anti theft measures

[H48HPE]

ive just been in the pub talking to someone very much in the know about car theft. I thought id probe him as to what was what in the car theft game and this is some of the stuff i found out. The person was in the know bwcause he used to live in to put it nicely a 'rough' area the other side of doncaster to where I live. the facts about this bloke and what he got up to etc, are not really relevant (we all have our oppinion on this subject) anyway this is what i found out.

the best cars to nick for a fast steal are 80s Vauxhalls particually the Astra.

all cars are easy to steal to people who like doing it as a hobby but Rovers are aone of the harder ones.

Alarms are good but they dont always put theives off, if the car is parked in a high crime area where lots of alarms go off, its not a problem to a theif, however in a quiet area they would avoid allarms for obvious reasons.

steering wheel locks are rubish unless they are the disklock type, apparently the ones that are like a bar that go over the wheel are a joke to theives but the disklock is not somthing they want to tackle, they just break/cut the steering wheel to get the bar type off, and this bloke has even known them cut off and posted through letter boxes as a joke.

Anyway, from my discussions with this guy i have come to the conclusion that the best/most practical anti theft kit for your maestro/montego is one of those disklok steering wheel locks (Ive got 1 from argos for about £80) and an alarm. But of the two the Disklok is the one to have, apparently they cant shift them with the normal theft kit they carry.

Also a simple but efective trick is to hide extra ignition switches (just rocker type)in the car so it wont start unless the theif knows where to look.

andy

[E_T_V]

Anyone any ideas how to imobilise a diesel then? (other than remove the wheels)

[MaestroMatt]

Originally posted by E_T_V
Anyone any ideas how to imobilise a diesel then? (other than remove the wheels)

To be honest, I didn't realise they had actually mobilised them in the first place... :laugh:

[e692wtt]

There will be an electrical feed to the Injection Pump to operate a solenoid to allow the diesel to flow when the 'ignition' is on, so adding a switch to this feed will stop the engine running.

Also putting a switch into the 12v feed to the Starter Motor solenoid will stop the engine starting when the Starter Motor is used. Assuming that the relevant switches are switched to 'off'...

[H48HPE]

The best idea is to put extra switches on several important circuits and hide them in the car, this is so simple but if done well and well hiden, the thief wont have a clue where to start looking and even though your steering column cowling will be smashed and the car broken into. at least it will still be there.

For a diesel id just get the wiring diagrams out and pick the important circuits not sure which ones id go for but injector pump related ones sound good.

I personally havnt disabled my starter because i thought that if they keep trying to start it then it will draw attention to the car and also flaten the batery and they might think that its just broke down instead of them searching for starter imobilisers.

as i said above though, invest in a disklok cos they really dont like them.

andy

[Dean]

When my DLX got broke into, i went straight out and got a disk-lok, best £80 i've spent in ages!!!!!

[tony]

being a tight bum i disconncet the king lead on a night,so far so good:)

[Firefly]

i agree with the idea of switches to cut off the ignition, we use 'chicken' switches (the sort you get on some pc's). they have a key instead of a rocker switch,so even if they find it,they cant use it.

if you are really stuck ever, theres always the removal of the rotor arm.

[G51 NAV]

For those cars with inertia-switches behind the radios, the quickest way to disable the vehicle is to pop the plunger on the switch. That won't stop anyone who knows it's there, but most thefts certainly round my area are by druggies who know absolutely nothing about cars and are only interested in selling the car to fund their drugs-habit. If it doesn't go within a few starts they move on to the next. Result = it may have smashed windows or locks, but at least it's still there :)

[e692wtt]

Good call, that. I'd forgotten that I used to disable my VDP using the Inertia Switch.

I've also been known to loosen the King Lead on the Distributor Cap, thinking it would stop the engine running. I've been known to drive off (the engine still ran (and then the bl:censored: :censored: dy thing stopped dead, usually in a busy part of town - never got on, me and that car).

Anyway, on a Petrol model, why not take the King Lead off completely and keep it with your car keys?


Monty has a 'Dis-Car-Nnect' on the Battery earth terminal (with an auxiliary earth for the clock and radio to retain the settings.

And there also 2 switches on the earth (ie Ignition ECU) side of the Coil, one hidden and one not, so an attempt to 'hot-wire the car bypassing the Ignition Switch won't work either.

And a cheap Alarm with LED to put off the amateurs.

And a £50 motorcycle security lock and chain betwixt steering wheel and driver's seat chassis.

And a £20 lock on the Radio chassis/cassette player attached to the driver's seat chassis.

That's all...

[GK AutoWorks]

Originally posted by G51 NAV
For those cars with inertia-switches behind the radios, the quickest way to disable the vehicle is to pop the plunger on the switch. That won't stop anyone who knows it's there, but most thefts certainly round my area are by druggies who know absolutely nothing about cars and are only interested in selling the car to fund their drugs-habit. If it doesn't go within a few starts they move on to the next. Result = it may have smashed windows or locks, but at least it's still there :)

This works instantly on EFi car's but on Turbo's and later carb Monty's with electric pumps (inertia switch on the fuse box) will still allow the car to run for at least a minute.

[G51 NAV]

Originally posted by GK AutoWorks
This works instantly on EFi car's but on Turbo's and later carb Monty's with electric pumps (inertia switch on the fuse box) will still allow the car to run for at least a minute.

A very valid point, Gareth. No 502 goes for about 30 seconds. I suppose you could pop the button up with the engine still running and wait for the engine to 'die' before switching off and locking up, though I'm not technically-minded enough to say if that would give you frequent re-start problems. Your thoughts?