Supercharged84Z

how would i go about wiring up a kill switch for my car? i need a "theft deterrent" other than an alarm cause i dont have the money. something with the coil or starter?

black89ws6

When my vats system in my 89 firebird went bad (ignition cylinder connection broke, like all the rest), I wired it up to activate when a certain switch in the cab is in a certain position. You can use any switch you like. Headlights, fan switch, cruise control, whatever. I set up mine so when I turn on the cruise control, it activates a relay, which closes a circuit with the proper resistor.

By the info in your sig, your car is too old to have a vats system in it, but you can still use the same idea. I would put the kill switch on the coil, not the starter. If a thief cant' get it to crank, he knows there's a kill switch. If it will crank but won't start, he may think it's a car with problems, and give up.

The part I liked about using the cruise control was that there is no extra switch. it's not hard to find the kill switch that someone installs under their dash, but when you piggyback it on an existing switch, it's effectively invisible.

I would find the power lead to your coil, and put a relay inline, so the coil gets no power until that relay is activated. If you use a second relay to activate the coil relay, and wire the coil relay so it's output feedsback on it's activation line, then it would only take a tap by the second relay to activate the coil relay. The coil relay then would not be deactivated until power is removed (ignition turned off).

Sorry if that's vague...I have the idea in my head, but just can't describe it clearly without drawing a diagram. I hope that helps.

Supercharged84Z

so just take a switch and install it somewhere between the power source and power connection on the coil? my car doesnt have cruise control so im sol on that idea lol

black89ws6

In a nutshell, yup, that'll do it. A car with no power to the coil isn't going very far, unless you park on the crest of a tall hill

MdFormula350

when i lived in the downtown city, i had my 88 camaro 5.7 i just popped the hood and pulled the main coil wire off the distributor, they would most likely give up after a while.. now that i have vats i am really not concerned about security..

black89ws6

I wouldn't put that much faith in the vats system. it is circumvented easily enough.

MdFormula350

well i know it can be bypassed! but its better than nothing..

at least it may deter the beginner theif.

Squeeks83

so if i cut the pink wire to the distributor and put a toggle switch in that line and hooked it back up could that work as a kill switch, i mean let the car crank but not start??

if so then i want to extend that wire into the cab of the car by the door, wire it to a switch and then back so it completes the circut. will this work, if not can you tell me a way i can do this, i want it to kill the ignition system's power.

also im in the process of puttin in a neutral switch now so i will be on 3 switches.

black89ws6

That might work, but I wouldn't mess with any of the distributor's wires. I would put the switch on the coil power source.

2vmodular

a thirdgen car alarm, remote start, and keyless entry install guide is avaliable here:

http://www.p71interceptor.com/thirdgen/alarminfo

joshp14

yes it can be bypassed. GM should have made each VATS key coded individually, but instead, they only mad 15 different VATS keys. So if a person aquires all 15 keys, they can have your ride.

The only downside to it is that it takes 4 minutes for the module to reset...which means that if you are trying all 15 keys, and you get one wrong, you have to wait 4 minutes to try the next key.

2vmodular

Yes vats can be bypassed by sequentially going through all the key R values until you get the proper one but this takes a great deal of time, perhaps as much as an hour. A quicker attack would be to disable the starter kill relay and emulate the fuel enable square wave signal between the vats module & the ecm.

But as you probably already know:

-The majority of thirdgen thefts are the amateur joyrider variety that smash the steering column and drive off. VATS is very effective at preventing this type of theft. Unlike aftermarket alarm installs, yanking on wires under the dash & ripping out modules does not make a vats equipped driveable.
-No professional theif is going to waste time & effort stealing a $2,500 thirdgen when they can steal a $25,000 mustang cobra with a little more effort.

87z28TN

I have a kill switch on my neutral saftey switch. If you cut the power to it, the car is fooled in to thinking that it is in gear. The engine will not rotate, but all the electronics still work. One thing I prefer about a neutral safety switch bypass is that if something goes wrong with your wiring while your driving, it will not affect your car. You will only notice it the next time you attempt to start you car. Just my .02