Lt. Dan

I want to put a fuel valve on a solenoid connected to a hidden switch. I don't want to put an alarm on my runner, everyone around here just ignores them. My dad's truck got stolen years ago, but the looser did'nt get very far cause' there wasen't any gas in the tank. He found it right where it ran out about 3 miles down the road.
I figure a solenoid valve off of a diesel engine, with a toggle switch hidden somwhere in the center console out of the way. That way even if they hotwire it they wont get very far if there isen't any gas in the engine.
Has anyone done this?
Is this a dumb idea?
We just had my son's 88 pickup stolen from right in front of our house.
Any suggestions would be appreciated guys.

rocket

iTrader: (1)

hmm..why no alarm? After reading the new sticky about that guys Runner getting stolen and so many others, im investing in getting one a.s.a.p.
Any good alarm will sound off at the slightest tampering of your windows and if they manage to make it past that, it will disable the starter as well.
Cheap alarms are the ones thieves can ignore.

Robinhood150

I think most people just add a switch for the fuel pump.

But I like this idea for a manual valve in the fuel line. Most thieves will think its a fuel pump kill switch and won't think to look for a real valve. They try to bypass the fuel pump and it still won't work.

yamarocket630

Yes it can be done, but I'm not so sure it's a good idea from a safety stand point. Most diesel shutoffs are designed to operate under very low pressure, not the 30-60psi modern fuel injection systems run. A diesel solenoid would be likely to leak. You also will have to cut the main fuel feed line and splice a solenoid into it, further increasing the chance for a leak. For a much simpler way to do things, interupt the circuit that powers the fuel injectors/and or coils. They wont go anywhere because it will never start. Use a cheap alarm system to do this, and leave the siren off if you don't like it. Just use the starter interupt circuit to kill the power to the injectors. If they want it bad enough, they will just tow it away, so why bother getting any more complicated than that?

huskyfan23

Good alarms (DEI) come with a relay that disables the ignition. You'll be protecting what you have inside and your vehicle won't get stolen. Invest in an alarm.

slyang1012

Then u can add a few more bucks and get that autostart with a push of a button- that way u can start ur car in the house! =)

PirateFins

Just put the toggle switch on the power line to the fuel pump or put it on the pwer line to the ECU. Can't drive without a computer now and days. The best thing to do is to make the switch obvious, think about the person stealing the vehicle they will look for hidden switches. On a VW GTI I had I put the cpu power in line with the fog light switch, couldn't drive the car if the fog's were not on. My now wife sat in the drive way for 1/2 hour trying to move the car when I was out of town. She thought it was out of gas and grabed the gas can to put some in... anyway she ended up pushing it out of they way and called me to say my car was broke. I told her to turn on the fog lights and she said "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of". Couldn't move the car though.

Lt. Dan

Bwaaah-ha-ha-ha!!!
I love it!! I think I'll do that, or somthing like it.
As far as why I dont like alarms, we have a lot of kids, cats, and other nefarious brats that find it funny to trigger alarms up & down the block at 2:00 AM....... ...... But I am tempted by the remote start feature.
Thanx for all the suggestions guys!!

X-AWDriver

Even with an alarm I think I would still just run a switch in the line to the fuel pump since unless the thieves have a flat bed it can't be driven no matter what. Alarms can be defeated but a well hidden fuel pump switch is pretty close to 100% your vehcicle will at least stay where it was stripped.

I had the fuel pump mod in my Eclipse but thankfully it never came in handy.