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I have recently purchased a 95 F150. In this changing world we live in these days I am worried about theft of the truck as they are becoming classics.
Are there any tech savvy members who could post a thread about installing a hidden kill switch for our classic Fords? Something that would disable fuel pumps, or all battery power completely.
A safe wiring diagram that would allow switch placement at the choice of the installer.
I knew a guy that put a double pole toggle switch under the dash, then bought and mounted a second fender mount starter solenoid under the hood. He spiced the starter signal wire into the toggle, so when it was to the left the truck would start... to the right it would just click the second solenoid so it sounded like either the battery was too dead to start the truck or the starter had failed.
I only knew this after he let me borrow the truck and i couldn't get it to start. Got to his house and had issues. Check the battery, tap the starter, check the real solenoid... finally called him at work and he laughed saying he wondered when i was going to call. Told me where the switch was and i flipped it and it started.
His reason was if you are at "the mall" and someone tried to steal it, and it is stone dead but the lights work... the thief will look for a kill switch. If it acts like the starter took a **** when you parked or the battery is weak, they are more likely to move on as diagnosing a no start click may take longer than feeling around for a kill button.
I've had ignition kill switches on cars before, but what I thought was kind of clever was my buddy's dad who put a valve in the fuel line, I believe it was under the seat. If you closed the valve, there was enough gas in the line to get the car about a block before it would die and not restart. Worst case, they ditch the car. Best case, you find them a few hundred feet down the road, trying to get it to start and... do whatever you see fit in the situation.
Make a 3" jumper of 12 gauge THHN stranded wire. Put a male spade connector on each end. Run a loop of same size wire from the downstream side of your inertia switch, but don't splice near your inertia switch, so it won't be obvious. Run the loop of wire to a discreet location in your cab, that's reachable from the driver's seat. Put female spade connectors on the two ends of your wire loop. When the jumper is installed, the fuel pumps will run normally. You can pull the jumper when you get out of your truck. Make an extra jumper in case you lose the original. Route the wiring where it won't chafe or get pinched. Remember not to touch anything metal with the bare male spades while the key is on, but you should be installing/removing the jumper with the key off. *Edit: Use insulated spade connectors.
Make a 3" jumper of 12 gauge THHN stranded wire. Put a male spade connector on each end. Run a loop of same size wire from the downstream side of your inertia switch, but don't splice near your inertia switch, so it won't be obvious. Run the loop of wire to a discreet location in your cab, that's reachable from the driver's seat. Put female spade connectors on the two ends of your wire loop. When the jumper is installed, the fuel pumps will run normally. You can pull the jumper when you get out of your truck. Make an extra jumper in case you lose the original. Route the wiring where it won't chafe or get pinched. Remember not to touch anything metal with the bare male spades while the key is on, but you should be installing/removing the jumper with the key off. *Edit: Use insulated spade connectors.
This is a great idea. I like it because everything involved is inside the cab and most thieves would not even know about the inertia switch location. Thanks Man!!
I knew a guy that put a double pole toggle switch under the dash, then bought and mounted a second fender mount starter solenoid under the hood. He spiced the starter signal wire into the toggle, so when it was to the left the truck would start... to the right it would just click the second solenoid so it sounded like either the battery was too dead to start the truck or the starter had failed.
I only knew this after he let me borrow the truck and i couldn't get it to start. Got to his house and had issues. Check the battery, tap the starter, check the real solenoid... finally called him at work and he laughed saying he wondered when i was going to call. Told me where the switch was and i flipped it and it started.
His reason was if you are at "the mall" and someone tried to steal it, and it is stone dead but the lights work... the thief will look for a kill switch. If it acts like the starter took a **** when you parked or the battery is weak, they are more likely to move on as diagnosing a no start click may take longer than feeling around for a kill button.
great idea
embarking on. Long trip not only using my old F250 but will be towing my 07GT500.
Long story but funny.
( A 7.3 truck has enough fuel in the rails and injection pump to get 2 miles)
I just remembered an UNINTENTIONAL kill switch that enabled my uncle to recover his stolen 02 7.3 super duty. About 8 years ago it died on him in the middle of winter so he had it towed to his house. Called me to take a look, keep in mind it is -20 and windy and this thing is in a driveway next to a field. Ok anyway, key on no sound from the lift pump in the tank. Check fuse, blown... get meter and hot side shows dead short to ground. Check wiring and it is chafed through ok easy fix. But he needs truck now so grab some wire and splice lift pump into the left headlight relay so when lights are on pump runs. And i tell him he needs to get it to a shop first thing Monday morning.
Fast forward 5 years..... this truck is now a work teuck and not his estimate truck. So his truck and trailer are stolen from a jobsite. Ignition smashed out and started with a screwdriver. I was with my dad and uncle just catching up with them, and my uncle gets a call from a friend asking if he needs a ride. And he's like what are you talking about? Well the Silver truck is on the side of the highway by such and such... So we all piled in my dads truck and headed out to see. And sure enough it had been stolen. Called police filed a report and cop said he got lucky that it broke down or he would have lost it all. My uncle turned the headlights on and cranked it up, and said to the officer... nah they didnt have the headlights on and ran out of fuel. And explained it to the cop. Who looked at him amazed and dumbstruck at the same time. At which point I said "you still havent fixed that? I told you it was temporary...like YEARS ago" And now he never will because of this incident.
In a bought of boredom in my teenage years, I wired a kill switch into main power wire to the fuel pump. Found the wire in the kick panel, snipped it, added some wire, and hid a on/off switch in a removable trim panel in the center console. Thinking back now remembering that i never used that "feature", I could have just opened the hood and disconnected the coil pack. If one left the connector unplugged but "in place", it would appear as though it was correctly connected. The same logic could be applied to any of these trucks with a simple hidden on/off switch to the critical component of your choosing. These days, one wouldn't have to try very hard to defeat the clapped ignition in my Fummins truck. They would, however, need to manually turn the fuel on since I didn't see the need to install an electric fuel solenoid on my "work" truck. If its cold, theyd have to know to use the grid heater and utilize the fast idle ****. That and knowing the younger population cant drive stick keeps my rig fairly safe.
I put kill switches on all my trucks and friends/girl friends cars and trucks. No pictures of the location. I chose to control the power wire to the ICM (orange/black stripe I think). I put the wires in loom and wrapped in electrical tape up to the grommet in the firewall; after a few weeks of dirt/dust, it looks like it's been there for years. When I installed them, I put two switches in parallel, that way if one were to fail, I could turn on the second switch. I've install kill switches all over the place; glovebox, seat bracket, etc. The reason I cut power to the ICM instead of the starter solenoid is so no one would ever know there was a kill switch to try to bypass. When someone did try to steal my baby a few years ago, they just cranked the battery until it died. If there was no crank, they'd know there was a kill switch and then they could run there own cable from battery to the starter or jump the solenoid with a screw driver.
