Locking engine mount bolt

Forgive my total ignorance, but is this a huge problem? Do engines actually get stolen? Wouldn't it be easier to just steal the car?

Remco

i used to drop a vw engine from a full bodied sedan in about ten or eleven minutes....so a couple guys stealing an engine from a baja could litterally be gone quicker with the engine than with the entire car...and less likely to get caught "red-handed"....

While I don't know of any one that has had an engine stolen, I've heard enough second hand stories, that I want to secure it. Yes a bug is all to easy to steal but I'm working on that too.

Tony

I have heard of a couple of occasion, one was built by me. Another was a bug that broke down on the highway, and the next day when the owner came to tow it home, the engine was gone...

It's so easy to remove it. 15-20 minutes.

Jan

Just an idea till you find one. The spare wheel mounted on the front of my 78 bus that the bolt drilled at the end with a small padlock though it. You could maybe do something similar with an engine bolt.

Better than nothing perhaps ?

Rich

A class act would be to steal the good engine and bolt back in real POS.

Goes to show you that one learns something new every day: It would have never occurred to me that some guys out there actually are into stealing engines. What do we ACVW buys do to these bastards when we catch up to them? Force them to drive a Yugo or Lada, maybe? :)

After thinking about how to protect yourself, I'd put a regular alarm on your bug but modify the wiring a litle.

You could put one of the alarm contact inputs on the engine: Door contact inputs are usually normally closed to ground so you could just tie it to a conventient grounded part on the engine with a slip off contact (like on the coil ground, for instance).

This way, when they do disconnect the engine (including that fake ground wire you have tied to your alarm), the alarm will go off immediately.

On your original question, do locking nut mechanisms even exists? I guess you could drill a hole through the engine mounting stud, slip the engine mounting nut over it and put a small pad lock on it.. (a little hackish, but it would work).

Remco

While sitting in a meeting listening to people drone on about something I didn't care about, it just occurred to me that a car alarm door contacts are often normally open, ground switched.

Should you want to implement my suggestion above, make sure that the alarm you want to use has a normally closed, ground switched input. Some alarms have selectable inputs.

If your existing alarm only has a Normally Open input, you could invert the levels using a simple circuit. Should you need help with that, let me know.

"Anthony W" schreef in bericht news:rSb3f.6952$nz.5795@trnddc03...

I did a google search and came up with

hope there are some there that you might need. Roger

Just had another thought. Get some locking wheel nuts ! Buy some bolts the right length to go with them.

You may have to alter the hole size in the casing - others on the group may reply if this is ok or not !

Rich

Rich, your idea is better than mine(see below). Those things are pretty secure, then?

I am in a long drawn out meeting and my mind is forced to wander to keep my ears from bleeding. This is the best I got:

You know they used to have pull out car stereos, right...? Well, have you been eating your weaties? :)

Remco

remco, you seem pretty experienced with car alarms, i just recently got a Sherwood IVS(interactive vehicle security system) from the swap meet for like five dollars, everything seems to be there but the manual. Have any tips or even a diagram on how to install it in my 73 super? if i new where all the wires were suppose to go i could do it no prob but i dont. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Nick

Sorry, don't have any information on that particular system. I've installed and repaired quite a few systems - They tend to work similarly. Are there any markings as to what a particular hookup does? (+, gnd, etc) Does it arm with a remote? Is it mean to hook into its own horn or into the car horn? (iow, did it come with a horn?) Does it have a remote starter? Any indication whether it has a car inhibitor function? Does the box open up and does it have a PC board inside, by any chance?

You may be able to get a user manual by posting this site's bbs and asking around:

If you can't find the manaul, figuring out what a wire is for is not impossible, but will take some hacking around. Are you comfortable using a multimeter? Do you have a current limited, regulated power supply supply?

Remco

this is the one i have, its pretty much the only thing i can find online about it

yes i am

didnt follow ya here lol

A current limited supply is basically a power supply that will supply only a predetermined amount of current. If more is drawn than is set up, the voltage drops. It is a way of ensuring you don't blow things up when they are hooked up wrong.

I am assuming that red and black are positive and negative, respectively - I've never seen that to be different so that's probably a safe bet. Since you don't have a limited supply, use a 9V battery instead (it can only supply a limited amount of current) to see if that is indeed a correct assumption.

After you hook that up, you should be able to turn the alarm on and off, open the trunk, etc using the remote. Using the multimeter set to check resistance, you should be able to determine which wires are used for trunk and door unlock. It has an LED status indicator, so you'll probably see a wire that follows if the alarm is armed or not.

This alarm seems to have a sonic sensor of sorts, you you should be able to trigger the alarm by tipping or moving the alarm box. When it triggers, you should be able to see which level changes - that wire is most likely the horn, especially when it turns back off when you disarm the alarm.

Here's some contact information. Perhaps they'd be kind enough to send/fax you a copy of a manual.

// snip Sherwood America

13101 Moore Street Cerritos, CA 90703 U.S.A.

Tel. (562) 741-0960, (800) 962-3203 Fax: (562) 741-0967, (562) 741-0968

Customer Service Technical Support Service Center Information Warranty Registration Eugene Chavez snipped-for-privacy@sherwoodamerica.com snipped-for-privacy@sherwoodamerica.com (562) 741-0960 (Ext. 115)

Literature Requests Maria Hernandez snipped-for-privacy@sherwoodamerica.com (562) 741-0960 (Ext. 113)

Free: (800) 962-3203 Fax: (714) 521-4900 // end snip

Also try to get a manual by posting a message in these forums:

-- they have a bbs dedicated to automotivealarms.

See if you can get the thing to do something by just hooking red+/black- up and fiddling with the remote. You should be able to find the door and trunk unlock functions.

If you prefer, email me directly. I am not sure if anyone else here is interested in hacking alarms.

Remco

>

Just a couple more brainfarts:

One wire will be your antenna. From what I've seen, these wires tend to be yellow but suspect that is not always the case. You can identify it by coiling a wire up and see if your remote's range is adversely affected. One you've identified your antenna, just let it dangle.

When I refer to checking with a multimeter set to ohm, perhaps set it to voltage first to see if something changes. Doing it this way is better than immediately measuring using an ohm meter, because it could be that they 'source' (electical nerdy term) a signal, meaning that they drive it by turning a voltage on. This you check with a voltmeter.

If you don't see a change with a voltmeter, it may be that they 'sink' (another nerdy term) a signal, meaning that they switch a wire to ground. Basically, whatever you are driving has its positive hooked up somewhere and the negative is switched. Under weird setups, it could also be that they have a relay contact that switches between two physical wires - that's actually trickier to check, because obviously you'd have to check all permutations of wires to find your combination - a pain. Most of the time with car alarms, they switch a contact (whether relay, 'open collector or mosfet - more geeky terms) to ground or power, though, so let's assume they do that in your case and you won't need to check for contact between wires.

A contact (horn, door/trunk remote, status LED, inhibitor, etc) can usually be checked with an ohm meter. Depending on what is on the inside of that box, you may need to switch the polarity on your wires when checking levels: start by putting the multimeter's black wire on ground, multimeter's red on the signal you are checking. If you don't see anything, reverse the multimeter's black and red wires and check again.

We haven't talked about identifying inputs yet, it your alarm even has any. Let's see how far you get first in identifying the function of each basic wire (power, horn, hood/door remote, etc).

Stuff like that is almost second nature to me, so it is a little tricky for me to describe. Sorry about the geek terms - hope it is semi clear.

Remco

well the biggest problem i have is hooking up the siren and the shock sensor, well and also the led light. nothing it hooked up together. i can pretty much find the power and ground i think. just as long as i figure how the rest goes together i think i'll be alright. and then maybe i'll try to find the door trip and maybe even the parking lights, but for now just how to hook it up together. thanks for the info on sherwood, think they'll trip by hearing that i got it at a swap meet?

ok i accually cracked it open, found this by each wire

ACC------------------- H/T--------------------- O/S--------------------- D/L--------------------- D/UNL----------------- DOOR +--------------- DOOR - ---------------

PARK------------------ SIREN----------------- START----------------- GROUND-------------

+12V-------------------

now the +12V is my hot wire to the battery, ground..... well yea, the siren i believe the red connects here and the black is ground? the doors i can kind of get. if you can fill in the blanks that would be great. now is the vallet switch an accual switch that you can turn on and off? where do i hook up my shock sensor? it has three wires, from what i get is this, red hot, black grnd, and the other? really appreciate the help

Good -- sometimes it takes drastic measures to open the box up to see what stuff does. Good thing they marked the board's connections because reverse engineering the alarm is a lot more work.

I've seen a valet function work such where it will not trigger on the first door closure but second. Turn your car off, press valet, hand the man your key and the car will not lock or turn on its alarm until he gets in and back out.

ACC---- accessory; the alarm wants to basically know when you have your key turned on, switching 12V to this wire. Just pick this off a fuse that is switched through the key switch.

H/T-- not sure what this could be. I'd see where the level goes after you turn the alarm on/off and trigger an alarm condition. Could be an LED status indicator of sorts. Will take a little more probing after you are able to turn your alarm on.

O/S--- this might be your third shock sensor wire. Is there a level on this wire? If not, do you measure any resistance to ground? (also switch polarity). If you don't see much, turn your multimeter to its diode (funny ^ with a bar over it symbol) and measure to this pin, switching polarity if you don't see anything.

You alarm has a lock/unlock or both lock and unlock button? D/L----- sounds like door lock, short pulse when the lock is pressed D/UNL--- sounds like door unlock, most likely a short pulse to ground when the lock button is pressed. I'd verify that you see a pulse on this wire when locking/unlocking. Clearly you won't need these wires on a bug.

DOOR +---- could be a door contact input or dome light output. DOOR - --- could be a door contact input or dome light output. Do I understand you already know what this is for, then? If not, determine whether this is an output by disabling the alarm or unlocking a door and see where this level goes. Report back with your findings.

PARK---- parking lights, most likely. Probably switches to ground on for a predetermined time that one could hook into the parking lights relay. See if, when unlocking the alarm or opening the door, this wire becomes active for a minute or two. Up to you if you want to implement this on your bug.

SIREN--- you'll have to figure out polarity on this signal. Trigger the alarm and see where this signal goes: Measuring the voltage from ground to this point. If you see 12V when triggered (it is source in this case), the horns + goes to this point, the horn's - to ground. If nothing happens, measure voltage from this point to vbat+. If you now see 12V when triggered (it is sinked in this case), the horn's - goes to this point and the horn's + goes to vbat+.

START--- Alarms usually don't need to know that you are starting a car. This is more likely a start inhibitor function. Probably this is grounded when the alarm is off and everything is normal. It will probably open its contact up when the alarm has been triggered. Usually hooked into the ignition to disable it.

GROUND-- ground, vbat-

+12V---- power, vbat+

Hope that gets you further. Remco