If you're going to park your car for long term somewhere or just overnight in a bad area, here is a cheap way to make sure your car doesn't go anywhere:

Open the panel next to the right of your steering wheel, pull out fuse #32 and put it somewhere safely. That's the fuse to the fuel pump, so with out fuel, it's not moving.






just don't loose your fuse....

 

Of course Str8, that's an old trick. In fact, I have a hidden toggle switch to cut off the fuel. It helps but isn't completely theft-proof. All they have to do is take any other fuse and stick it in slot #32. But it helps.

 

str8ridin, any pics or write up of the toggle switch? what a great idea...

 

yea, i think everybody here would appreciate it. pics?

 

Why is str8 getting the credit for the toggle switch?!

 

oops, sorry ptatohed. please elaborate.

 

Any writeup would be great! I dont care who did it first, it would be a good idea to install one!

 

O.k., here's what I did. And no I was hardly the first so I shouldn't get credit for thinking up the idea of a fuel pump kill switch. However, I did do it on my own with no write-up/help. O.k., I pulled out my '96 Factory service manual. I looked under 'fuel pump' in the electrical section. I know nothing about electrical and those electrical diagrams make me dizzy but I found the wiring digram for the fuel pump and something labeled 'passenger fuse box' so I knew I was close! It labeled the wires coming out of the fuse box as black and brown. Well, I decided to take a look, hoping this black and/or brown wire was easily locatable. Be prepared to kink and twist yourself in all sorts of funny pretzal positions. And bring a nice flourescent or flashlight with you. I looked at the rear of the fuse box, kind of projecting where the fuel pump fuse is (#32 as str8. said). Well, I never saw a black wire! And the only brown wire I saw was brown and white! I didn't know what to do. I gambled and cut the brown/white wire after much contemplation. Well, it worked! Or didn't work, depending on how you want to look at it. I forget what the stock fuel pump sounds like but the SC auxiliary fuel pump is very loud. When I put the key to the 'on' position, I heard nothing. So now what I did was run the two ends to a switch. I got mine at Wal-Mart. It was hard to find a switch that doesn't light up. Any two-pronged, non-lighting toggle switch will do. Or I suppose you could use a three pronged, lighting switch and just use two out of three. Also pick up a few feet(depending on how far a run you want to your kill switch) of wire. Any color, any gauge. Actually try to get black wire so as not to stand out as much (in the rare instance the crook was looking under your dash). Anyway, cut your brown wire back a little (you'll need to remove some of the stock electrical tape a bit) so you have room to work and to strip back 1/2" of insulation, etc. Twist and crimp the new wires to the brown wires and run both ends to the switch. Hide it somewhere safe. Your decision. Wrap the h. out of the spot where you tapped into the brown wire to try to make it look like stock and not allow your cut to be seen and to keep it looking stock. If I missed anything, feel free to ask. Good luck.

Just remember I have a '96 so I don't know if we all have a brown wire. And lastly, I ALWAYS forget I pushed the toggle back on when I get back to the car so I accidentally start the car and it won't! I think it's bad for the car so try to remember.

 

awesome, i guess thats much easier than pulling the little fuse out everytime. thanks for the idea.

 

doesn't your alarm have a similar thing? if you have one that is...i was told when mine was installed if the car is broken into, or the alarm is just activated you can't start it unless it's disabled. but anyways, that is a good idea too.

 

my car came with the kill switch. previous owner did it

 

Right, but like I said, pulling the fuse doesn't help all that much if the crook is educated. All he has to do is place any of your other fuses in hole #32. Nothing is fool-proof, it just helps. The more line of defenses you have, the better. If I am in a bad-bad area, I do take my fuse out too, in addition to the kill-switch. Just try to place the toggle really well, because like I said before, putting a toggle switch on the fuel pump is well-known. Try to make your "tap" look as stock as possible and run all wires behind the scenes and place the actual switch somewhere where your hand can feel it but your eye can't se it. It will take you about 3-4 hours if you're as slow as me.

 

Well......you COULD just pull all of them....

 

How about a falsies? When you take out the #32 fuse, put back in a similar fuse with one of the prongs cut. It would give the impression of the fuse being in place, but the one prong would leave the circuit open. Or is taking the good fuse out and insert a bad one too much work?

 

yeah i just thought of that now while reading this.... i have a burnt fuse i could just put in it's place.... it's just that it's a little hard to easily pull those things out....

 

Yes, but the more things the better Jeph. Anything stock isn't that great because an educated crook has knowledge of the existing system and has time to to homework ahead of time. You need to 'throw curveballs' and throw as many as possible. Nothing is fool-proof, it's just one more curveball. Ex. kill-switch, Club, aftermarket alarm, etc.

 

That's actually a very good idea brock. Yes, a lot of trouble, but a good idea, noe-the-less.

 

So what exactly happens when you try to start the car w/ Fuse #32 removed? Does the car actually start then die... or do u just hear a clicking sound... etc etc

 

More than likely you'll hear it almost start the first time... the second time will be less of a start and more of a chug chug chug...
hehe

and then your engine will just keep turning over and not start...
it'll just sound dead.

 

Another old trick is to simply use your cigarette lighter as a kill switch if you don't use it to torch up or for cell phone power.

Just disconnect the power to the lighter(wire(s))under the console. Wire the disconnected lighter as you would a regular switch. Once properly connected, to close the circuit you just simply insert & push the cigarette lighter element in. The element will not get hot and will not pop out. To open the circuit pull the element out or remove.

(Caution to not pull out the lighter while the car is in motion)

The beauty of it is that you don't have to hide try to hide the kill switch and you can take the element (switch if you will) with you if you choose.

Good Luck!

Nick

 

It won't start. It just sounds like it would when turning the key but it never actually starts. You are actually supposed to do this to depressurize the fuel system before you change the fuel filter (pull the fuse and try to start the car). For fun I flicked my switch once the car was started and it dies within about 3 seconds.

 

Yeah, I've heard of that, that is a good one Nick. I don't know about you guys but I don't have a cigarette lighter, only a 12V cap.

 

Hahaha....
good idea...

Oh ya, I just bought a 95 Maxima SE...and on the fuse box, there's no map or drawing about which fuse for which device...Does it have it or no?

 

My '96 has it on the trap door.

 

Actually on the Automatic cars.. You can add a toggle switch to the wire that works the shifter assembly.. That way the signal never goes from the brake pedal to the shifter and the car can't get out of park.. After all if the car is started and they can't get it out of park they might be dumbfounded.. or... They might rip that sh*t appart to shift it. Either way.. I say if they already busted into the car and have it to the point that they are trying to start it.. just let them take the damn thing..






just don't loose your fuse.... [/B][/QUOTE]

 

[/B][/QUOTE]
Hey mayb u can let them take ur car if they've gotten that "far"......but hey...i rather they not take my car n jus break a window or wut not....

 

My car doesnt have any fuses to the right of the wheel.




























Mine are on the left.

 

Ok. Ok. Mark Twain said it best when he said there are three kind of lies: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.

Correct me if I am wrong but the statistic is if a car thief has to take more than 5 minutes to get off with your ride, they are not gonna risk it.

But most car theives are pretty good at their job or they are being housed and fed with your tax dollars. The harder you make it for them, the more likely they are to bust the neighbor's window and take off with their ride.

Bottom line.....make it as hard for them as you can reasonably deal with. Get insurance. It'll cost you some $$$ but it may save you from a murder charge when the adjuster cuts you a check for the blue book value.

 

Alright, maybe you can take this too far but you could have more than one switch. I really like the cigarette lighter idea.
It would take a bit of wiring to do it, but a toggle AND the cigarette lighter would leave most thieves scratching their heads.

Then you could have a switch under each wheel, 10-digit PIN entry, retinal scans etc etc

 

Alright there buddy.....

 

ptatohed

That's even sneakier. The receptical part of the lighter is already there. You can buy the lighter element from any auto parts store for a few bucks to complete the switch.

When you leave the car, replace the lighter element(key) with the cap that says 12V.

The thief won't have a clue.

Good Luck!

Nick

 

most people will use a relay when you do the cig lighter thing since there is some resistance built in there

just use it for the starter wire and then it wont matter if you were to remove the cig lighter while driving

I've heard of some people using their detachable face plate as protection. Wire a relay using the antenna lead coming from teh radio to trigger a relay. The relay connects the starter wire only when the antenna has power which would mean you need the faceplate.

On my car, I wired a kill switch in to the stock fog light switch on teh dash (I have a 3rd gen but it's the same idea). The switch still works for my fogs and doesn't affect driving once the car is started. In order to start the car though, the switch has to be pushed in.