Kill switch to the coil vs fuel pump

[Terry Kay]

This is kinda neat.

Get rolling to knowwhere.
But, if it's going to be a trailer queen, it'll probably be enough to drive it up onto a flat bed parked in front of it.

What me worry?
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T.K.

[Ahwahnee]

If they show up with a flatbed - they are probably going to leave with the car.

There is only so much you can do.

[TheArmand]

[cmayna]

Today I took a step forward by installing a switch somewhere in the dash which is wired to one of the two red/blk wires that connect to the back of the neutral safety switch (automatic)......and it works.

The motor doesn't crank over.

At this point, I'm not sure how long this layout will be used but for me, anything is better than just dreaming about it.

I needed to make it somewhat wifey friendly since she drives it.

I truly appreciate all the words of wisdom everyone has contributed to the post. Next is to look into a GPS tracker setup.....oh joy!
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'90 Westy / automatic.
If I'm not working on the camper or my '50 Chebbie truck, I'm either fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.


Craig

[dobryan]

Lots of good info here on GPS trackers. Cheap ones too....
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[baltik]

Any issues with using a breaker as a kill switch? Was thinking of using a 120a bussman on the starter battery ground wire, locate the switch in the passenger seat pedestal - one would have to know where to feel around to find it... not the safest but a basic deterrent

[Alaskaberrys]

[Terry Kay]

I don't think switching the switch off will do anything while the van is running.
The reason I'm saying this is I have never tried it.

In the back of my mind, all that you are doing is shutting the power delivery to the solinoid, on the power wire from the neutral saftey switch.
I haven't ever taken a look where the power to the coil comes from.

If the engine won't crank over, the van remains parked.

I think the power feed for the coil is off of a wire on the ignition switch.

Look in the Bentley for the track of the coil wire.

Oh-- the neutral saftey switch has two heavy 6ga. Red wires, one in one out to the starter, and runs under the rug back to the starter.
Real easy to interrupt with a key type switch mounted on the passenger seat pedestal.
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T.K.

[cmayna]

For my mod which is basically what TK has been suggesting, it affects starting. Does not crank over. Also I turned the switch off while the motor was running and it kept on going. Puurrrr, Purrrrrr, Again, this is with an automatic.
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'90 Westy / automatic.
If I'm not working on the camper or my '50 Chebbie truck, I'm either fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.


Craig

[Alaskaberrys]

Perfect. I had picked up one of those red keyed disconnects with intentions of interrupting the negative from the start battery, but this sounds way easier with less potential to create a problem (longer ground running to seat pedestal would be a bit of a job to do correctly/safely - work area is still the in-laws yard... )

I'm pretty good at knocking crap off/over/onto in the van so good to hear this mod wouldn't prove detrimental if the key gets broke off or whatever. I wanted to make it relatively easy to access and use it pretty much any stop more then a minute or two.

Installing tomorrow. Thanks!
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'91 Westfalia, Bordeaux Red Pearl 2.1L 2wd Auto
'91 T3 Syncro Doka, Escorial Green 1.9L TD AAZ “Gremian” (to provoke, irritate, exasperate, vex...)

[gampbell]

[cmayna]

Yes, that's the CAT key. It'll MEOW each time you activate it
_________________
'90 Westy / automatic.
If I'm not working on the camper or my '50 Chebbie truck, I'm either fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.


Craig

[gampbell]

So here are some photos of my NSS. The wires all disappear into the floor body. What I'm thinking of doing is cutting one of the red/black wires there inside the shift console and splicing a wire to each end (10 gauge?) and running them under the carpet to an undisclosed location to the CAT switch. My passenger seat pedestal doesn't have a cutout so I'm not sure how I'd mount and wire up the switch on the side of it.

Just ordered the CAT switch today so I'll prolly start this project soon.

My questions are:

1. Does it matter which of the two red/black wires I cut?
2. Anyone know what gauge the red/black wires are?

Mahalo's

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'84 Westy 2.2L Subaru

[MootPoint]

OK, having read all 12 or so threads about Kill Switch installation ideas, I'm still not clear on one thing:

I have a spare rear window defogger switch that I grabbed at the U-Pull a few years back and I think it would work well as a Kill Switch (or no-start switch) in plain sight on the dash, replacing the blank below the existing fog switch. This would would break the GROUND side of the fuel pump. It sounds as if others here think this is an OK solution as well. (And yes, after posting this here I may add a second switch somewhere...d8~)

The question that everyone seems to dance around, while at the same time as offering other really good solutions, is: Does the fog switch have the carrying capacity for the direct-to-FP-ground current? Yes, I could do a switch to the relay/starter/coil etc. but that's not the route I want to go unless the fog switch is a bad idea. I didn't see an amp rating on the switch.

Have I missed the correct answer somewhere or has it not been posted. I may look at a more "complex" solution in the future, but for the moment this solution will work for me.

Thanks in advance.
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1984 Westy with tencentlife power!

[fxr]

[kourt]

I wanted to provide documentation of what I did for a starter kill switch.

What I wanted:

-something hidden in plain sight
-something that would suppress starting, but would not kill the engine once it is started

Too many other people (wife, brother) drive my van and could throw the "kill" switch accidentally while driving, thinking it was a headlight switch or something like that. That's just unsafe for my user context...

The answer is to cut the starter solenoid circuit using a defroster switch mounted in the available slot in the gauge cluster. It is helpful if you already have a Jay Brown hard start relay kit installed--this further reduces the current passing through the ignition switch. Splice the defroster switch into the red/black starter solenoid wire coming from the ignition switch, and give yourself plenty of 10ga wiring slack to run the wires up to the gauge cluster.

Now I can flip the switch on and the van won't start. Flip it off and it starts fine. When the van is running, operating the switch does nothing at all. The perfect setup for me.

For controlling the fuel pump, use a heavy switch on the ground wire and mount it someplace inconspicuous--perhaps inside the B pillar, accessible when the driver door is open.

kourt

[Ahwahnee]

[512dude]

[GusGusdasWesty]

[Paulbeard]