'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I've heard that there is a kill switch made that looks like a cigar lighter and mounts in the dash. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

Not a good idea to discuss hidden kill switches in any open forum.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I always thought it was something you had to do yourself. I haven't gotten around to doing it myself, but I am in the process of it. That's why I did this to my buddy bucket console....

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I used to have the schematics for it, but can't find them now.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

all ya gotta do is to tap into the hot side of the coil and run it to a hidden toggle switch when someone tries to start it no spark

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

Good idea!

As for a toggle, if I were a truck thief, the first thing I'd look for is a switch or push button. Personally, I don't think there is enough gas in my truck to get them out of my drive :)

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

that would result in a direct short to ground which will blow a fuse or fusible link.
with points I would hook it to the negative side of the coil. with HEI I dunno yet.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

You could run a wire from the lighter to the distributor points. When you press in your lighter, it grounds the points.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

68C15... if you run a positive wire to a switch, and then from that switch to the load (coil) where would the short to ground be?

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I don't understand how this works. The cig lighter would need to be pushed in to close the circuit then pulled out to cut it so the truck won't start? I don't see how pushing it in would ground the circuit??? Wouldn't that kill your battery then? I guess you would have to remove the coil from the cig lighter? What if it pops out while you're driving?

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

Heh, I guess that's the best thing about driving a POS like I do. The key hasn't been out of the ignition in over three years, and I've NEVER locked the doors.

People take one look at my truck and run away screaming!! :lol:

But it is the most reliable vehicle I've ever driven. Almost 350,000 miles and the only parts replaced are the carb, starter and alternator. Starts every time I turn the key and goes where I point it.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I think they see that d@mn bug on the windshield and they get freaked out. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/c...tar27508_2.gif

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I wonder how many people have tried to "flick" their screen? :lol:

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I was damn close.... but caught myself... but I am going to pass that on to someone else.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

doesn't the lighter ground to the dash?

with an HEI you could go to the tach terminal. with points you go to the negative side of coil. then it will only be a short if the key is in either the start or run positions. if left that way for an extended time it could damage the coil or module (depending on your system type). but that is a small sacrifice compared to losing your truck.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

Well, my talented friend Joe has taken on the challenge! He's currently designing one for an early 70's Cutlass and we're taking tons of pics along the way. I'll post a separate thread when it's done. :)

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

I've read about this before, don't recall exactly how it's done, but just theorizing:

If you were to totally disconnect the wires to the cigar lighter, then run a ground that the ignition needs, say the neutral start switch, through the lighter, it should work like this: When the lighter was removed, or just in the "normal' position, the ground would be "open" or disconnected. When the lighter was pushed in, the ground circuit would be complete, vehicle would start. This this circuit would only be a ground, it would not have 12 volt power on it, therefore no way to blow a fuse or cause problems. And if you wanted to, you could take the lighter with you when you got out. sound feasable?

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

run a wire to your dimmer switch from the coil ,so the only way to start it is by stepping on the dimmer switch

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

But what happens when you need to dim your lights?

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

a quick google gave me this from another website:
"Yes, after a long day proving to my 34 year old body that it can still bend like a 3 year old (at least until tomorrow when the stiffness sets in), I succeeded in wiring in a kill switch using lighter as the switch.

I wanted to share the story because there were a few learnings along the way, so hopefully you won't make the same mistakes.
Executive summary:

Pros:

* Easy and works well.
* Cheap - costs about $15 Cdn. - Cost me $25, but you don't have to make that mistake :-) .

Cons:

* Working on the wiring underneath the dash is a real pain. As a 6 footer I did it, but it was painful. On the positive side I could look for work as a contorionist at a circus now.


Why I felt I needed a Kill Switch:

I park in the river valley, ten minutes from work. There's not many homes near by, only abandon cars of cheap parkers like myself. I have known two friends who have had their car stolen from the valley. The cops told one of them to pull the ignition fuse each morning to prevent another theft. Yeah, that'd be handy <g>...

I decided to follow in Keith Tanner's footsteps and wire in a kill switch. Keith chose to locate a switch in the lockable console, but I wanted it a little handier. The lighter is only 3 inches from the ignition - can't get much handier than that. Now to start the car you have to know you need to push in the lighter.

I don't smoke, nor do I use a radar detector, so I didn't have much need for the lighter. If I decide I want to plug in an accessory it's pretty easy to pick up an accessory plug at "Canajun Tire' and wire it up.

Here's the 7 easy steps to wire in the lighter as a kill switch.
Step One:

Buy small package of 10 guage wire. You'll need about 4 feet but will undoubtably end up buying about 25 feet.

Buy small package of 18 guage wire. Just about any wire will do, but this lighter guage stuff is easier to work with. You only need about 3 feet. Even half a cord of lamp cord will do.

Buy package of 10-12 guage butt connectors. The type you crimp on to connect one bare wire end to another.

Buy 12 volt, single pole relay, 30 amp or so. BIG HINT: Don't buy a 70 amp relay - it won't work... trust me :-) I found one at Radio Shack for $10.

Buy package of push together 1/4" connectors (plug in type - type you can insert and detach). At least that's what my relay needed. In other words, buy something to connect wires to your relay.
Step Two:

Prepare the car and your back. Remove driver seat, plastic chunk under steering column (two phillips screws then pull it downward from the screw end - gently), and touch your toes 30 times (ok, its optional, but all the pros do it). There's not much room to work under here. My arms are still sore. Remove ground from battery... just to be safe.
Step Three:

Identify the wires running through the clutch switch. The ignition circuit requires both the key to be on 'start', and the clutch to be depressed (sorry, I have a five speed; if you have an automatic this won't apply). See before and after pics below. Careful, there's two switches on your clutch. One for the criuse control which is there whether or not you have cruise control. The one you want is near the floor. The clutch needs to be pushed down to the floor to empower the switch. There's two green wires wrapped together from the switch which route above the fuse box and to a harness plug. You can disconnect the plug to give you a bit more room to work. The wires are sort of clipped up above the fuse box, but you can feel the clip, and unclip it to give you more room to work. You will know you have the right wires by disconnecting the harness plug and trying to start the car - remember to connect battery ground if you choose to do this test.
Step Four:

Cut into ONE of the wires and use butt connectors to crimp on two two foot pieces of 10 guage wire - one to each end of cut. Note, car won't start right now, so don't do this right before you have to take kids to swimming lessons...
Step Five:

Connect 10 guage wires to Relay. The relay will identify four connectors. Two will show they are for a open/close contact. This is the one you want. The contacts are open until current is passed across the other two connectors. Now before you crimp on connectors to connect the heavy wires to the relay, you need to subdivide off some ignition circuit's power to go to one of the other two connectors. You use the ignition circuit's power to _also_ go through your switch (lighter). You could solder a wire across the two connectors, or do as I did and using a short two inch piece of wire jumper between them. (see diagram)
Step Six:

Connect Lighter to relay. Pull out your lighter. If you pull it out sort of at an angle it will pull out the socket and all. Gently now. I don't want to be held responsible for broken dash. Or, reach around the back and push the socket out. There's two wires connected to it: power and ground. The ground is connected to the casing of the lighter socket, and the power is connected to the screw in the centre of the casing. There is a black plastic harness holding both wires so they plug into the lighter as one. Now however you want to do it, the goal is to disconnect the 12 volt source, and run a light guage wire from the relay to the positive (power) connector on the lighter, and have the power pass through the lighter and out the ground. I cut into the ground. I crimped on a 1/4" plug in connector, and folded the wiring plug and power wire back,and taped them up. Now I had the ground connected to the lighter, and a new lead from the relay to the lighter's power lead (the centre one) (Yes! We do spell centre that way in Canada).
Step 7:

Find somewhere under your dash to mount your relay. On my car there was a conventiently located bracket sitting there unused. The relay will have a hole for mounting it, so it should be pretty easy. Now tape up your work to secure it all, and help it blend into the naturally occurring darkness under the dash. Push the clutch switch wiring back up on top of the fuse box. Hopefully your splice will be well hidden by the fusebox. Reassemble car; seat and underdash piece of shrouding.

Oh yeah! Test it before putting it all back. I figure you'll do that, but I figured I'd mention it. You'll have to make sure you reconnect your battery, or else you're sure to be dissapointed :-)

If you try to run the clutch switch wires directly to the lighter (i.e. no relay) you will find it won't work. There's too much resistance in the lighter. That's why the relay is used. If you really didn't want to use the relay you could solder some wire into the lighter to bypass the lighter coil, but one such previous attempt resulted in the wire coming loose after it got 'heated' up repeatedly.

The first relay I bought from an electronics specialty house was a 70 amp. It wouldn't work, so make sure you get a lower rated relay.

So, now I can sit at my desk at work, looking down upon my car about 400 yards (and five minutes if you run) away, and feel secure.... and hope I don't run across a thief who smokes and decides to light up before jammin my ignition switch :-)

Good luck. Feel free to write if you have any questions..."

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

That's some good info..... thanks!

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

The state troopers here in Texas (at least the ones that I know) have a switch that disconnects the brake pedal relay. That way they can leave thier vehicle running and not worry about somebody jumping in and driving off.

We needed to move a troopers car at an accident scene once and between myself and two county deputy's we failed miserably at trying to figure it out.

The trooper enjoyed watching us try though, and then he climbed in and moved the car himself.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

Here's some more ideas...........

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/search.php?do=process

Didn't work, search "lighter kill switch"

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

That is good info! I had thought of using the cigar lighter too, but I would never have figured out how to wire it. I'll connect it to the neutral safety switch since I have an automatic.

Re: 'cigar lighter' kill switch?
 

Look in the last box and the last page . Its there! lol