How did the thief start my accord?

Hi,

So I bought an accord a while back (1992 SW) and 10 days later, it was stolen. a month later, the police called and said it was a few miles away in a nursing homes parking lot. It had different wheels and tires, but the ignition was not visibly torn up. (there was damage to the window gasket from forced entry) I stuck my key in and drove it home.

How did they drive it without a key? Do they now have a key? Its a small town, hope not. Maybe they just stuck the dangling wires up into the ignition when they left it, that seems like a lot of trouble though.

Thanks! Tor.

Gonna install a kill switch just in case.

Reply to
tor
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locks on old cars get pretty worn. mess about with enough old keys and you'll get one to fit easily enough. or they had a skeleton of some kind. or they can just cut their own. i once watched a locksmith with a file & a jewellers loupe cut a key for a lock-out in less than 20 minutes. from blank. no serial numbers, no secret sauce. damned impressive. and scary how quickly he did it.

anyway, consider replacing all the locks [or at least the barrels - the bits that wear the most]. it costs a few bucks, but it's peace of mind. put in your own disabler switch too.

Reply to
jim beam

They could have just towed it...

Reply to
Woody

I'm not sure where the Key Code Number is on a Honda. However, with that number, the thief can just go to a professional lock smith and he will look it up in a table of key cuts.

I know that some older VWs had the key code on the right door lock assembly that is easily removable once the door is opened.

On a Nisson I had in the '80 the key code was on a tag that had been left in the glove box.

Often the key code for the ignition switch is stamped on the cylinder and once the trim is removed from the column, it just takes a mirror to read the code.

One of the advantages of having different keys for the doors and ignition is to prevent a key being made for the easy removeable door cylinder that can be used in the ignition.

Then of course, there is always the more obvious possiblity, that someone else still had a key to your car. Maybe a friend or relative of the previous owner. However, then, why would they have jimmied the window.

Bottom line, I think they opened the door, removed a lock cylinder and made a key to fit the whole car.

Reply to
Steve

"" wrote: > Hi, > > So I bought an accord a while back (1992 SW) and 10 days > later, it was > stolen. a month later, the police called and said it was a few > miles > away in a nursing homes parking lot. It had different wheels > and tires, > but the ignition was not visibly torn up. (there was damage to > the > window gasket from forced entry) I stuck my key in and drove > it home. > > How did they drive it without a key? Do they now have a key? > Its a > small town, hope not. Maybe they just stuck the dangling wires > up into > the ignition when they left it, that seems like a lot of > trouble > though. > > Thanks! Tor. > > Gonna install a kill switch just in case.

with a $10 kit and 2-3hrs of pratice its easy to pick a lock. they also only make so many different keys, and you can often find ?master? keys at garage sales. I once picked up a keyring at a sale for free and found one that would open my honda, and my neighbors. but since they pryed the door open I would guess you either had a key inside (wether u knew about it or not) or they just picked it. often people forget about keys that were stuck under seats, or in the jockey box even by previous owners.

Reply to
xmirage2kx

Put in TWO that control different stuff, and hidden in different locations. A thief may find one, and jump when the car still won't start. Try to fit them in places that are NOT easily reachable when sitting in the driver's seat.

eg set up relays that your switches control for fuel pump power, injector power, starter relay.

You could stick a dummy switch in the glove compartment ...

Stewart DIBBS

Reply to
Stewart DIBBS

There are risk involved with putting a dummy switch on the fuel pump and injectors. These are mission critical components and could be very hard to diagnose in the middle of traffic.

The best method, and widely accepted method is interrupt the starter relay. Install a relay rated for the starter solenoid under the hood. Then reroute the hood release and install a dummy cable on the original hood release. And always have easy access to open the hood in case of engine fires. Yes, I've douse two fires on my Honda.

Reply to
Burt Squareman

Getting off on the tangent of engine fires...

A few years ago I had an engine fire in my Nissan (leaky injector - I had a replacement in the car waiting for the weekend). I did everything wrong - I opened the hood with no particular plan in mind, then saw it was only insulation burning at that point. So (*don't try this at home!!!*) I leaned down and blew the flame out like a candle! Barely a second later the injector hose burst where it had been burned and sprayed about a tablespoon of gasoline where the flame and my face had been. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

I talked with a fireman, and he said it is okay to pop the hood release - but don't open the hood - and blast an extinguisher in the gap. If that puts out the fire, great! Otherwise the pros just make sure the fire doesn't spread beyond the car.

Mike, the lucky idiot

Reply to
Michael Pardee

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