I was thinking of wiring a push-button switch or a toggle in-line between the ignition pushbutton and it's 12v input, tucked away in an inconspicuous spot, or even next to the ignition button, so that the car wouldn't start (even if you had the fob) without the switch being on. Something like this: Pilot Automotive - Performance Switch: PL-SW57B or like this: Pilot Automotive - Performance Switch: PL-SW25B Has anyone done anything like this? Any drawbacks to consider?
It's probably easy enough to do; but, are Prius auto thefts frequent in your area to warrant the time and effort? It also could be a deterrent to resale if it isn't removed cleanly.
Umm, probably not worth the time and effort if all I wanted this for was to have an antitheft device. But I also want to do this because it's cool, and my wife won't let me install these. (yes, I know, I'm being a bit childish, but it's never too late to have a happy childhood) I'm planning on buying a replacement trim piece, so I can just swap them out at resale time.
these are called killswitches. used to be a popular mod back in the 80's. Just a simple relay switch that disconnected a wire. Then reconnected when the 2 metal plates would connect again. But in terms of a Prius Killswitch, I thought about it and highly recommend you reconsider not doing it. The Smartkey feature we have is directly paired with your fob and ignition and would have you run into a bunch of issues. SImple things like getting into the car. Otherwise, I hope I did not deter you from at least trying. Just my 2 cents on the subject.
Back in the day, this was called a "kill switch". I had one on my 68 Mustang. You will need heavy gage wire, a big nice person fuse, and a switch that can handle the load. I loved it because only I knew where it was in my car. As for the Prius, the ignition system is not set up the same as other cars and this idea may complicate things. I'm sure it can be done, because the way the Prius relies on electricity even when you are away from the car, this may screw up the overall operation of the computer, sensors, etc.
OK, let me try this another way, or maybe two other ways. Keep in mind that I'm doing this mostly because I think it looks cool, but having a cool switch on the car that does nothing but light up seems to be crossing the line into completely silly, which is a bit too far for me. You've all convinced me not to try to make this a traditional kill switch, which physically stops power getting to the engine. 1) The ignition button switch seems to be a momentary switch, so that pressing it sends a brief signal to the computer to start the car, and then pressing it while the car is running sends the same signal, which tells the computer to stop the car. I'd be really surprised if it was directly connected to the battery, the way that a conventional car's ignition switch is. My thought was to attach the stealth switch so that it would interrupt the wire that sends the signal to the computer - if the stealth switch is open, the only thing that's disabled is the ignition button switch, nothing else at all. The stealth switch isn't a momentary switch - it's one push for on, closing the circuit and letting current flow, then the next push for off, opening the circuit (preventing current flow).Getting power to light the stealth switch led becomes a different issue, which I will hopefully figure out. I don't see anywhere to mount this except right next to the ignition switch. If I'm wrong about the type of switch the ignition button switch is, could someone here tell me, before I go looking all sorts of foolish trying to do this mod, please? 2) The other way to do this is to ask you guys for even more help, along the lines of :" I found this really cool switch from Pilot that has an iris to close which (hopefully) prevents anyone from figuring out it's a switch. Can anyone here come up with a way to use it in the Prius?"
I dig your idea. Problem is finding the right wire that you want to interrupt. Like I said, I'm sure it can be done. Finding the right wire will be the trick.
