Kill switch help

[pyemaster]

Hi all,

I'm looking to wire in an anti-theft kill switch to my 1994 Toyota Hilux Surf, it's a 3.0l turbo diesel.

I've searched online and have received a whole mixed bag of information, though none I'm totally sure I can rely on.

From what I've read I think it would be safer to tap into the wiring for the starter motor rather than fuel pump, etc, as I don't want to be carrying around a waiting failure which could cause the engine to be randomly starved of fuel one day on the highway. By bringing wiring into the cab that is spliced into the starter motor am I likely to be causing a fire hazard?

I appreciate nothing will ever make a vehicle 100% secure to proper thieves, but to deter an opportunist and cause them enough of a pain so they move on is all I want from it.

Just a simple design which isn't complicated which won't let the engine start. Can anyone shed any light on any obvious dangers of limitations with doing this to a diesel engine?

I'm not an expert with electrics but for something simple like this I'd rather give it a go myself than pay for an autoelectrician.

Thanks
Owen

 

[Joe917]

I put a hidden switch on the line to the fuel pump on my gas powered Toyo. Doing that with a diesel could be a major issue. Most Diesels do not restart once they have been run out of fuel without a complicated bleeding process.

 

[pyemaster]

Yeah I'm not sure how it works, I think I've narrowed it down to either running a switch to interrupt the fuel pump, or alternatively a switch that stops the starter.

I'd rather the latter, but I'm slightly worried about bringing in cabling that will be carrying a big current draw when cranking.

I'm not sure whether I should be concerned on this though. I wonder if there are any auto electricians on the boards who might be able to clarify this for me?

Owen

 

[texasboy893]

I would just find a heavy duty starter relay and place that in the cable that runs from your battery to your starter. Then bring the low voltage wiring necessary to trigger the relay into the cab. You could wire it to whatever kind of switch you want.

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[pyemaster]

Texasboy, that sounds like the sort of simple thing I'd envisaged, though Verkstad do you feel that wouldn't work? I presume a heavy duty starter relay wouldn't cause too much of an obstruction to the starter cabling for it to start as normal?

Owen

 

[texasboy893]

The only reason I suggested that is because it's what he wanted. Depending on the year of the vehicle you could put a switch in the oil pressure signal wire. Or a switch in the injector/coil circuit. Or..........


If it's a push button you could put a switch in the brake on off circuit.


Some vehicles have a battery fuse. If the fuse is bad the vehicle won't start. You could tap into that wiring and place a circuit breaker hidden in the cab.


As far as the heavy duty relay needing power to actuate it's coil that's what the wirring running into the cab would be for in my original post.


Numerous options all with their pros and cons. Just need to figure out which one works best for you, and which cons you're willing to live with.

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[verdesardog]

If you have a manual transmission, you need a switch in the ign ckt not starter. Should be easy.

 

[pyemaster]

Thanks for your comments guys, it's an automatic transmission and a Toyota 3.0l turbodiesel engine from '94, I'm ideally after a simple switch to manually decide when to stop it starting (but which can't accidently be activated when driving, causing an issue).

Owen

 

[texasboy893]

So like my original post.

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[rlynch356]

in the Defender world - we are generally moving to Carling switches for ignition - due to the failure rate of the OEM Ignition switch. That stays but gets bypassed and a MOM-On-off Carling switch gets installed.
i would be easy to add a second on-off switch somewhere else (in a locked center console for instance) which would cut power to the Carling switch.
all of these things are bypassable of course, it would just take some time to do it which is usually enough of a deterrent.

I also have a battery kill switch in the battery compartment - but the Defender Soft Top is not really "Lockable" in any meaningful way other than center consoles and other boxes hard mounted to the truck.

 

[rayra]

Just interrupt the signal from the ignition switch. Typically a yellow wire. Or interrupt the power line feeding it. Red or orange. not sure about Toyota color codes. But you cut that wire and splice in a paired wire of whatever length you want, to run to a switch anywhere you want. The sneakier ones I've seen have put the switch under the seat instead of under the dash near the steering column.
Saw one once here in SoCal that used the factory dash rear window defroster switch, an excellent re-purposing.
Saw another that used an old-school floor-mounted headlight dimmer switch, high up the footwell, under the carpet. You just click it with your foot to close the ignition circuit and enable the ignition key. Hell any car thief under 30 wouldn't even recognize it as a switch.