Aftermarket ECUs with Immobilisers

[Smiler]

Hello folks,

Considering most of our cars are from an age where if you lost your key a flat bladed screwdriver would get you on your way I'm rather concerned about the risk of my old baby being car-napped.

I am planning an engine conversion that will require stand alone management. Does anyone know of an aftermarket ECU that has any form of security/immobilser built in?

I'd be devastated to go to all that hard work only for it to be knicked due to archaic locks and no immobiliser (aftermarket add-on immobilisers are easily overcome). Our old cars do tend to stand out amongst the crowd so any undesirables will soon notice if it's going somewhat better than it ought to be (engine swap) wrapped up in an easy to steal old car package.

Regards

Smiler.

[Hillmanjames]

I usually "break" my car if i'm leaving it for any period of time. If your fitting a stand alone ecu, its easy enough to put an in-line fuse holder in somewhere hidden so you can remove the fuse. In my old hillman i put a battery isolator in up behind the glove box so that you had to stick the big red key in for anything to happen (it also stopped the battery going flat which was a bonus!)

If they really want the car i suppose they'll just drag it away with a landy like the mk2 escort that was stolen recently from the dealership.

James

[Smiler]

Hidden switches are all well and good (as that is basically what the aftermarket immobilisers do) but it all falls down if the thieves can bypass it by simply attaching a live feed into part of the loom direct from the battery and back-feed everything.

At the moment this does look like my only option but it would be nice to know if there is an ECU out there that has this covered.

[1980escort]

If you go down the megajolt route you could mount the box somewhere accessible ie glove box and you can just unplug it and take it with you

Sent from my SM-T230 using proboards

[cobblers]

If you are running any aftermarket ECU you should be able code in some "Security through obscurity" and have the thing disable fuel/spark or otherwise stop the thing running if some obscure, spare input isn't pulled high/low. It'd be impossible to bypass it like a normal immobiliser, unless you know exactly how it is set up.

How elaborate it is depends on the particular ECU, but with a something fairly configurable you could set it up to only enable the spark output until you flicked the left indicator while you had your foot on the brake, before cranking or some other bizarre regime.

Many have a "map switch" input, so you could set that up to switch to a map which retards the ignition by 90degrees up until 1500RPM which would stop the thing starting, and probably make the thing backfire and wake you up.

[ChasR]

IMO aftermarket alarms are great (like LPG systems) as long as you follow two rules:

-Ensure it is installed very well (this unfornately costs and the people are hard to find since 'a man on ebay can do it for 200 sheets innit'?).

-Get the right alarm. I have seen plenty of hate for Cliffords yet when installed correctly by people who know they are doing they are fine. They work faultless and are almost untraceable. This process does take time though.


IME only 30% of CAT 1 alarms are installed well despite having a certificate. Anyone can install an alarm to basically work for everyday use. Doing it another way however...

[bmw2101]

whats the engine you plan to use?


for example i say this as i have a bmw m44 engine in my rally car and its mapped ont he factory default brain, much cheeper than an after market...



Plus it has the EWS security .

[Smiler]

Thanks for the replies folks, it is much appreciated.

I have a high-spec Clifford alarm that I will be fitting myself to the black Scimitar as I have full installation instructions and set-up software for it. I fully agree with the comments about dubious professional installers as this one was fitted by such a 'professional' to my red Escort. The black Scimitar already has a Vauxhall Omega V6 fitted along with original factory immobiliser built into the ECU so I'm happy with that.

The Yellow Scimitar is going to be recieving the all alloy Jaguar V6 I obtained from a defunct S-type. I only had the engine and gearbox anyway but the original ECU won't play unless it sees all it's other coded friends on the original can-bus system. Hence the requirement for aftermarket management (giving the excuse for throttle bodies etc..).

Mar 25, 2015 21:37:03 GMT cobblers said:

If you are running any aftermarket ECU you should be able code in some "Security through obscurity" and have the thing disable fuel/spark or otherwise stop the thing running if some obscure, spare input isn't pulled high/low. It'd be impossible to bypass it like a normal immobiliser, unless you know exactly how it is set up.

How elaborate it is depends on the particular ECU, but with a something fairly configurable you could set it up to only enable the spark output until you flicked the left indicator while you had your foot on the brake, before cranking or some other bizarre regime.

Many have a "map switch" input, so you could set that up to switch to a map which retards the ignition by 90degrees up until 1500RPM which would stop the thing starting, and probably make the thing backfire and wake you up.

This idea I like. I was thinking more along the line of a dongle (just a usb stick would do) with a nice long security number on it that plugs into the ecu vie a convenient dash mounted fly-lead. If the ECU doesn't read the number it doesn't play. There would be no remote to scan and the thief would not know of its existence. But if your idea can be made to work it should do the job just as well.

Cheers.

[dodgerover]

I remember a commercially available immobiliser in the late 80s early 90s with exactly that feature, you could configure it to need an input from xxx switches in sequence before it would crank or fire. Thought it was ace at the time

[Nathan]

If I am leaving the car out for long periods I flash a "curse word Map" to mine.
Basically a nonexistent fuel and timing map, the engine turns but no fire or spark etc, the downside being I need to connect the Laptop up to it do do this.

Other than that a Kill key is plumbed in if I am nipping in a shop or something, but these are very easy to get around of course.

[Anthony]

From memory, you can use a OE Rover based immobiliser system with Emerald ECU's exactly as it would work with the original Rover MEMS ECU. I've never personally done it, but there's info about it in the Emerald documentation and certainly that ECU is popular with K-series applications on ITB conversions.

Otherwise, just use a decently installed aftermarket immobiliser. I'm a big fan of Toad - simple but effective and reliable.

[welshpug]

I think I'd just unplug the ecu tbh!

[Smiler]

Emerald / Rover link is an interesting one, I'll look into that, thanks.