installing a kill switch to my 92 explorer

My wife had her car stolen from work the other day and we got it back like new in one piece..but being i work in the same place and can't afford Lojack an alarms n stuff.. Has anyone installed a fuel cutoff switch or a battery cutoff switch in thier explorer?

It doesnt have to look pretty..just make it a little hard for them to take.

I was thinking of mounting a small toggle type switch inside the truck somewhere and running the wires to the engine area.

If anyone has done this? where is the best place to splice into to install the toggle?

I'm good with computer wires n stuff..but I have never really gotten into car wiring and need to know the color of the wire to put the toggle onto.

Thanks
:exp:

Could just take the fuel pump fuse out. It's not an easy solution, but it's free & works.
Most alarms have a starter cutoff. Clifford I think has a fuel cutoff system that uses a little key to get it going. I had one on an old explorer I bought. Not sure if they still make it.

Kill switch

I haven't done this myself, but you could put the kill switch in series with the crash safety switch. This switch senses the impact shock from a crash and opens the fuel pump circuit. The switch is located in the cabin, on the passenger side, high up, behind the carpet. Refer to the owner's manual for the exact location.

Hide the new switch and the wires going to it. You could even use a key switch.


Bob

I heard that getting a multiprogram chip one of the programs could be set to dead so nobody can start it.

I've seen posts before of people disabling their clutch switch so that they could turn over the starter without the clutch pressed. Maybe you could put a switch into that line so that the starter won't turn over. This assumes you have a manual tranny.

I've never had to press my clutch in to start my truck

I have yet to install it, but I just picked up a keyed kill switch and planned on mounting it behind my glove box. As far as wiring i was just going to splice it into the wiring for the sarter to effectively make the starter not turn over when the switch was activated.

I do a lot of backcountry travel and occasionally leave my truck at trailheads for days on end. While I would hate to have anyone break in and steal stuff I would really hate to come down from a week long backpacking trip and not have a truck waiting for me.

A good idea, theory needs some repair though. Kill switches are usefull no doubt there. However on one of our trucks I would definately run it to the fuel pump. First this would make a criminal think the truck is broken down as the engine cranks but wont fire. Now is the real problem. Fords starter solenoid. If they go to the effort to want to steal a ford they are already going to know where it is and how to start the truck this way. Only a battery disconect would prevent this. Its just in a plain bad spot. The inertia switch idea is also a pretty good one though.

Good point on the fuel pump rather than starter!

Then the theif will call your truck Eleanor

Makahveli said:

I've never had to press my clutch in to start my truck

Click to expand...

I've never driven a manual that I didn't have to do that.

A lot of wheelers either bypass a clutch switch or they set it up so they can throw a switch to enable or disable it. my 77 TA had no clutch switch

Out of curiosity, what make, model, and year of car was stolen? Also, is your Ex stock? Methinks nobody is going to look twice at a stock '92 Explorer.

Well here is the thing. If you look at what vehicles are stolen for you would be a little worried about a first gen sploder. Cars are mostly stolen for parts. Few are stolen to be kept whole. In otherwords the most profitable car to steal would be something common that everyone needs parts for. now, how many first gen sploders are out there?

That may be... And god knows Explorers need parts, but I still want to know the make/model/year of car that was stolen. Tacoma, WA is not like Texas, New Jersey, or California when it comes to car theft.

what you got on NJ man!! lol

her car is a 1992 saturn.

The county that her was stolen in has one of the highest car theft rates in the usa.. so much so they are passing new laws making the crime a legnthy prison term.

Bwana Bob said:

I haven't done this myself, but you could put the kill switch in series with the crash safety switch. This switch senses the impact shock from a crash and opens the fuel pump circuit. The switch is located in the cabin, on the passenger side, high up, behind the carpet. Refer to the owner's manual for the exact location.

Hide the new switch and the wires going to it. You could even use a key switch.
Bob

Click to expand...

I did this mod a while back and it is absolutely great... I already had an alarm system (with starter kill), but as the others have mentioned it would be a cake walk for any Ford knowledgeable thief to jump the starter solenoid and get it going... I can post some pics later, but I used a 20a toggle switch and ran the wires to the output line of the fuel pump inertia switch. By wiring into the out I was able to add a green led centered between the arm rest cup holders. This allows me to instantly know if the fuel pump is getting power...

i would love to see this rocha, wiring and all

Here is a pic of the green fuel pump led centered between the cup holders. I used a 12v LED from Radio Shack which had a built in resistor. The switch is accessed by opening the center console. If the switch is ON the green led will come on whenever 12v is present indicating the fuel pump is getting power. Its kind of cool because if you turn the key to run the led will come on for 1-2 secs as the pump pressurizes the fuel lines and then goes off. It will remain steadily on once the engine is started.

The pics below show the rear heator duct and the two red 12ga wires. I cut the output wire on the inerta switch (Pink/BS) about 6" away from the connector and wired the 2 ends to a 20a switch (it doesn't matter which wire goes to which term on the switch).

Fuel pump inertia switch.. I don't have a pic of the wire connections, but I cut the pink wire about 6" away from the connector.


To keep the wiring as stock and uncluttered as possible I removed the driver's seat and attached the red wires along the OEM wire harness and secured them with wire ties.


This pic shows the center console removed. The red wires are from the switch and the green ones are for my alarm system's valet switch.


Here is a picture of the switches mounted within the center console. The smaller valet switch and green wires are for my alarm system. I used a blue splice connector to attach the (red) 12v wire of the green LED to the output wire on the switch (all other wires were soldered for reliability). If you attach it to the input wire the led will be on all the time (regardless if the switch is on or off). The black wire is the neg wire for the led and is attached to one of the posts under a gold nut in the above pic.