Putting a kill switch on a vehicle

[ATCclears]

I have a nice but older diesel pickup, no integrated chip on the key. I need to get off my butt and put in a kill switch to mitigate the risk of theft.

I did a bit of research and assume I'll probably want a solid, 30-amp switch.

Anyone done it before? Thoughts, or things you'd do differently if you did it again?

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[Mike_M57]

I'd put the switch into something like this: Mad Max Booby Trap Switch

 

[BBQ Guy]

Redundancy.

I have started seeing thefts of vehicles with dual kill switches.

 

[made in china]

For me, any switch and relay on an older vehicle would be super easy to bypass. I used to install stuff like that "back in the day"

I'd need to know more about the diesel, as most of my "tricks" work extremely well on gas vehicles, but obviously diesel vehicles are a totally different beast.

My favorite trick was the seatbelt trick. We'd modify the seatbelt circuit to kill some circuit, which on a gas vehicle could be fuel pump, coil packs, ECU power, etc. We'd avoid killing the starter circuit as that's too easy to bypass.
Basically, you'd need to put on your seatbelt if you wanted the vehicle to start. The idea being, nobody puts their belt on first, and thieves are likely to not put their belt on.
You can also do the same trick using a door open interlock, as a thief usually has the driver door open when trying to steal a vehicle.

If you just want a switch, we'd suggest using an OEM switch installed into a dash blank, and wire it up like above. Usually a defrost or fog light switch. Must be OEM so no one suspects.

With that setup, the vehicle will crank, but not start (if ECU or coils are killed) or will start and immediately die (if fuel pump power is killed). This confuses a thief and they'll likely give up immediately. If the vehicle were to not crank, they know to rip the bottom of your dash off and bypass whatever you installed, or at least they'll try.

With diesel, I never did one. I know my tricks could damage some diesels, for example, killing an electric diesel pump (lift pump) can destroy the expensive mechanical high pressure pump. And killing glow plugs may not prevent the truck from starting. Diesels don't tend to need much to run, so it's more difficult to get creative. You're likely to just do a starter kill, which is easy to bypass.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Redundancy.

I have started seeing thefts of vehicles with dual kill switches.

Inside jobs? That'd be my suspicion.

 

[BBQ Guy]

Inside jobs? That'd be my suspicion.

Not from what I have seen.
Thieves know that there is a largely untraceable market for parts and enforcement of being in a stolen vehicle is next to nothing these days.

 

[BBQ Guy]

For me, any switch and relay on an older vehicle would be super easy to bypass. I used to install stuff like that "back in the day"

I'd need to know more about the diesel, as most of my "tricks" work extremely well on gas vehicles, but obviously diesel vehicles are a totally different beast.

My favorite trick was the seatbelt trick. We'd modify the seatbelt circuit to kill some circuit, which on a gas vehicle could be fuel pump, coil packs, ECU power, etc. We'd avoid killing the starter circuit as that's too easy to bypass.
Basically, you'd need to put on your seatbelt if you wanted the vehicle to start. The idea being, nobody puts their belt on first, and thieves are likely to not put their belt on.
You can also do the same trick using a door open interlock, as a thief usually has the driver door open when trying to steal a vehicle.

If you just want a switch, we'd suggest using an OEM switch installed into a dash blank, and wire it up like above. Usually a defrost or fog light switch. Must be OEM so no one suspects.

With that setup, the vehicle will crank, but not start (if ECU or coils are killed) or will start and immediately die (if fuel pump power is killed). This confuses a thief and they'll likely give up immediately. If the vehicle were to not crank, they know to rip the bottom of your dash off and bypass whatever you installed, or at least they'll try.

With diesel, I never did one. I know my tricks could damage some diesels, for example, killing an electric diesel pump (lift pump) can destroy the expensive mechanical high pressure pump. And killing glow plugs may not prevent the truck from starting. Diesels don't tend to need much to run, so it's more difficult to get creative. You're likely to just do a starter kill, which is easy to bypass.

We need an option of a large bolt going through the seat right into the arse of a would be thief attached to some high voltage.
No lube and no warning.

Once a few of these chitheads get their village pillaged and electrocuted we might see a sharp decline in car thefts.

 

[made in china]

We need an option of a large bolt going through the seat right into the arse of a would be thief attached to some high voltage.
No lube and no warning.

Once a few of these chitheads get their village pillaged and electrocuted we might see a sharp decline in car thefts.

Back in the 90's, under-car neon was popular.
We sold that stuff, and eventually decided to take the neon transformer from a kit and try to wire it up to shock someone. An it worked. Probably a bit stronger than necessary. The neon transformer ran on 12vdc and output 7.5kv at 30ma. We just grounded one side of the output to the chassis, and hung a conductive strap to the ground, which was connected to the other output. Knocked one of my friends onto the ground and into the fetal position.

 

[ScatPackLife]

I have a nice but older diesel pickup, no integrated chip on the key. I need to get off my butt and put in a kill switch to mitigate the risk of theft.

I did a bit of research and assume I'll probably want a solid, 30-amp switch.

Anyone done it before? Thoughts, or things you'd do differently if you did it again?

Auto or manual?

 

[Flopsweat]

Back in the 90's, under-car neon was popular.
We sold that stuff, and eventually decided to take the neon transformer from a kit and try to wire it up to shock someone. An it worked. Probably a bit stronger than necessary. The neon transformer ran on 12vdc and output 7.5kv at 30ma. We just grounded one side of the output to the chassis, and hung a conductive strap to the ground, which was connected to the other output. Knocked one of my friends onto the ground and into the fetal position.

A friend of mine in college had a Model T coil wired to the body of his car and a ground strap. The switch for it was reachable through the driver's window. On hot days he'd leave the window down and arm the switch. His neighbors learned not to lean on his car while they hung out and talked in the parking lot.

 

[gryghin]

I like the OEM switch in the dash to turn off something like the power to the fuel pump.

 

[Alexx1401]

Inside jobs? That'd be my suspicion.

I would have to guess the same. VERY few vehicle thefts are people with much in the way of brain power at all. The VAST majority are dopers who learned just enough to get one started. Kind of like when gun safes come up. Some will love to show video of how easy anything short of a bank vault is to get into. ANY safe will stop most of the dopers looking for a quick grab. Any kill switch will make most scum move on to the next easier to take vehicle. I have an old Jeep that used to sit for months and the battery would drain. Must have some "leak" some where. I just put a cut off on the battery. One day I came home and noticed one door ajar. Someone had gotten in ( I did not lock it as nothing in there) and had managed to get the ignition to turn without damaging it. It of course would not start. They gave up and moved on. NOTHING can stop real pro's but, few of them around. The vast majority is just thieving scum who have been taught there is nothing happening if caught. They are normally high and or strung out.

 

[Catfishmoon]

I had a muscle car where I connected a direct push/pull cable from inside the vehicle to a manual choke on the carburetor. When the car was parked, the choke was placed fully open and the vehicle would only run 20-30 seconds in this condition.
It required the would be thief to open the hood, remove the air filter, look at the carburetor and realize what was occurring and have enough mechanical knowledge to open or bypass the manual choke..
Could layer a fuel cutoff in addition to electrical for added theft protection...
It's all about making it very time consuming for the thief to make the vehicle operational.

 

[Flopsweat]

I had a muscle car where I connected a direct push/pull cable from inside the vehicle to a manual choke on the carburetor. When the car was parked, the choke was placed fully open and the vehicle would only run 20-30 seconds in this condition.
It required the would be thief to open the hood, remove the air filter, look at the carburetor and realize what was occurring and have enough mechanical knowledge to open or bypass the manual choke..
Could layer a fuel cutoff in addition to electrical for added theft protection...
It's all about making it very time consuming for the thief to make the vehicle operational.

I had a manual choke that worked in reverse, and an unmarked high-idle push-button electric switch. Without instruction, you were unlikely to get the car to stay running, and it would drive like crap, and it was a stick. This wasn't deliberate - it was a result of frustration with the automatic idle and choke. I did get to watch a valet stall the car 3 times in a row once when I forgot to preset the controls before parking it. Made me think "I'm probably about one mod away from making this thing really hard to steal".

 

[TNThomas]

I like the fuel shutoff idea, especially on a diesel. Dual purpose in that it could also be used in the event of a "run-away" engine, stop it from blowing up.

 

[ATCclears]

Auto or manual?

Automatic. If it was manual I'd be less worried since many cannot drive a stick anymore.