[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: 16V Just stolen




Well Brian I agree that a battery disconnect is for the most part
effective, but you can do even better. With an alarm you have the
convienence of power door locks and that kind of thing, plus you have an
"armed (-) output" wire that you can connect to a starter kill relay. Now
normally, the engine can still be started by with this relay in effect
because the theives can just roll the car down the street and pop the
clutch. So that doesn't really do jack shiat.

What should be done instead is to wire a relay that supplies power to
three other relays .. which cut the starter, ignition coil power, and fuel
pump power. If you hide them well, they might find one of the relays or
bypass one of the relays, but it's pretty damn unlikely they'll be able to
get all three bases covered. If you're an electrical guy you can go even
further and cut and splice wires in to your harness.. say.. cut both ends
of the wire to the rear wiper and use that wire to power a hidden relay
somewhere, then run an aftermarket-looking wire to the rear wiper to
replace the one you cut. The thieves might cut the wiper wire but the car
still won't start.

If you're a real thief-hating asshole you can put a relay next to the
steering column with a bunch of big obvious yellow butt connectors..
They'll see it right away and think it's the starter kill.. but when they
disconnect the wires to hook them together, another circuit farther behind
the dash can trigger the alarm. (you can do this by using the shock sensor
interface to the alarm.. one of the wires sets off the alarm when
grounded)

Oh yeah and you'll want several kill switches too.. microswitches are a
great resource - you can make it so you have to be in 4th gear, have
the radio on, the seat all the way back and step on the brakes in order
for the car to start.

Of course even if you do all this the thief can cut your battery
power (which is why you bought a backup battery) or just snip the wire to
your siren (which is why you have more than one and they have built-in
backup batteries), and they might get your stereo (might not) .. but
unless they have a flatbed (which i'm not saying is impossible), at least
the bulk of your car will still be where you left it when you return.

There is much much more than can be done .. if you're a crazy paranoid
person like me. Yeah, it might be a lot of work - a lot of hours splicing
wires carefully let alone planning it all out, but I like my car that
much!

Last of all, I'd like to say that FYI this is not what I've done in my
car... I'm not that stupid! I'm not going to come out and post exactly
what kind of alarm I have and where my kill switches are located. I've
done completely different things, so if there are any car thieves reading
this list don't think you know what I've done to protect my car because
you don't. Not by a long shot..

On a final note.. if anyone decides to do things like this to their car,
make sure you do it well (no half-ass scotch-lok splices or butt
connectors). It can be difficult and embarassing to explain to your
passenger why while driving down the road, part of your setup gets
triggered and your alarm starts going off as your engine dies, strobe
lights start flashing and the interior fills with smoke. And yes, that's
just a hypothetical situation...

HTH,

-Toby

--
'87 16v

On Tue, 12 Jun 2001, Brian McGarvey wrote:

> The best "alarm" is to have a battery disconnect. when a thief gets in
> your car and "nothing" is on he assumes.. crap dead battery. and moves on.
> or at least a starter cutout relay. so that the starter cannot operate
> without stuff. but this is also just a deterrent.
>
> my father used to disconnect the battery on his 88 GMC s1500 with cool
> wheels and tires tint.. etc. Thieves tried to steal it 3 times
> unsucessfully. Had to replace the drivers side window several times, the
> steering column several times, the finally got it on the 4th try. he left
> the battery hooked up when he went on the road.
> oh well.
> he says he's seen it around a couple of times in ATL, but not it a
> while.
>
> brian
> 87 16v damaged...
>


--
Email LIST problems to: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org.
To unsubscibe send "unsubscribe scirocco-l" in the message to majordomo@scirocco.org