Kill switch

Do you want a kill switch or a device to stop people starting the car. Kill switches are for stopping the car when things go wrong......having it under a guard makes it hard to reach from the driver's seat....

 

Its all in the name, something has to be living before you can kill it, ie a kill switch is used to stop a running engine. Possibly the origins of which were as a standard safety requirement in race cars. Keys, ignition switches can fail.

Anyway, if you are just after an ignition immobiliser, then I dont think anywhere outside the car(under a mudguard) is a good idea. It would be come obvious to anyone casing out your situation that you run you hand under the mudguard etc every time you go to your car and even noticeable perhaps the first time. Have it close to the driver where you can activate it without drawing attention to what you are doing. Its a catch 22 though, the closer it is the more chance of the thief finding it

 

The trick is to do something unique and clever. There are switches called reed switches which can be open or closed (Depending on the type) with a magnet. You could put one of these under the carpet somewhere, and when you hop in the car just put your magnet over it to close the switch. You could also put it behind the dash somewhere with a metal plate. The metal plate will keep the magnet there. You could keep the magnets in the car because unless you know where the reed switch is they are no use to anyone. You could also try using the cigarette lighter as a switch. Take the cigarette lighter out and it wont work, put it in and it will. Otherwise hide a small switch somewhere. If you want to play with electronics a little you could have a small pushbutton switch that, with a push, turned on for say 10 seconds. You then have 10 seconds to try and start the car before the circuit turns off again.

Always good to keep it simple though, less chance of things going wrong and leaving you stuck somewhere. You can always just hide the switch somewhere, could even be in your glovebox under all your stuff in there. Just get creative.

 

car wont last as long as you think if the fuel pump isnt working. they wont get down the road, and also, it will make them think that there is something wrong with the car when they cant get it to start again

 

Tap unusual circuts too...

Indicators will arouse cops suspicion, Lights and window wipers so if its raining or at night.

usual are ignition wire (purple on my VP) and fuel pump....

There are so many cool places to cut stuff so a theif doesnt know whats going on!

aZk.

 

I'm still not convinced

After reading through this post I reckon they're still called kill switches if it's at the ignition relay or fuel pump coz like if you flick them they're gonna kill the motor!

I like the reed switch idea listed above as this could even be done with a tiny reed switch that goes to a much stronger relay. You wouldn't put an ignition current through a reed switch so it is wise to be plan how you're doing it.

This DIY car alarm I'm installing at has an engine immobiliser + an ignition cut out relay and comes with a 40A relay to do it and it's remote control so a good car alarm is always an option on top of the kill switch if you're worried.

Tilttray's can make off with cars with kill switches pretty easily, may as well have it blaring the whole city as it goes too!

 

when you cut the power to the fuel pump.. the motor will still run for a little while because of the pressure left in the fuel line. so more of a slow and painful kill switch

 

The car will last seconds if that, certainly not enough time to get anywhere. When you rev it to get it moving you would use just about everything left in the line. There are a heap of circuits that you could tap into, but one that I like was the inhibitor switch, if its an auto. Its just a switch that stops the car being started in any gear other than neutral or park. The great thing about it is that the car is only worried when the car is starting. Once the car is running it doesnt matter what you do to the circuit.

If your after info on kill switches, go googling. There is heaps of info. All you need to do then is choose a circuit you want to disable. A wiring diagram like the ones found in a gregorys manual would be really helpful.

 

an idea.. use relays and tap multiple circuits with only one switch make sure you have a decent place to hide the switch tho.

a gregorys is very helpful as it has wiring diagrams. also from looking at one, the inhibitor needs to grounded in order to start and the wire was just grounded in manual models

 

Its a matter of being particular, any device which switches fuel or ignition will also function fine as an immobiliser and kill switch unless one wants to be particularly tricky with the wiring. However, not all immobilisation devices are suitable for kill switches. ie one that controls the starter etc. Granted, switching fuel might not get an instant stop with a carby car....but fairly sure fuel pressure dies off at the injectors quickly with our comms and cams would be wanting something on the ignition too.
You might be a bit annoyed if you asked the auto elec for a kill switch((which you wanted for safety reasons) and he just wired in a switch for the starter instead..... because he thinks "immobilise" and "kill" are interchangeable.

 

in my old car i had a kill switch connected to the fuel pump....it was set up where you had to turn on the high beems before the fuel pump would work....
other wise the car would start but then after a minut or two it would stall......

 

I always thought cars pumped fuel all the time re: above about a slow and painful death if the fuel pump is cut. So does the car only use the fuel pump circuit when it's starting then you can cut power to it and the car will keep going?

A gregories manual is fantastic but I wouldn't know that without completely tracing the relay circuits as well.

 

the best placement is to the park sensor on an auto which is the gray wire under you console coming out of the t bar which will act like the car is trying to start in drive and wont *** anything like the fuel pump which you can or your engine in will just go to acc it works a treat

 

Nah sorry mate, bit of confusion. I was refering to the inhibitor circuit. Fuel pump and most of the other critical circuits do constantly need the power to keep running.

 

if you want to use the inhibitor switch, you better tap it as far under the dash as possible. otherwise when thieves find that the car wont start and decide to steal your stereo instead, they might find it suspicious that a wires been cut and extended

 

cool :w00t: thanks mate!