Anti-theft demobilization techniques

[Dr. Love]

I'm looking for ideas to demobilize a car, in order so a thief can't drive off in it.

I know there are kill switches to disable the starter, but these are expensive and difficult to install (at least for those of us who aren't expert mechanics).

I am wondering if anyone knows any methods of demobilizing a car that are easy to implement, and don't cost lots of money. One thing that I thought of is removing one of the jumpers from the fuse box, for example the one for the fuel pump, that would disable a car. Does every car have a jumper for the fuel pump? It doesn't say in my owner's manual whether mine has it. Is this a good idea? Does anyone have a better idea?

Of course you can always just disconnect the battery but that's too much trouble popping the hood every time to disconnect and then again to reconnect, besides the thief would probably think of that himself and look under the hood and reconnect it, while it is extremely unlikely a thief would think to look in the fuse box and even if he did it's unlikely he would carry an extra fuse jumper with him.

So, any ideas?

[MagicRat]

There are lots of circuits one can install a hidden switch on or remove a critical component so it will not move.
These vary from car to car, but the fuel pump relay is a good one.
If the car is a bit older and has a distributor and seperate ignition coil, removing the fat coil wire takes a couple of seconds and will disable the car.
Removing the distributor rotor works too, and is less obvious to the theif, but takes a bit more effort.
The problem with these is that the thief will break in and smash the column or ignition, causing damage, before they find out its disabled. You still have your car, but damage can be $1000+
I like to use a grade 80 transport chain with a fat padlock wrapped around the steering wheel and column, (around the brake pedal too if you are ambitious)
It has the same advangages as The Club (highly visible) but its MUCH harder to defeat than the Club is.

[Reed]

porno and gun magazines on all visable surfaces

[SaabJohan]

Usually anti-theft systems disable the starter relay, not the correct transponder code and the engine will not be allowed to start. These systems usually also have the ability to shut the fuel and ignition of but that's more complicated to solve.

The most simple thing you can do yourself is probably to put a hidden switch which disconnects the power to the starter relay. It seems that everything works but the starter motor will not go.

Otherwise you can always paint a line around the car and put our a sign "warning - minefield".

[Nuke61]

Just buy one of those brake pedal immobilizers. It's visible enough to keep people out, and strong enough to keep them from taking the car.

[Dr. Love]

What about my idea of removing the fuel pump jumper from the fuse box? Does anyone think that's a good idea?

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by Dr. Love

What about my idea of removing the fuel pump jumper from the fuse box? Does anyone think that's a good idea?

I think that the moderators at AF discourage people from resurrecting old threads, even if they are your own.

Your suggestion is better than nothing, but the theives will still have to smash up the column and possibly break a window before they realise it will not start.
This is why my post above stated the importance of VISIBLE theft protection, so the bad guys will move on without causing damage.

[curtis73]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

I think that the moderators at AF discourage people from resurrecting old threads, even if they are your own.

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Ding ding!! MagicRat wins the $0 prize.