Prime Location for a Killswitch

[MIK3]

Well I'm finally getting serious about installing a killswitch into my car. Do you guys recommend shutting off battery power, or fuel? And where?!

Any ideas are good ideas here, thanks!

[NXRacer]

the best way is to kill the ECU, that way there's no going around the issue and most thieves dont think about that. I think there's a power wire that you can switch to cut off any access to the car running.

[Selfmindead]

My friend just did his to the battery, he then put the switch on the foot rest, but the opposite side to which you drive on, so you couldn’t see it. :)

[Strugglebucket]

found this on pgmfi.org:

Easy Theft Prevention
How many TR owners have been perplexed at one time or another because their car won't start after polishing their center caps or vacuuming the floor mats? Alright, so I'm exaggerating but most TR owners have become quite adept at troubleshooting no-starts or know that they can turn to the E-mail list for help. Suppose we use these past problems to our advantage.
Huh? You say. Well, how is that Jackass armed with a slim-Jim and a screwdriver going to diagnose a no-start condition as he's attempting to cruise away in your pride and joy. "But my car starts just fine", you say. Therein lies the problem. Each time you walk away from your car it needs to be 'disabled'. Now think about the problems people have experienced in trying to start their car.
Bad grounds, bum relays and blown fuses are fairly common. Suppose we build one or two of these 'problems' into our cars so that only we know how to start the engine. Two of the most popular anti-theft measures that I can think of have been unplugging the orange ECM lead next to the battery or reaching up under the back bumper and unplugging the fuel pump wiring harness connector. Pretty effective and relatively easy but not easy enough.
What you really want is a hidden switch or connector somewhere in the vicinity of the driver's seat so that using it is convenient. I'll review the set-up that I use in my GN in the hopes that others follow suit and secure their Buicks. One reason that I like the following approach vs. a hidden toggle switch is that if the Jackass happens to get lucky and find your switch, he's gone…with your Buick. The poor man's "pass-key" doesn't have the appearance of an anti-theft device so it's easily overlooked even though it's right out in the open. Secondly, even if the Jackass was wise to your "pass-key", I defy him to defeat it. You'll soon see why.
Procedure
I started by visiting the local Radio Shack. I picked up two male and one female version of their disassembled DB-9 computer style connectors. Next, I broke out my shop manual and looked at the pinout chart for the ECM. (Alternately, 1986/1987 owners can click here.) You want to select two or three key circuits to disable. Good choices include the circuits that control the fuel pump relay, injectors, ECM, etc. For obvious reasons I'm not going to suggest any specific circuit or circuits so that everyone's installation will be different. (Many store bought alarms are easily defeated because the thieves know how most of them function and how they are installed.)
The shop manual is handy in identifying the wires in your harness so that you're sure which ones you want to interrupt. Once you have made your selections, trace the wires from the ECM back into the harness a ways so that the splicing you do can be hidden easily within the factory loom when you're done. The idea now is to snip the desired wire and extend both ends back to the driver side of the dash. Being stealthy is the name of the game so cast aside proper vehicle wiring technique and use all one color, preferably black. Or you could use six different colors, the idea being to not make it obvious which two are to be paired. IMPORTANT: Use some masking tape to temporarily label the wires or you'll not be a happy camper. Choose a place where all your wires will terminate so that you know how long to make them. The area near the ALDL is a good spot.
Now, assuming that you've interrupted three circuits, you should be looking at six wire ends under your dash. If you've only done two, that's fine. Fetch a pen and a piece of paper and make a diagram similar to Figure 1. Note: Pick your own pin positions so that your set-up is unique.
Once you've decided how to terminate your wires, break out the soldering gun and attach them to the female connector. Be sure to remove your masking tape labels when you're done. (If you're up for it, solder an extra dummy-wire in there on an unused pin and run it somewhere into one of the under-dash harness looms. Just one more wrench in the works for Jackass.) Affix the connector under the dash where it is convenient for you to reach it. I used a zip tie. Now is a good time to verify the effectiveness of your work. Try to start your car…it shouldn't.
See Figure 2. Using your diagram, connect the appropriate pins on the male connector using small wire loops that will fit inside the connector body. This will be your "pass-key". Plug the connectors together and verify that your car now starts right up. If all is well, use the second male connector kit you purchased to make a back-up key in case you lose your original. Stow it hidden away somewhere in your car to avoid stranding yourself.
Ol' Jackass with a screwdriver has just been screwed himself. Let's just hope he doesn't return with a tow truck.

[AccordEpicenter]

stick a switch between the ecu 12V+ in the wiring harness and stick the switch in your change tray in the dash near the fuse box. Simple, effective, hidden

[Vanilla Sky]

as long as you have the standard key for your car, you can use the trunk lockout. uses your key again, and no one will EVER find that, no matter how hard and how long they look.

[AccordEpicenter]

well, that works too, i guess if youre a real baller or are wayyy too into james bond

[Vanilla Sky]

nope, just seamless integration :)

[AccordEpicenter]

lol. You could also wire it up to a JDM foglight switch. Nobody would ever know. Thats sorta seamless... ???

[Vanilla Sky]

waste of a foglight switch, though.

[AccordEpicenter]

who actually has factory fogs?

[Vanilla Sky]

but it's still not something that's easy to come by here in the states.

[Hash_man_Se_i]

who actually has factory fogs?

ME! :D ....

But ya, I'm seriously thinking about a kill switch aswell. I was thinking of just making it for the fuel pump. but I like the idea of puting it in the change tray, and mount it on the top of it though so you cant really see it if you open the tray.

[Vanilla Sky]

problem with that is the fact that a lot of thieves seem to check that area for a kill switch. not one will suspect that locking mechanism.

[MIK3]

Would they have to do a lot of re-routing if I cut off just the fuel line?

[Acid X]

I'd like to tell you where i have mine... But hell, i dont trust anybody, lol.

All that i will say is it's on the RIGHT side of the car... But even thats saying too much in my opinion.. lol.

[FyreDaug]

What about having something that grounds out when you flick the switch and remains normal when you put it back, so if the bastard tries starting it and it wont go and he looks for a kill switch, he already blew the fuse to whatever you had switched and wont be able to go anywhere anyways.

Just carry extra fuses on you, and this way if someone has a copy of your key you will atleast know if someone tried stealing it.

[MIK3]

Yeah, that's not too bad of an idea.

[lostforawhile]

the fuel pump is best,that way they don't pop the hood and try to start the car with a screwdriver and just bypass the starter kill. no one in their right mind is going to find the hidden break that disables the fuel pump in the maze of wires in this car. in the meantime i just yank the fuel pump relay whenevr i leave the car, i couldn't find one of those easy if i wanted too.

[StressSolutions]

Use the master power window switch to shut off the fuel pump.

[lostforawhile]

na every crook with half a brain is going to try every visible switch in the car,you need a five pin bosch relay the five pin has a common and both a normally open and a normally closed circuit. plus the two connections for the coil. you run the power coming from the car through the common side of the relay and the normally closed terminal goes to the pump. in this configuration the pump would run without the coil terminal being hooked to anything. now the trick. the power coming FROM the car goes to one side of the coil terminal. the other side goes to your hidden kill switch and from there to ground.when the kill switch is on and the relay at the pump recieves ground,every time the pump recieves power the relay will switch on and kill power to the pump,since the same power going to the pump powers the relay. by turning off the ground at the switch,the relay coil will not energize and the pump continues to recieve power. this is a safer way to do this since it's much less likely to accidently cut off poer to your pump going down the road. it's called a failsafe. the sam

[Bglad420]

Just get a quick release steering wheel....how the fuck are they gonna steal a car w/ no steering wheel.....

[Acid X]

Our car's don't have air bags, correct?

[Bglad420]

Our car's don't have air bags, correct?


Correct

[SQ is the SQUAD]

another good thing to do is aget a realy setup to activate air horns when ever they key is turned to the start position while the kill switch is active

[logic]

Comments:
1) For the removable plug idea, Instead of a dummy wire or two going to the plug, make one hot and one ground so if they try a few combinations they will really be confused because they will blow a fuse or two after the first one or two wrong tries....

2) Instead of a hidden switch, I used a magnetic reed switch behind a thin plastic panel in my Buick, when I went to start the car, I had a magnet mounted in my keychain and ran it by the switch as I moved my keys to the ignition, no-one would ever find that..

3) Using a relay that takes power from the ignition and routing power from the switched part of the relay back to the coil to keep it on once activated(called latching, it then drops out when ignition turned off) when it's activated, then using that to run a couple other relays to turn on the fuel pump, starter relay power, and ignition circuits will give very good protection and if the relays are hidden in the dash with all the other relays would really be tough to find/figure out by a thief. That way you can control several circuits by one wire...when used in conjunction with the hidden magnetic reed switch to activate the relay results in an extremely effective theft deterrent system (assuming all the wires are hidden inside the factory wiring harnesses and re-taped to look stock)

[lostforawhile]

Just get a quick release steering wheel....how the fuck are they gonna steal a car w/ no steering wheel.....two words VISE GRIPS

[lostforawhile]

Comments:
1) For the removable plug idea, Instead of a dummy wire or two going to the plug, make one hot and one ground so if they try a few combinations they will really be confused because they will blow a fuse or two after the first one or two wrong tries....

2) Instead of a hidden switch, I used a magnetic reed switch behind a thin plastic panel in my Buick, when I went to start the car, I had a magnet mounted in my keychain and ran it by the switch as I moved my keys to the ignition, no-one would ever find that..

3) Using a relay that takes power from the ignition and routing power from the switched part of the relay back to the coil to keep it on once activated(called latching, it then drops out when ignition turned off) when it's activated, then using that to run a couple other relays to turn on the fuel pump, starter relay power, and ignition circuits will give very good protection and if the relays are hidden in the dash with all the other relays would really be tough to find/figure out by a thief. That way you can control several circuits by one wire...when used in conjunction with the hidden magnetic reed switch to activate the relay results in an extremely effective theft deterrent system (assuming all the wires are hidden inside the factory wiring harnesses and re-taped to look stock)yea thats what i was going to type before my computer crashed while doing the post,thats why i like the grounded coil idea on the relay,you use a switch of some description to activate a self latching relay when the ignition is on,that way when you turn off the car the relay looses power disengages,and the kil switches have ground again. this enables it to automatically set. you can set up a starter kill and an ignition kill using the same activating ground wire for the relay in each,the relay that is set up in the normally closed position for the starter and fuel pump kill,is much more reliable in everyday use. since it only cuts off the circuits when they would recieve power.

[logic]

two words VISE GRIPS

Allow me to one-up you: VICE-GRIPS!!:rofl:

[Bglad420]

The way I look at it is if they want it they'll take it, or trash it.....so F-it

[gfrg88]

just do what i do lock the steering wheel lol, i need to install a killswitch also, im going to for the fuel pump....