wiring an immobilizer on a hdj81 (1 Viewer)

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Calgary, Canada
anyone have any luck with this experience?
I'm just trying to have a little extra security on my truck and having either a starter kill or some kind of engine immobilizer to prevent theft of the truck would be somewhat beneficial for me.
I'm not looking at anything extravagent, just even a simple quick wiring job with a small swich tucked away under the dash or something to allow this.
I've done it in the past in a small vw gasser, but the same way i did it doesn't apply to my truck..
any input would be appreciated.
Cheers,
 
Steve I'm working on something currently to do that and more. A couple of my friends have been pestering me about it for a couple of months and I want one for my cruiser too so am half way through it.
The main spec for it is a lot of features but keep the cost right down. I'm making it a project that you can assemble yourself on a piece of experimenters board and put into a small box, I'll only be supplying the IC which is an 8 pin microcontroller same size as a 555 timer. Just needs a few resistors, diodes and a couple of transistors apart from that, something that can be assembled in a night or so.

I'll put some info up on it in the electrical section when its done and if there is any interest I'll go out and get a couple of tubes of IC's and put it in the classifieds.

Your question is probably best answered by PM and some of the guys might do that.
 
Our insurance requires these here in Africa. It's very simple...a hidden toggle switch to control power to the fuel shut off solenoid at the injector pump. Costs about $5 in parts and about 2 hours of labor to run the wires (and hide them). Switch the thing off, no power to the fuel solenoid. You can crank all you want but it won't start. If you want, let me know and I'll get you some more details. I'll try and get a pic, even of the engine side of the set up. The cabin side is simple.
 
Toggle switch inline with one of the wires that controls the solenoid of your starter relay would also work...

Yep, only....it then is very obvious to the thief that something is 'wrong'.
When the power to the fuelsolenoid is interrupted the engine will spin but not fire up, and the thief might think that the engine is bad.
I've been playing with the idea of having the power to the solenoid interrupted at short, irregular intervals with the help of a relais and a timer, firing at irregular times.
So the engine would start run for a sec or two, die, fire up again after a few secs, die, etc. thus simulating a bad running engine, making it un-attractive for the thief.

Have never built it.......
 
The problem with them IMO is that they are too simple to bypass, especially with a diesel so some thought should be given to the design. About 6 months ago a friend called me to help him out with one that had failed on his mazda turbo, car refused to start. The guy had spent a few hundred on the thing and it was supposed to be one of the best around (won't mention the brand). I didn't even have a multimeter with me and it took me 5 minutes to bypass it. I'm no auto elec, in fact I hate having my head under the dash, gives me cramps. Anyone with a bit of knowledge can get around them.
Just knowing there is an immobilizer in the vehicle is actually a big advantage to the theif, so x2 on what Ron said.
 
Have posted before ( in Roscos thread about his engine not stopping) that I have an immobilizer installed.
This thing once played a dirty trick on me by interrupting the power to the fuelselenoid once in a while.
(faulty relais). All it took was a piece of electrical wire, hook it up to the + post of the battery and the fuelselenoide to get going again when that happened.
Downside was I had to remove the wire to kill the engine ;)
 
at the same time, what thief is going to spend time trying to figure out the wiring when he's trying to steal a car..
usually the only time my truck is out of sight is at night in the driveway...
i'll hear the truck trying to turn over and have time to react, rather than them driving away with my rig..
It's a deterent, but not a perfect solution....
 
Let's be realistic here...there are two kinds of thieves...those who are looking for a joyride, and those who really want your vehicle.

Expert thieves will more than likely steal your vehicle no matter what type of ingenious system you come up with...you'd be surprised how sophisticated their problem solving capability is even though they are fools with whatever else they do with their pathetic lives. Trust me, I've lived in eastside Vancouver and Surrey...and have worked in the Sunrise-Hastings area and near the "war zone". If someone really wants your truck, they'll get it.

The ones I want to avoid are the really dumb punks who are just looking for an easy rip off for a joyride, and then dumping or burning the truck. These guys will look for an easy vehicle to steal, and if my truck is harder to steal than my neighbour's, then hopefully he'll leave mine alone. :)
 
Just knowing there is an immobilizer in the vehicle is actually a big advantage to the theif, so x2 on what Ron said.

I should've mentioned this before. Here in Africa, anyway, thieves start the process by looking for the kill switch. Like I said, our insurance requires it...I didn't say it was effective. However, in the US or elsewhere where these are not so common it might be a good delay tactic. I liked the idea Ron had about the intermittent start. That'd put a thief off his stride.
 
I should've mentioned this before. Here in Africa, anyway, thieves start the process by looking for the kill switch. Like I said, our insurance requires it...I didn't say it was effective. However, in the US or elsewhere where these are not so common it might be a good delay tactic. I liked the idea Ron had about the intermittent start. That'd put a thief off his stride.

Me too. I think a combination of different things to delay and exasperate the process, that's what I am working on. Yes a pro will get your truck if he really wants it, but drawing out the process will give the owner a chance to take action.
 
Me too. I think a combination of different things to delay and exasperate the process, that's what I am working on. Yes a pro will get your truck if he really wants it, but drawing out the process will give the owner a chance to take action.

Just remember that it goes both ways. The more complicated it is for you to enable the thief defences then the less likely you will use them on a regular baisis. Here many vehicles are stolen while someone just pops int to get a coffee or a jug of milk. I think Greg had his 40 stolen here right from under his nose while he enjoyed a coffee at a local coffee joint.
 
Just remember that it goes both ways. The more complicated it is for you to enable the thief defences then the less likely you will use them on a regular baisis. Here many vehicles are stolen while someone just pops int to get a coffee or a jug of milk. I think Greg had his 40 stolen here right from under his nose while he enjoyed a coffee at a local coffee joint.

Well yes that can be the way. Ease of use is something I always consider. I have a pet hate for clumsy or complicated user interfaces. A lot of times what is otherwise a good design can be made useless by that. It won't be anymore complicated to arm than what people are already using with basic systems.

That sucks! Hope Greg got it back?
 

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