Regarding the recent threads about high value vehicles being stolen, is there anything you could remove in the engine such as a significant fuse or module which would physically prevent the car being driven?
I recall over 20 years ago I once parked my old Vauxhall Shuvvit at Redbridge station but before I ventured into town I removed the rotor arm so it couldn't be started.
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Keep the key safe.
Most cars are stolen with keys...
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True but what if you don't want your car stolen with the keys?
A simple hidden switch would probably suffice.
A few years ago I hired a car in Hungary. It had a PIN pad - the car would start and run but would conk out 30 seconds later if the correct 4 number code hadn't been entered. Apparently there was a car jacking problem. I can't quite remember now, but I think the PIN had to be re-entered if the doors had been opened.
The only problem I could see with this was the incentive to kidnap the driver to make sure they extracted the right code before letting him go.
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>> True but what if you don't want your car stolen with the keys?
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>> A simple hidden switch would probably suffice.
A number of keys are obtained with the threat of physical violence, you want them to beat the starting information out of you? Its a car, its insured, its not the end of the world.
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>> A few years ago I hired a car in Hungary. It had a PIN pad
>> - the car would start and run but would conk out 30 seconds later if
>> the correct 4 number code hadn't been entered.
Many years ago we had a Citroen Saxo VTR with a keypad; 'P' reg, so 1997. You had to enter the PIN to start the car, though once it was going I don't think opening the door meant re-entering it. It came with free insurance as well!
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I always used to remove an HT lead from my Alfa 33 when it was unattended. No idea why, if anyone stole that they'd have needed sectioning. Joyriders perhaps. Actually, if anyone could have started it I'd have been grateful to them. I was living on the edge of one of Reading's more notorious estates at the time.
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Spud up the exhaust?
I used to disable the electric fuel pump on one of my carburettored cars. If it was stolen it would stop after a few hundred yards - useful if carjacked.
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In the sixties, in my Mini days we used to swap 2 of the HT leads over.
Mind you that sometimes made it run better !
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I had a Riley with a petrol tap under the bonnet. Switch it off and it would run for 30secs and then not restart...
(It had a gravity feed tank).
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Buy a Fiat Panda....
...(sorry Rattle, too good an opportunity to miss).
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S'pose you'd have a soft spot for Panda cars?
:-)
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Remember having a Mondeo on hire, it had an emergency fuel shut off valve which operated in an accident but you could operate it manually.
As Zero mentions - it needs to be a system which does not stop the car until they are far enough away that they won't other to come back to ask you about it, something that prevents starting means they just come back and ask you "politely" how to start the car.
It's insured.
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On the night shift, I used to take the steering wheel into the office with me. Mind you, it was a Mk2 Fiesta.
Now you'd be taking the wheel, airbag and half the radio as well !
Ted
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Perhaps a more permanent solution is required...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNVxHPJ0hM
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Should be fairly easy to incorporate into EVs and hybrids.
I'd be worried about a malfunction though.
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>>>I'd be worried about a malfunction though.
You wouldn't even know about it!
Anyway modern cars don't go wrong do they? ;-)
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When I had my Golf GTi in the mid-90's I pulled the fuel pump fuse and had a crooklock on the steering wheel.
It would only be a determined joy rider would tackle it then (thankfully never did) as anyone stealing to order would have to replace the door skin, ignition lock and anything else they damaged getting in.
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The disconnect battery terminal at the bottom of this page is a pretty simple device.
Get the one with the fuse if you want to keep the radio settings.
www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/battconns/battclamps.php
Won't keep even a moderately resourceful thief at bay for long though
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I parked my Carlton GSi in a Hotel car park many years ago under a 500watt halogen lamp & thieves still broke into it and rolled it out the car park. It was found abandoned about 20 yards from the car park entrance as I had removed the fuel pump relay. Had I not of removed the relay the car would of been gone for good the police assured me.
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Same as mine on the Jowett, Dunc. Mine is mounted under the floor poking up into the cabin just under the front of the bench seat.
The battery is under the back seat. I suppose I could make a lockable cover for that.
I do have a homemade device that locks the column change gear lever to the steering wheel.
A full lift would easily pinch it but it's securely locked away at night and the insurance would probably pay for a better one, anyway.
Ted
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Krooklocks!
A colleague had an HA Viva nicked with one them.
It was returned with the steering wheel bent down so they could remove it!
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I heard that HGVs had devices that effectively cut the fuel injectors if the alarm was set off.
Might be total bull but that is what I was told.
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>> the steering wheel bent down so they could remove it!
Better technique with many wheels was to cut out a one inch section from the rim. Some steering wheels were hardly affected by it.
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>> >> the steering wheel bent down so they could remove it!
>> Better technique with many wheels was to cut out a one inch section from the rim
Sitting on the headrest and pushing the wheelrim with one foot either side of the krooklok was quicker though.
To the OP: Most high value cars are trackered now, not sure I'd want a stolen car back though. As others have said, it's insured.
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If they want to steal the car and it is immobilised they will take the key. If they cannot get the key from the home they will wait to take it from the driver. Perhaps on exiting the house or at a junction.
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Stolen cars - madf
