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Mom's getting up in years and isn't supposed to be driving, and she hasn't, yet. Is there a simple way, other than taking away her keys, to disable a 2014 Escape were it won't start, but were it can be put back into service when needed. It's still driven by caretakers, etc, so I would prefer not to have to reconnect the battery and reset all the electronics that disconnecting the power would cause. Is there a "starter breaker" or something similar, that could be pulled and not foul up everything?
There are a number of potential components that will prevent starting:
BJB Fuse F13
BJB Starter relay
BCM Fuse F78
BCM Fuse F12
There are more, those are just the first few I came across.
Personally, if I had to do this so it had minimal impact on the rest of the drivers, I'd pull fuse F78 and install in its place a fused pigtail with a normally open push-button switch mounted under the dash where it's accessible by someone who is aware of it and can push the button while attempting to start the engine.
Personally, if I had to do this so it had minimal impact on the rest of the drivers, I'd pull fuse F78 and install in its place a fused pigtail with a normally open push-button switch mounted under the dash where it's accessible by someone who is aware of it and can push the button while attempting to start the engine.
That should work, provided the caretaker has 7 foot arms.
I wouldn't suggest doing anything that would be a safety hazard, i.e, anything that would make the car require any task to start it again once it's running.
Pulling something like the fuel pump fuse would be the easiest and safest. Just be sure you have a puller for it because they can be difficult to get out.
And a couple of spares of the right amperage in case they drop it and can't find it or break it.