.

 

[Mokuzai]

Fredrico now says the white wire is not necessary !
Good luck with the installation . Keep us updated on how it goes.

Yes I just got that note from him. I'll see if I have time tonight to give it a go. More importantly is the calibration instructions he provided.

"You should just have to set the lift gate at the desired maximum opening height, press the control button - the one included in the kit - until you get a confirmation signal and then close the trunk by hand to finalise the setup."
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[Mokuzai]

Ok, proof of concept. I rigged up everything temporarily to see if it would work. I like the functionality better than factory. I left the buzzer unplugged and the latch mechanism is quieter than the factory ones I've heard. I don't even have the latch motor mounted to anything. It's just sitting in the right side pocket area and once covered with the carpet I think it'll be fine like that since it pulls against itself and not the car.

I tried opening and closing multiple ways. For opening it works from the dash screen, the remote, and the exterior trunk button. Closing only works via the trunk close button it comes with and the dash screen...not sure if this is any different behavior than factory.

The trick is you really do have to manually close the trunk once everything is wired up. The poles are really stiff so it feels like you're doing something wrong but once you get it closed then everything starts working.

The kit is really lacking in cable length though. The power cable to the secondary pole (left/right doesn't matter, I have the right pole wire going to the left side) is barely long enough to reach and I couldn't find any place to mount the control box when trying to run it across the headliner. Unless I'm really missing something with the cable routing I'll have to get my own wire and extend some cables...I'll try and do a full guide this weekend.

Apologies for the quality, this is my first youtube video ever.

 

[Maranaz]

Well done Mokuzai ! It does sound nice and quiet when closing .
Which panels did you have to remove to fit the latch mechanism ?
You used a remote with red button you used to close boot. Did you get that in the kit ?

 

[AMPUP]

I tried opening and closing multiple ways. For opening it works from the dash screen, the remote, and the exterior trunk button. Closing only works via the trunk close button it comes with and the dash screen...not sure if this is any different behavior than factory.


.

The first version opens and closes by all controls which is what it should do, surprised it doesn't close by the touchscreen, must be missing something

 

[Mokuzai]

Which panels did you have to remove to fit the latch mechanism ?
You used a remote with red button you used to close boot. Did you get that in the kit ?

I had the right side panels off to get to the power tap harness, the latch mechanism is in the trunk well on the right hand side. The red button is the one from the kit that you're supposed to route to the pull handle in the liftgate. I picked up a factory button so will try and wire that up instead.

The first version opens and closes by all controls which is what it should do, surprised it doesn't close by the touchscreen, must be missing something

It opens and closes by the touchscreen. It does not close using the key fob or if you reach up and push the outside trunk button. So closing you use the inside trunk button that comes with the kit or the touchscreen.

 

[AMPUP]

I

It opens and closes by the touchscreen. It does not close using the key fob or if you reach up and push the outside trunk button. So closing you use the inside trunk button that comes with the kit or the touchscreen.

Ok thats better then, Key fob isn't a biggie. I did see they had an add on kit to use your foot under a sensor at the back of the car to open the liftgate, that could be useful. I think i'm leaning to upgrade to this version 2 kit.

 

[Maranaz]

I had the right side panels off to get to the power tap harness, the latch mechanism is in the trunk well on the right hand side. The red button is the one from the kit that you're supposed to route to the pull handle in the liftgate. I picked up a factory button so will try and wire that up instead.



It opens and closes by the touchscreen. It does not close using the key fob or if you reach up and push the outside trunk button. So closing you use the inside trunk button that comes with the kit or the touchscreen.

 

[Maranaz]

I am still puzzled by the button you used to close the trunk.
It does not look like the trunk handle button I received.See photo.

 

[Mokuzai]

That's the one. I just haven't wired it up to the lift gate pull handle area yet.

 

[Mokuzai]

Ok all done. The instructions with the kit will cover taking apart the panels and whatnot so I'll concentrate on where I ended up putting everything.

This is with the "right pole" wire going to plug into the left pole and where it puts the control box. There isn't any room in that upper pillar behind the rear right seat for such a large box so I decided to run my own extension wires.

I went and got some 14 gauge wire and tapped them to the harness of the left pole plug.

And ran those wires up into the headliner over to the right side of the car.

Ended up putting the control module at the yellow circle here behind where we find the power for the whole thing. The green circle is the other side of the wires I ran over to the left pole and the red circle is where I added wire to the red/orange wires that go to the lift gate latch. The insane amount of power and ground wire are just folded up below the control module. I considered cutting it but it didn't really matter. You may be able to re-use some of these wires for the extensions if you're ok with everything being the same color.

Here are the two wires coming down from the headliner from the left pole, and everything else going up into the liftgate via the right grommet. (Btw the grommets that come on the poles are too small for that blank grommet on the right side of the car so ended up going through the existing wired grommet).

This is the right side of the car in the trunk well in that extra side space. I actually have this under the black carpet sitting on top of the blue padding. It's not mounted to anything and honestly doesn't seem like it needs to be. I may just slap some of the double sided tape they gave me and stick it to the blue padding if anything, it doesn't move when it's in operation. For wiring the harness, just match up the colors and insert the wires.

Here is a short video showing where it is.

The latch pull string I ran behind that black brace and into the right well to attach to the motor.

I ended up cutting the plug off the trunk button to make it easier to pull through the grommet and I was wiring it to the factory button anyway. If you're planning on getting a factory button, if looking at the pins with the white sticker on top like shown, from left to right:

• Signal to trunk (wire to purple)
• Ground (wire to black)
• Illumination (wire to green)

And finally the finished result! Any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Maranaz]

Hi Mokuzai,
Thanks for the photos and video of installation they are very useful.
Where did you get the blue tapping connectors ?

 

[Mokuzai]

I got those at Fry's Electronics. You could probably find something similar at an auto parts store. And if all else fails there is always Amazon. Can also do solder and electrical tape to make the connections.

 

[Maranaz]

Hi Mokuzi,
How easy was it to remove trim from arount original latch in order to fit new latch and wire ?

 

[Mokuzai]

Ya everything pulls off with clips like most of the other panels.

 

[AMPUP]

Is this second generation CoZero kit still manufactured by AutoEase (like the original) and they are reselling it?

Power operated tailgate lift assisting system TL105 – Autoease

They don't mention this new kit on their site and they were always way cheaper in cost and their shipping is ridiculously fast (2-3 days)