Garage door openers have been around for a long time and have evolved from a remote control to a single button in your car. Brands like HomeLink make it possible for people to open their garage doors without getting out of their cars. But how do you program your vehicle to do that? We've looked through credible resources and here is what we found.
If you have HomeLink installed in your car, you can program it to open your garage door by following the steps below:
- Locate your HomeLink buttons.
- Hold your garage door remote 1-3 inches away from the HomeLink buttons.
- Press and hold the button of your garage door remote and the chosen HomeLink button. Release only when the HomeLink light changes from a slow blink to a rapid blink or stays still.
- Press the programmed HomeLink button to activate your garage door.
These steps are easy to follow, but there may be cases where you need to do additional steps to get it working. Our guide can help you go through each of the steps and more to help you program your HomeLink garage door opener.
How to Program Your HomeLink Garage Door Opener
HomeLink is one of the biggest wireless systems for vehicles 0n the market and is available in different vehicle brands. There is a possibility that the vehicle you have now has HomeLink integrated into its system. That being said, it's best if you can maximize the usage of the system, starting with your garage door.
Before programming your HomeLink to your garage door, make sure to do the following:
- Park your car outside of the garage while the engine is running and keep the garage door open.
- Keep your garage driveway clear of any objects to avoid any accidents.
- Put in a new battery for your garage door remote to ensure that the radio frequency is strong and that the HomeLink system gets programmed correctly.
Once you're ready, you can hop in your car and begin programming your HomeLink to control your garage door.
1. Locate Your HomeLink Buttons
To start programming the system to your garage door, locate where your HomeLink buttons are. You'll need to sit in the front seat to get a better look at the area. Generally, you can find them on your overhead console, center stack, or rear-view mirror. THey will be near the HomeLink logo with a small light indicator. However, it also depends on the make of your vehicle, so it's best to have your car manual within reach if you're not sure.
2. Hold Your Garage Door Remote 1-3 Inches Away From The HomeLink Buttons
For this next step, you'll need to bring out your garage door remote and hold it 1-3 inches away from the HomeLink buttons. You'll need to maintain this distance for the HomeLink system to learn the radio frequency of your garage door. You'll also need to choose which of the three HomeLink buttons will work best for you in controlling your garage door.
3. Press And Hold The Button Of Your Garage Door Remote And The Chosen HomeLink Button
Maintaining that distance, press the garage door remote button simultaneously with the HomeLink button you're programming. You should hold the buttons down until the indicator light changes either to a rapid blink or a steady light.
4. Press The Programmed HomeLink Button To Activate Your Garage Door
To check if the programming worked, simply press the HomeLink button you've just programmed. The light indicator should be steady and your garage door, which should still be opent, should close. This means that your programming has worked.
However, if the indicator light blinks rapidly and your garage door is still open, don't worry. It only means that you will need to do a Rolling Code training which will require additional steps.
Pairing Your HomeLink Garage Door Opener With Rolling Codes
The rolling code is a security measure that prevents trespassers from accessing your garage door's coding. In essence, the garage door opener will have a new code every time its frequency is used to operate the door. For it to recognize your HomeLink system as well, you will need to follow certain steps.
To prepare for pairing your HomeLink garage door opener with rolling codes, have a stepladder ready to reach the garage door opener just in case you need to reach it. If possible, have someone with you to reach it for you, but make sure that they are also clear from the driveway.
1. Find The "Learn", "Smart", Or "Program" Button On The Garage Door Opener
You will need to either get out of your car to check the garage door opener by climbing on a ladder or you can have someone do it for you while you wait in the car. The important thing to note is that you or the person helping you should check the garage door opener's device for buttons labeled as "Learn", "Smart", or "Program". You may find the button near the hanging antenna wire of the device.
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2. Press Button On The Garage Door Opener and the Selected HomeLink Button
Once you've located the button, simply press it once to reset the rolling code. When you do that, you will need to go down from your ladder to get back to your car and press the HomeLink button you've chosen to program for three times.
This has to be done all within 20 seconds so that the garage door device can recognize the HomeLink system. However, this might be too short of a timeframe for some people. Having someone on standby on the ladder to push the button for you and signal you when it's done while you're inside the car is a safer option.
You'll know you're successful with the attempt when the garage door closes on the third press of your programmed HomeLink button. This will also signal that you've successfully programmed the HomeLink garage door opener.
Doing A Factory Reset On HomeLink
There may come a time when you'll want to sell your vehicle. Before giving your vehicle away, you have to do a factory reset on its HomeLink to avoid any potential security issue such as theft or a break-in on your home due to the system still being connected to your garage door.
To clear the memory of your vehicle's HomeLink system, simply press the two outer HomeLink buttons at the same time. You'll need to hold the buttons down for 10 seconds or until the light indicator starts blinking rapidly. This will signal that the system has been reset to its default settings.
Can You Add HomeLink To Your Car?
As previously mentioned, HomeLink can be found already integrated into a variety of vehicle models. However, if your car doesn't have a HomeLink system, you might be wondering if you can add the system as an additional function in your car.
The simple answer to this is yes, HomeLink does have aftermarket products that you can purchase to add the system to your vehicle. So far, you can pick between a module that you can install on the headliner and a rearview mirror.
Here's a Gentex rearview mirror with HomeLink on Amazon.
What Else Can You Do With HomeLink?
Apart from opening your garage door, HomeLink can control other devices that make use of radio frequency control such as outdoor lighting and home security. Currently, it has HomeLink Connect which uses cloud-based wireless transmission to reach the appliances within your home as you drive home, ranging from thermostats to home security. You can control your smart home through the accompanying mobile app or on the onscreen interface of your HomeLink Connect system.
Final Thoughts
Programming your HomeLink system to your garage door opener can be done in a few easy steps. Simply locate your car's HomeLink buttons, hold your garage door remote 1-3 away from the HomeLink buttons, and press and hold down the button of your garage door remote and chosen HomeLink button.
To check if the steps you took worked, press your programmed HomeLink button to see if your garage responds. If not, you'll need to take additional steps to reset the rolling codes. Just remember to take precautionary measures when doing all the steps, such as clearing the garage door and parking your car in front of the garage.
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