How to Disable Car

("Buck Turgidson" >) scribbled:

> Is there a relatively easy way to disable the family car (2002 Honday
> Odyssey) to prevent my kids from going joy-riding? They're not
> mechanically inclined, so I am sure they would not figure out what I
> did.

<-------------- Troll O Meter --------------->
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
....^

--
remove MYSHOES to email

Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, Buck Turgidson wrote:
>
>
>>Is there a relatively easy way to disable the family car (2002 Honday
>>Odyssey) to prevent my kids from going joy-riding? They're not
>>mechanically inclined, so I am sure they would not figure out what I
>>did.
>
>
> If you have to worry about your kids doing this, then messing with the car
> to try to prevent it is a little like shoving a cork in the tailpipe to
> "solve" exhaust smoke. You're looking at the symptom when you should be
> focusing on the problem. Sit the kids down. Carefully explain to them the
> consequences of joyriding. Be sure to include not only the consequences
> *you* will apply, but also the consequences *the law* will apply, as well
> as the recursive consequences if their joyride should involve injury,
> death and/or property damage. If you're still worried that they'll
> joyride, then you've no business leaving them in a position to be able to
> do so.
>
>

You'd think the horror of being a teenager driving a Honda Odyssey would
be enough to prevent unauthorized use.


I do concur, it's more of a people problem than a technical problem.

One question I had for the OP - do your kids have licenses and are they
allowed to drive the van when with permission? Or are you worried your
10 year old is going to borrow the van because he doesn't know better?
If it's a 10 year old, keep the keys away from him and educate him that
he's not allowed to drive until he has a license. For teenagers, mark
the mileage on the kitchen calendar before leaving and note that if
there's more than one mile on it they'll be losing their driving
privliges for one week per mile put on the van. Better yet, maybe it's
time to get their own vehicle.
(ok, I guess that's a lot more than one question.)

Ray

I joyrode (is that a word?) every one of my parents cars as a kid. I
learned a lot about mechanics, avoiding the police, insane cornering,
and minute long donuts in that time. I was a troubled teen, but in the
long run, things worked themselves out and I eventually became a
respectable adult. Sometimes good comes from seemingly nowhere; in my
case it was my parents' strong values that took an EXTRA long time to
sink in. My relatively slow maturity rate didn't help any either.

Toyota MDT in MO

"Buck Turgidson" > wrote in message

> Is there a relatively easy way to disable the family car (2002 Honday
> Odyssey) to prevent my kids from going joy-riding? They're not
> mechanically inclined, so I am sure they would not figure out what I
> did.

Wire the coil output wire under the driver seat. For a distributorless
van like your with 70k volts, that is a liability. Instead, put a dummy fuse
(that doesn't look blown) on the ECM.

We'd adopted an ADD boy with great biological parents. If we hid the
keys or if he knew that we'd removed the fuse, he would come after us
with a knife. He is still searching for his biological parents to take revenge
for abandoning him. No worry- he'd just turned 18 in jail.

(sorry if this a double post - having isuess posting this am)

You have two problems.

1. Lack of discipline. Define clear boundaries and consequences for
stepping over the line. Follow through. The threat of losing the keys
is enough to make most teenageers think twice.

2. Lack of information. When you are out of the house for an extended
period of time you may not know if the kids violated your rules or not.
Fit a Davis Carchip and you will know if the car was used (or the chip
disabled) while you were out. Then you can discipline accordingly. With
this device you can also monitor their driving habits for 'authorized'
trips also.

You don't want to prevent them making bad choices, you want to catch
them. They have to learn what occurs after they make a bad choice,
otherwise they will never learn.

JP

"Buck Turgidson" > wrote in message
news:1120738873.0de129bf88ba78565e37ac620f4b4bd7@t eranews...
> Is there a relatively easy way to disable the family car (2002 Honday
> Odyssey) to prevent my kids from going joy-riding? They're not
> mechanically inclined, so I am sure they would not figure out what I
> did.

Buck, I think the concensus is clear. You need to disempower your
kids, not disable the car.

Swing some cojones, and strike a blow for a responsible younger
generation.

Erik wrote:
> In article >,
> "ed" > wrote:
>
> > How old are these kids?
> > I'd tell 'em if you use the car without my permission, and put me at risk of
> > liabilty where we could lose our cars and home or kill someone, the cops
> > will be called for unauthorized use. Then I'd put the keys where I would
> > normally put them and that is that, unless you think a stranger is going to
> > break in your home and steal the keys and car, then I'd get a darn good safe
> > and put my checkbooks in there too because that also is a risk. The fuse
> > trick sounds interesting however, as does loosening the coil wire, or
> > putting in a dummy coil wire.
> >
> > my .02 for what its worth.
>
> His Honda doesn't have a coil wire... or distributor...

Not even a distributor rotor? I feel so old..... going to go watch
Matlock now and eat some mush....



>
> Erik

When I had kids in the house All equipment keys were stored in a
lockbox in my bedroom wardrobe.

Lockbox key in my wallet.

It was clearly understood that NOONE was to go in the master bedroom
without permission.

This dealt adequatly with power tools, gun cabinets , wine, spirits
etc.

One option which might work is a keyed cutout switch on the battery.