Keypad Immobilisers

[Hanaldo]

Hey all,

I know this topic has been discussed before, but a search didn't bring up any recent topics and didn't really answer my questions.

So, after getting my car stolen from my house last week and being fortunate enough to have recovered it, I'm not going to make the same mistake of being complacent again. I want to make a multi-layered security system for it, ie. hidden kill switches, keypad immobiliser, GPS tracking, the works. The car already has an alarm and aftermarket immobiliser, but that doesn't help too much when they get hold of my keys.

Now then, what is a good solution for a keypad immobiliser? Will be looking to install myself. At the moment I'm leaning towards Sanji - wireless, and comes from the crime capital of the world. Troy, if you read this thread, I'd value your input here.

My other thought was to create one myself. Originally thought it wouldn't be too hard; keypad switch wired to relay, relay to ignition. But this probably wouldn't be as simple to do as I thought, as it would need to rearm itself when the ignition is switched off, plus not sure how it would work with programming a code. So unless someone here has the know-how on how to do that, I'll go with an off-the-shelf item for effectiveness.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

Martin.

[533 RYC]

PM sent.

[Hanaldo]

Thanks Gavin, replied.

Can anyone tell me what the 'fail-to-drive circuitry' function does? I imagine it is automatic rearming of the device if the car isn't started for a period of time? And is there any way to obtain the installation instructions, Sanji only give them out to dealers by the looks of it...

[colourclassic]

I'm a bit of a security fanatic myself. My take on things:

1. Car should be equipped with a properly installed alarm and immobilizer system. As we know, installation is so important. I won't reveal my tricks, but the immobilizer module should cut fuel pump and either starter or ignition. Test yourself: if you can find/access the cut points or immobilizer unit within ~15 minutes of dissassembly, it's not hidden well enough.

2. Once that is covered, if you're parking on the street or in public, always leave your car in gear and with the steering wheel turned 360 degrees from center. If they want to get it on a tow truck, they will need to get inside the car to straighten the wheels or put it into neutral. This will set of your now well hidden alarm, alerting either you, or others. Thieves obviously like to work transparently, so a loud alarm going off while the car is being towed onto the back of the truck will be less than ideal.

3. Well Hidden Kill switch. I like the idea of a keypad immobilizer, but a kill switch will do essentially the same job, and with less hassle/cost. A magnetic reed switch could be used creatively used too. Cut a different point to what you did with the alarm system. Whenever your car is parked at home or for a longer time, flick the switch. If they break in and get your keys, they still won't be going anywhere. If they're stealing your keys, they're driving it away otherwise. Hide it in the boot if you're paranoid!

4. Don't care what anyone else says, old-school devices like steering locks or even wheel locks are a useful deterrent, once all of the above are done.

5. Park out of sight at home. Trust your instinct, if a particular street looks seedy, cough up the $10 and park in a lit garage, and do what I wrote above.

[RBrennan25]

2. Once that is covered, if you're parking on the street or in public, always leave your car in gear and with the steering wheel turned 360 degrees from center. If they want to get it on a tow truck, they will need to get inside the car to straighten the wheels or put it into neutral. This will set of your now well hidden alarm, alerting either you, or others. Thieves obviously like to work transparently, so a loud alarm going off while the car is being towed onto the back of the truck will be less than ideal.

Had never actually thought of that, it's so simple it's brilliant! I'll be doing that from now on

[Hanaldo]

I'm a bit of a security fanatic myself. My take on things:

1. Car should be equipped with a properly installed alarm and immobilizer system. As we know, installation is so important. I won't reveal my tricks, but the immobilizer module should cut fuel pump and either starter or ignition. Test yourself: if you can find/access the cut points or immobilizer unit within ~15 minutes of dissassembly, it's not hidden well enough.

2. Once that is covered, if you're parking on the street or in public, always leave your car in gear and with the steering wheel turned 360 degrees from center. If they want to get it on a tow truck, they will need to get inside the car to straighten the wheels or put it into neutral. This will set of your now well hidden alarm, alerting either you, or others. Thieves obviously like to work transparently, so a loud alarm going off while the car is being towed onto the back of the truck will be less than ideal.

3. Well Hidden Kill switch. I like the idea of a keypad immobilizer, but a kill switch will do essentially the same job, and with less hassle/cost. A magnetic reed switch could be used creatively used too. Cut a different point to what you did with the alarm system. Whenever your car is parked at home or for a longer time, flick the switch. If they break in and get your keys, they still won't be going anywhere. If they're stealing your keys, they're driving it away otherwise. Hide it in the boot if you're paranoid!

4. Don't care what anyone else says, old-school devices like steering locks or even wheel locks are a useful deterrent, once all of the above are done.

5. Park out of sight at home. Trust your instinct, if a particular street looks seedy, cough up the $10 and park in a lit garage, and do what I wrote above.

Thanks for that mate, agree with all the above points. The car does already have a 5-point immobilizer and alarm system, and I always leave it in gear when parked outside. Steering wheel at full lock is something I generally do, though will always do from now on. My car is always parked in my garage and is never visible outside except for when I am driving in or out. So really my plan now is to make it as hard to steal as possible, even if they do get my keys.

I will definitely be setting up several kill-switches, and my idea with the keypad was more to add another layer to those kill-switches. I just thought about what I would do if I was a thief. If I was trying to steal a car and it wouldn't start, the first thing I would do is check for kill-switches. If there was a keypad there, I think I would be misled into thinking that was the issue. I would probably give up then and there, but say I took the time to pull everything apart and bypass the keypad, the car then still wouldn't start. At which point I could either waste MORE time looking for kill-switches, or move on. Then after all that if they do still manage to steal the car somehow, I will have the GPS tracker as a last resort.