Sjvarley
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Technical DIY immobiliser ideas
- Thread starter Phiz
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Technical DIY immobiliser ideas
I think "most" might not be correct.
The keyless cars I've encountered so far have a hidden keyhole too, so that a mechanical unlock of the door is possible. A problem with backup batteries is that they just sit for long periods unused, and then when you need them, they are dead. Not something I wish to trust. I'll stick with a key, and a car not too desirable.
Phiz
Member
Thanks all for the massive amounts of ideas to consider. Figured rather than having a million posts quoting each I'd get one big post trying to cover all the points raised.
SJ
A battery isolator is always handy on old cars anyway to prevent ropey wiring draining the batter and would be a nice and easy one to install. My main issue is it would be difficult to locate the break in the wiring somewhere hard to find, it would need to be very close to the battery and as such a semi experienced theif would know to check for it (once they had sussed there was nothing going on). Totally take your point though, anything that extends the time it takes them to get the car going increases the chance of them giving up, they don't want to be sat there longer than required. Plus anything which forces them to open the bonnet is likely to draw attention, even if it's from helpfull passers by seeing an older car broken down at the side of the road!
I prefer the Jack Russell to the alarm idea, in part as I understand how they work better than I do alarms
(more on that later), though I'd prefer to take the little fella with me than leave him in the car!
LPrescott
Love the idea of the switch to set off the horn, though as with all these things some positives and some negatives.
-Draws attention to thieves, people beeping horn for extended periods of time more likely to get attention than alarm. An alarm goes off everyone tuts, a taxi beeps it's horn outside and half the street look out to see what is going on.
-It means if I get in the car, forget I've immobilised it I know straight away, no time sat there wondering why my car wont start!
-Disadvantage is potential thief knows somethings up and as horn will be wired in could chase wires back and find the switch. Another option might be for the switch to turn on fuel warning light and cut power from the fuel gage... theives might even go and get you a free can of petrol! Realistically though this is extra complications which could cause more issues. Keeping it simple would make it less likely to cause an issue and hopefully even make it harder to locate.
Cameron
Simple but effective I like it! Not sure I want this as my long term security solution but until I've got one I may well go with it, will have to check if their is a fuse in the cabin for the fuel pump on my Panda!
Portland Bill
Removing rotor arm would hopefully stop the least knowledgable thieves and as per dragon mans point any swapping/removing of leads would slow the process down generally.
My car is fuel injection so I recon interferring with the pump is likely to be the simplest and most effective method (they could get it around the corner on the starter motor but hardly a joyride!). For non fuel injected cars, though a fuel tap would be effective it could as mentioned on here be a cause of leaks, plus either the fuel line would need to be brought into the cabin or the tap would need to be external, so not easy to opperate discreetly.
I did read somewhere that tidy cars were much more likely to be nicked, I'll use that as an excuse for the state of my volvo, though the Panda is staying neat and tidy!
The broken down sign could potentially work for a night or so, concern there would be it would potentially make it a bit of a vandal target for local kids. Broken down old car to play on/set on fire... in that respect I'd rather it looked cared for!
I agree re alarms to a point, ignored and often tempremental. The alarm in our old van served two purposes, annoying everyone and draining our battery!
Kolza
I take your point regards public form, is there any way this could be discussed privately amongst forum members only or are all threads on the forum public by nature? I'd guess as long as we do not get too technical in terms of locations of immobilisers etc. we should be fairly safe, plus as has already been said, the type of theives after a Panda are more likely to be opportunists than pre planning career criminals. Certainly in my case I'm not really worried about my regular storage location as it would be a lot of hard work compared to cars out on the street, plus if you really tried joyriders would probably take my bike and theives after money my tools rather than the Panda.
FDNY21
I agree a visual security device in addition to something more discreet is definitely a good move, even if they don't manage to take the car the damage caused in the attempt would be gutting! There are a load of different steering wheel locks on the market and I'd be interested in any advice as to what works well with the Panda and what would be the most secure. One issue with this sort of device is storing it when not in use. I had one for my old Saab and it didn't fit under the seat very well and was always in the way when I had passengers in the back. Given the size of the Panda and the length of trips planned storage will be at a premium so a crook lock would have to fit neatly somewhere?
Dragon Man
Taking the ECU out would certainly stop them, even if you put a sign on it saying 'no ECU so don't bother) I'm guessing most theives don't carry a model specific ECU around with them! Issues I can see here are:
-Carrying an ECU around is less than ideal
-ECU might get damaged while out on travels.
-I've had an issue in the past with the connector pins for an ECU being damaged and guess constantly removing refitting could cause wear and issues.
In short this would be a great solution for long term storage of the car, but maybe not for each time you part up somewhere on a daily basis.
Don't suppose anyone could PM me the route and colour of the power cable for my fuel pump. Also I'll need to work out what rated switch to get for it so any tips there would be welcome.
Thanks all for the great input, we don't have to make Panda's inpenetrable, just more secure than the Nissan etc. we park next to:slayer:
SJ
A battery isolator is always handy on old cars anyway to prevent ropey wiring draining the batter and would be a nice and easy one to install. My main issue is it would be difficult to locate the break in the wiring somewhere hard to find, it would need to be very close to the battery and as such a semi experienced theif would know to check for it (once they had sussed there was nothing going on). Totally take your point though, anything that extends the time it takes them to get the car going increases the chance of them giving up, they don't want to be sat there longer than required. Plus anything which forces them to open the bonnet is likely to draw attention, even if it's from helpfull passers by seeing an older car broken down at the side of the road!
I prefer the Jack Russell to the alarm idea, in part as I understand how they work better than I do alarms
(more on that later), though I'd prefer to take the little fella with me than leave him in the car!LPrescott
Love the idea of the switch to set off the horn, though as with all these things some positives and some negatives.
-Draws attention to thieves, people beeping horn for extended periods of time more likely to get attention than alarm. An alarm goes off everyone tuts, a taxi beeps it's horn outside and half the street look out to see what is going on.
-It means if I get in the car, forget I've immobilised it I know straight away, no time sat there wondering why my car wont start!
-Disadvantage is potential thief knows somethings up and as horn will be wired in could chase wires back and find the switch. Another option might be for the switch to turn on fuel warning light and cut power from the fuel gage... theives might even go and get you a free can of petrol! Realistically though this is extra complications which could cause more issues. Keeping it simple would make it less likely to cause an issue and hopefully even make it harder to locate.
Cameron
Simple but effective I like it! Not sure I want this as my long term security solution but until I've got one I may well go with it, will have to check if their is a fuse in the cabin for the fuel pump on my Panda!
Portland Bill
Removing rotor arm would hopefully stop the least knowledgable thieves and as per dragon mans point any swapping/removing of leads would slow the process down generally.
My car is fuel injection so I recon interferring with the pump is likely to be the simplest and most effective method (they could get it around the corner on the starter motor but hardly a joyride!). For non fuel injected cars, though a fuel tap would be effective it could as mentioned on here be a cause of leaks, plus either the fuel line would need to be brought into the cabin or the tap would need to be external, so not easy to opperate discreetly.
I did read somewhere that tidy cars were much more likely to be nicked, I'll use that as an excuse for the state of my volvo
, though the Panda is staying neat and tidy!The broken down sign could potentially work for a night or so, concern there would be it would potentially make it a bit of a vandal target for local kids. Broken down old car to play on/set on fire... in that respect I'd rather it looked cared for!
I agree re alarms to a point, ignored and often tempremental. The alarm in our old van served two purposes, annoying everyone and draining our battery!
Kolza
I take your point regards public form, is there any way this could be discussed privately amongst forum members only or are all threads on the forum public by nature? I'd guess as long as we do not get too technical in terms of locations of immobilisers etc. we should be fairly safe, plus as has already been said, the type of theives after a Panda are more likely to be opportunists than pre planning career criminals. Certainly in my case I'm not really worried about my regular storage location as it would be a lot of hard work compared to cars out on the street, plus if you really tried joyriders would probably take my bike and theives after money my tools rather than the Panda.
FDNY21
I agree a visual security device in addition to something more discreet is definitely a good move, even if they don't manage to take the car the damage caused in the attempt would be gutting! There are a load of different steering wheel locks on the market and I'd be interested in any advice as to what works well with the Panda and what would be the most secure. One issue with this sort of device is storing it when not in use. I had one for my old Saab and it didn't fit under the seat very well and was always in the way when I had passengers in the back. Given the size of the Panda and the length of trips planned storage will be at a premium so a crook lock would have to fit neatly somewhere?
Dragon Man
Taking the ECU out would certainly stop them, even if you put a sign on it saying 'no ECU so don't bother) I'm guessing most theives don't carry a model specific ECU around with them! Issues I can see here are:
-Carrying an ECU around is less than ideal
-ECU might get damaged while out on travels.
-I've had an issue in the past with the connector pins for an ECU being damaged and guess constantly removing refitting could cause wear and issues.
In short this would be a great solution for long term storage of the car, but maybe not for each time you part up somewhere on a daily basis.
Don't suppose anyone could PM me the route and colour of the power cable for my fuel pump
. Also I'll need to work out what rated switch to get for it so any tips there would be welcome.Thanks all for the great input, we don't have to make Panda's inpenetrable, just more secure than the Nissan etc. we park next to:slayer:
When I had a Uno I made an immobiliser with a hidden reed relay which need a small magnet passing over it . This operated a relay which locked itself 'on' until the ignition was switched off . this simple circuit was put in the feed to the HP diesel pump but would work in any ignition circuit .Can supply by e-mail.
Don't suppose anyone could PM me the route and colour of the power cable for my fuel pump
Thanks all for the great input, we don't have to make Panda's inpenetrable, just more secure than the Nissan etc. we park next to:slayer:
My old Haynes manual for Panda classic shows feed to fuel pump as Brown with White tracer. No idea how it gets there, but first place to look is under the rear seat. There should be a cover over the fuel pump/tank sender. Go from there.
It is fed from a 10a fuse, presumably in the engine bay. Handbook may confirm.
Looked further at Haynes.
Under the rear seat is a plastic cover. Under that is the fuel pump and tank sender. The sender has 3 wires, the pump only two.
You could cut the wires to go via your switch, or after a good look at the connector, see if you can find a pair, male/female on Ebay or search for 'car electrical'. With your own connectors, you can plug in, take your wires via a switch and back to the pump, making it neat and tidy and the car wiring undamaged.
if it is fed from a ten amp fuse the only places i can think it would be would be the under dash roll fusebox, or i seem to remember space for 2 fuses in front of the 2 relays attached in the engine bay near the drivers side strut tower, tho i may be misremembering
Sjvarley
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S.j .
Simple but. Very effective. It's a key you take with you. Just break the red or black with the ( key isolator )
Then no one can start it even with a bump as no volts to coil if circuit broken£7.99' 1hrs work
Perfect !!!!
Simple but. Very effective. It's a key you take with you. Just break the red or black with the ( key isolator )
Then no one can start it even with a bump as no volts to coil if circuit broken£7.99' 1hrs work
Perfect !!!!
Last edited:
Phiz
Member
Brillaint, cheers for that, I'd not looked in the Haynes as I'd found other than chapter 13 most of it was irrelevant to my car, guides on here and intuition only so far
. I shifted the tank while welding up the rot but would not have known which was the cables for the pump and which for the sender. I'll try and work out the full route of the wiring so I can cut my switch in anywhere between making it much more difficult to locate than running the cables to the connectors on the tank itself though. Do see the benefit of keeping original wires intact but I recon this is worth the cut, plus I'll get someone less cack handed with a soldering iron to assist me!Phiz
Member
I'll check soon as I get a spare half hour, if I can locate the cables at both ends it shouldn't be too hard to find where it runs and from there I'll leave the details off the world wide web!
Phiz
Member
Not sure I follow you on that one?
Sjvarley
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Ok just take off the battery reds connect to one side of the ( key. Switch ) then add a new cable back to the battery turn key all electrics on. Turn key off and remove key all electrics off and isolated as part of the switch is on the key see my 1 st post
It cannot be switched on without the key
See below
It cannot be switched on without the key
See below
Last edited:
Sjvarley
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pandamaniac
Established member
When it comes to alarms going off I would rather my car got pinched than be shot dead trying to stop some rat arsed teabag stealing it.
If you can get classic insurance and have an agreed value let it go.
Other than that cover it in dog ****!
Dave
If you can get classic insurance and have an agreed value let it go.
Other than that cover it in dog ****!
Dave
you could always buy a wheelclamp or like i have a basball bat type steering wheel clamp plenty on ebay from around £15 a very good visual deterant to anyone even thinking of stealing your pride and joy most toerags will not even bother if they can see them
Phiz
Member
Fair point to an extent, though I don't think many thieves would even think being seen/possibly identified is a worthwhile risk for a Panda, probably shouting at them would get the message across, failing that an iron bar
Phiz
Member
Definitely agree on the visual deterrent, just so many of them if known to the thieves offer little protection, still would put some off. Also especially in terms of the wheel clamp, not very practical for when out and about. It'd take up loads of space in the car and be a pain putting it on in the rain etc. More for long term storage of the car, which is not where I have a problem.
Just had a thought. A '750' badge on the back may act as a deterrent.
Good I'm not a car theif. Love a 750 I do!
I loved my 750, did 45,000 miles in two years, but I'm guessing it may well deter a thief. They'll be looking for a quick escape, not lots of fun.
