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Old 10-18-2010, 10:24 PM   #1
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DIY anti-thief device

I got to thinking about what happens after I start sinking some more money into the van. I'm going to have to consider anti-thief devices. One problem with alarms you buy is that the thieves already know how those work. Here's an idea I came up with.

Mount four toggle switches on the dash somewhere. Not hidden. Cover the four switches with safety covers like this:


These serve two purposes. One is to prevent flipping the switch by accident but it also hides the position of the switch from the casual observer. Wire one switch to the coil hot wire. Wire another switch to the inertia switch.

Here's where it gets interesting. Each of the two other switches, when flipped, would force a short and blow a fuse when the van is started. I've not figured this part out 100% yet but I'm close. Need to know of two fuses that would prevent the van from starting (or just wire both switches to blow the same fuse). Also have to come up with a way to safely cause the short without damaging anything but the fuse.

If you used four two position switches then there would be 2x2x2x2 = 16 possible combinations and only one would work. Put the switches in the wrong position and now you have a blown fuse to worry about but as a thief you won't know that. How long will a thief spend trouble shooting a vehicle that won't start before he just gives up. If you use three position switches that would increase combinations to 3x3x3x3 = 81. Even better odds.

Before you get out of the van set the coil and inertia switches. If a thief breaks in and tries to start the van it won't start. So he sees the switches and starts flipping switches. Odds are he'll most likely blow a fuse before he can get the right combination. Once the fuse is blown no combination of switches will allow the van to start. If you hop back into the van and forget to reset the coil and inertia switches the van just doesn't start. No blown fuse. Just put the coil and inertia switches in the proper position and off you go.

I know this won't work against a flat bed truck hauling away the van but I don't think that is how most vehicles are stolen.

What do you think?

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Old 10-18-2010, 11:25 PM   #2
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

I have an '08 Diesel and we left it at a marina while on a house boat. I took the fuel pump relay fuse from the under hood fuse block. The engine would turn over but not catch. I am sure on the gasser there is a similar fuse.

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Old 10-19-2010, 06:10 PM   #3
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

Tail light fuse. It's bypassable (van in N to start) but with this blown it won't start in P.

Also I think those covers indicate position, they are "quick kill" so hitting the cover should flip off the switch, meaning the cover will be in a lifted position when on. You could buy oversized or dremmel them out maybe. Better yet, connect all 4 so when any one switch is on, all covers will be lifted- which also lets you turn off all switches from any config at one time.

You have to consider what happens when the dumb kid at the dealership hops in and cranks the key. You could leave the switches in run (valet?) but I've had a mechanic start tearing up my old van because it wouldn't start- turns out they left it in D and I'm just lucky they called me refusing to work on it before pulling the starter or something.

Anyway, I think to pop the fuse just use a super fat wire to ground through the switch PAST the fuse. Cause ground from 2 sources (cranking and bad switch position) through a relay. The fuse should pop nearly instantly (small chance of fire!) but the oversized "to ground" wire should be intact. Your switches and relay need to be rated significantly over the fuse as well come to think of it...
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Old 10-19-2010, 07:03 PM   #4
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

Thanks Jage,
I never knew that about the tail light fuse. I also hadn't thought to see if the switches are the "quick kill" type. I'll have look into that.
When it comes to work on the van I have a local mechanic who does all my work so I can just tell him about the setup.

Dave
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Old 10-19-2010, 07:16 PM   #5
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

Had a buddy that used the lighter rigged to a relay that fed the coil. Lighter pushed in the vehicle ran. He also had a hidden bypass switch to control the relay just in case somebody lost the lighter.
BTW the lighter was brand new and never used as a lighter. He didn't smoke.
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Old 10-20-2010, 01:48 PM   #6
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

Rather than blowing a factory fuse and forcing a short in factory wiring, which is not a good idea. Why not put a relay in the fuse circuit you are going to blow. Then blow the fuse to that relay with the switches. That way you are only shorting your own circuits & fuse, but still stop the vehicle from being started.
Better yet, do it without a fuse, you could easily wire up a solid state relay to do the same, then you just need to workout a "reset" setting for the relay state once it's been triggered to the open circuit position. That part may take a circuit with more than just switches and wires though, depending on how complicated you want to be with the series of button presses.

My friend just put a hidden switch under the dash on the brake switch circuit. Open that circuit and you can't move the vehicle even if you do start it, as you can't take it out of park.
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Old 12-04-2011, 12:50 PM   #7
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

Magnetic reed relays are slick too. You can use a magnetic plastic dashboard statue of jesus to enable/disable the circuit.
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Old 12-05-2011, 11:47 AM   #8
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

Quote:
Originally Posted by jage
Tail light fuse. It's bypassable (van in N to start) but with this blown it won't start in P.
Whoa -- yikes! I didn't know that. Thanks for the tip, Jage!

I wonder if there are any other stupid little magic tricks Ford put in place that could cause me an expensive tow from the middle of nowhere for such a minor reason.

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Old 12-05-2011, 11:48 AM   #9
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

I wonder how many thieves would know how to get the transfer case out of neutral? (4x4 Atlas)

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Old 12-05-2011, 02:11 PM   #10
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Re: DIY anti-thief device

I like this solution.

[youtube:2sx3df8s]
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