I have developed massive paranoia since I was mugged three weeks ago. Because of that, I am now thinking of the possibility of installing a fuel cutoff switch hidden in the cockpit that would allow me to render the car unstarteable if the worse came to happen.

Is this possible?

 

Easy in theory, but maybe a bit difficult to execute. What you want is a switch in the positive lead to the fuel pump. It might be easier to route the switch from a fuse panel than from the fuel pump itself.

 

Easy both in theory and practice.

Put a switch inline in the signal circuit of the fuel injection circuit. That is the circuit supplying power to the fuel injection relay. The reason for using the signal circuit rather than the power circuit is that the switch and wire have to carry much less juice.

You could even use a reed switch where the "key" is a magnet. Pull the magnet away .. no start or run.

Be aware that when you have a cut-off switch like this, if you trigger it while driving it is not a whole lot of fun.

 

In addition to my XKR I also have a landrover defender (we're flooded in the UK), I read about this device on the LRO forum as a preventative for somebody stealing the car (land rover defenders are no:1 choice in the south). For under £30 is will tell you where it is via SMS, shut down the engine via SMS, tell you somebody has broken in, disconnected the battery or tried to start the engine all by SMS. in addition it has a panic alarm that will call 5 numbers you pre- programme in. Took a couple of hours to wire it all in and it does exactly what it claims to do and all for under £30. I will be installing one in the XKR in the summer even if it's just wired to tell me where it is.
TS

 

That's cool.

It's great to know its doable. I think I might make this my next project.

 

I'm not quite clear on what you are preparing for. Is it carjacking or just theft while you are not there? This car has an immobilizer, so its not going anywhere without the key unless they tow it. If it is carjacking, the best defense is to get out fast and let them leave with it, you sure don't want the cruds thinking you disabled it! You want the criminals as far away as possible as fast as possible. The car is worthless compared to the damage to your person that can happen.

 

Agree, GPS locator to catch them and hopefully recover the car makes more sense.
Sorry to hear about your experience. Somebody always wants what you have. Don't forget as you advance with your career. I don't mean to be cynical, it's just the way it is.

 

Yep +1 on that...get out and run....then call the cops, shut down the V8 & tell the cops where the car is.

 

I meant for when I'm not around the car.

Three weeks ago I was walking from the university and headed towards my apartment. I was walking along the avenue in front of the university when two guys mugged me.

They were between 5'6" and 5'10", skinny, mocha colored, brown eyes, curly hair, profiled and round nose. They were both wearing black t-shirts with black caps and sagging jeans. One of them had blue boxers and was holding a gun.

As I noticed the guy approaching me, I tried to avoid him. Shift to the left, shift to the right, he copied my every move. As I thought I could defend myself, the other guy, who was hiding behind a tree stood behind me.

The guy in front of me told me to give him all my stuff. I lied and said "I don't have anything on me". He insisted and pulled out a gun. I repeated myself and added "please don't ruin my day". I didn't dare employ any of my martial arts training for fear of getting shot and because I also had no idea what the guy behind me had as a weapon.

Instead of shooting at me, he decided to strike me with the gun. This is where I got lucky. My first instinctive reaction was to block it as if it were a punch. I grabbed onto his arm (the one that held the gun) and pushed him, I then ran as fast as I could onto oncoming traffic where everyone could see me. As I noticed they crossed the street to the same side I was on, I crossed to the other side and ran towards the university.

I informed the university guard and then I ran towards the first cop car I saw. I explained them the situation. They asked me a series of questions. Age? Name? Events? What was stolen? Could I remember their physical appearance? They also asked for all of my information. I was able to describe the criminals as detailed as I could. The description was conclusive with some of their suspects. So they showed me a few pictures and I was able to identify my assailant.

The cops have his name, physical address, etc.

In the process, while I was running, my phone dropped out of my pants. I didn't dare to run back to get it. After an hour of talking to the cops, I was able to go back to wear I thought I dropped my phone. About 10 minutes elapsed while I searched and I finally found my phone, on the other side of the avenue, which had been run over by an unknown number of cars.

I am lucky enough to not only have survived without a single scratch, but nothing was stolen, and I was able to identify one of the criminals. However, in the process, my cellphone got destroyed.

I am never walking on foot to get anywhere ever again.

 

Wow. It sounds like you got lucky to get away with your skin intact.

 

Terrible experience mate, my sympathies just hope they are caught and you can claim for your phone from them. All the best Arty.

 

There's a lot of answers to this kind of assault. The one I like is to take everything you have and throw it on the ground some distance away. While they are going after it, you run like Hades the other direction in a zig zag pattern. If you can get at least 50 feet away, even if they shoot, the chance that they would hit you is small. It takes real skill to hit a moving object wiith a pistol at over 50 feet and druggies don't spend time at the range. They know they have your stuff, so why chase you. If they wanted to eliminate a witness, they would have shot you right away.