ITRCA

I don't know how many people here have read the post on honda-tech about security at the expo. But they do make a good point. Also I think the idea of having like 8 to 10 owners on 2 hr shifts at the hotel watching the cars is a really good idea.

Not a terrible idea, but getting people to volunteer for that might prove a little difficult, especially for the late night shifts.

Another thing you may want to consider is hiring a security gaurd or two, especially at like 25 an hour, I'm sure if there are like 50 guys, no one would mind pitching in like 50 cents for a security guard, or 1.00 for two, and so on and so forth.

Later,
Aj

i work for a law enforcement agency in los angeles, and i have some information on how a lot of the hondas, acuras, cars are being stolen, and i am not sure if it is good to post how its actually done, or not,, due to potential thieves may see it?.. but i figure the more people know about how its done then they can protect their cars..because the thieves will find out how to do it eventually,, so post a reply and let me know if this is good idea or not,, maybe trey can email me and say yes or no and then cancel this post if it is not a good idea??? but i will not tell anyone if a private email is sent to me so dont ask.i want to post it here so everyone knows how its done... i figure if i can help one person it is worth it... but thats just my opinion.......

the car manufactures even help the thieves in a certain way.. can't say more than that.......

but rest assure i want to get the approval of the regulars to see if the good out weights the bad in letting the public know this information... i see it day after day, and im tired of the thieves knowing all the tricks an innocent people like us getting screwed..... so please let me know....

whats up man

i say go ahead and post it because it wil help and thiefs no their way around it, so why cant we to protect our rides.

Yeah, likewise, if there is a way I can protect my car any more than I already have, then I'd be very appreciative.

Besides, if all the guys read the post, and at least try to combat what ever you're reffering to, maybe we'll all be better off. Besides, I don't think all to many car theives read these posts, but either way, I'm sure Trey can do some sort of batch mailing to all the registered ITRCA members, this way it's never seen by anyone else.

Any way, let us know!!!!!!

Aj

yeah i think it would great to know.
i have a base alarm system and was thinking of paying someone to add some short of kill swicth.

FIRST OFF I WILL UNDERSTAND IF TREY DECIDES TO DELETE THE PICTURES OR THE ENTIRE POST...



well since i got many of the usual people who post regularly on here, here goes. but realize this may or may not be information you already know ,, depends on how much you have messed or modded your car..

well one of the most common practices in stealing the honda, acura cars including the type r is removing the plastic switch behind the main metal part on the ignition. if you look at the photos (from a honda 98 civic)(the ignitions are the same or similiar. and the part where the car manufactors help the criminals is that most of these types of ignitions are held in by two thin small screws that screw into the back of the metal part of the main ignition, and they also have a zip tie around the plastic part and main ignition,, so all you do is you take a flathead and snap one of the thin screws , which makes the two pieces come apart and as you see in the next photo all you have to do is stick that same flat head in the little hole and turn and the car will start.... and as we all know it takes 2 secs to rip the plastic panels off to get to the ignition area.. and you will also notice when you carefully take the lower panel off there are metal plates that try to protect the ignition area and are very sharp so becare when you look,,, but those snap off also the are only two spot welds that hold the main middle plate, snaps off in 5 secs.. once again using that nice flathead.... all this can be done by one person and it only takes about 1-2 minutes at the most.(which is very long, sit somewhere quiet and put your watch to alarm after 2 mins after about a minute your thinking when is the alarm going to sound) . and all the tools you need is an 1/4 inch size flathead,, the same flathead is also used to damage and open your door also, either by sticking it in the key hole and prying off the whole handle (hard to finish if you have an alarm) or by using the flathead to pry open the window less than an inch to stick in a coat hanger to flip your power door switch....(this still can be done even if you have a glass sensor,, they put electrical tape on the flat part of the screw driver to minimize the vibration.(good thing to put a power kill switch on the door switch also) .

i know i skimmed through different ways they are able to access the car and start the car.. alarms you say?? those are usually done by two or more people, the reason the siren,the noise,,, but if you got one person at the door, and two at the hood area , it take about 4 secs to turn that siren off. one guy pops and hold the hood open while the other guy rips or cuts the siren off.. and where are most of the sires located? (you must tell the alarm tech to add more wire to the siren and place it farther down in the engine compartment to make it harder to rip out and find) most sirens are placed on top on the firewall in plain view.easily deabled,,, another place is down in the front of the engine area where the aem pipe goes done the hole, or on the other side ifyou dont have power steering... ive even seen them in front of the radiator behind the front cowl area , or at the bottom cowl area, it take 2 secs to check to see if its there.

so yes the alarms do make it harder, and they will need another person to be involved in those thefts....but a smart thief will always work with more people anyway.there is alot of money to be made in stolen parts especially type r..and the fact that alot of the parts are interchangeable also...

getting back to the first part about the ignition andthe plastic part,,, i havent tested any alarms but many alarms that have the ignition kill, or the starter kill can also be bypassed, due to the simplicity of getting the alarm installed (meaning the alarm companys dont want to cut too many of your wiresand spend hours rerouting them to the brain) so they enstall it in a way that it will do what its supposed to do, by cutting it off at a lower part of the wiring diagram, and at the fuse box .when it should be at the top of the main wiring diagram.. i hope that wasnt too confusing...picture the main wires (the wires at the plastic part) as the roots of a tree and the lower part the branches of the same tree... the alarm triggers are set on the branch areas and not at the roots.. not sure i made it more confusing??? plus cutting your main wires onthe ignition deletes your entire electrical warranty. but in the end you have to remember that any alarm is just a deterent. and not a fool proof way to keep your car... and there are plenty of cars to get at, so if one car seems to be slightly harder to get, but not impossible, most of the time they will just look for another one and not bother and location also is a deterrant.

so hopefully i didnt make it sound too confusing, you may have to reread it again, but i hope i have help at least one person know more about their car and how easily it really is.. and investing in an alarm will help. along with putting a hidden kill switch on your interior door lock switch and also your fuel pump as well. those are very simple and very cheap ways to keep your car ,, the key to those are location of the switches and also remembering to flip them when you leave the car...with our busy days it is possible to forget about the switches.. if you want to know how to add a kill switch send me an email and i will try to walk you through it,, but first find a hidden spot to put it figure about a hole the size of a dime for the switch.

thanks for the ideas of where i should relocate my alarm and what i should add kill swicthes to.

I KNEW ABOUT THAT METHOD ALREADY BUT THANX A MILLION FOR THE DETAILS AND PICS!!!! IF ANYMORE METHODS OR PREVENTIONS, PLEASE POST IT UP.

yea like i said these are not new methods to the thieves but i know for a fact (due to the number of stolen highend cars in general) that alot of people do not know how to prevent or atleast make it harder or time consuming to the thiefs..and those are the most important factor in car thefts..they need time to steal the cars... and the more alarm options, and more hidden kill switches will help drastically in not getting your car stolen,, just remember if you have a anti-highjack (anti-carjack) option, what you want to do is play dumb...dont say a word, and run and get as much distance from you and the car jacker/s as possible.. the basic senario is you come to a stop light or you are driving slowly through a street and you get held up.. you hear "get the f out of the car" (remember dont say anything...yet ) just open the door and say "heres my wallet (throw the wallet inside the passenger side rear seat area,reason so he gets in the car quicker and he wont have a chance to talk to you , "take the car i dont care" and just turn around and run as fast as you can without stumbling or falling.(if your in a busy street, go in a business and tell them what happen. and yell at them to lock the doors..this is your life if they dont listen then run inside the kitchen area..(they will realize the seriousness when the police come so they will forgive your rudeness and yelling) if your on a quiet street, go into someone back yard and hide, and stay there for a while, and calm down. i would stay there for about 30 minutes, to make sure that the thiefs have left.

the reason why you want to let them know about your wallet is to fool them into thinking that you are cooperating with them.. because they usually will ask for money during the car jacking anyway,(remember you only have about 30-40 secs before the car turn off) so you beat them to the punch and say heres my wallet and you want to throw it in the rear seat passenger area,, why,, because it will be harder and more time consuming to get to the wallet and search for money. (they will be thinking ok we got the wallet now lets get out of here,, not bothering to look through the wallet right then and there<< remember they really want the car>> wallet is a free gift to enjoy later.(buying you some time to get the hell out of there) and why do you want to run? well statistically it is a deadlier end result if you stay there and/or get into the car with them...so never just stand there,, you have to think to yourself i am not going to die, but if i stand here like an idiot he may shoot me for the hell of it.. your only option is to never mind what he says and turn and run as fast as you can.. and if he decides to shoot at you,, well , you were probably going to get shot at a closer range anyway so atleast you've put another 5-10 feet of distance between you and the gun...you cant stop everything but you can be smart and think on your toes and that is what will get you out of potential danger...

and as far as where to place kill switches.. donot place them right in front of you on the plastic dash, or any blank option plugs, because that is the first place they will look,,, and dont place them behind the lower panel under the steering wheel, because that whole lower cover is going to be ripped off anyway, and you dont want them to see the switch.. not in the glove compartment , or the middle arm rest area, or the drivers door panel.

a good place is
1.using a push button on/off metal switch hidden under the carpet...
2.a switch you pull out from the rear seat lower backrest area (where the seat belt come together)

but realize there are tons of places to put a hidden switch at,,, just seat in your car and look at everything in the car and see if a switch can be hidden there..... yea it will take time to click the kill switch and stuff like that but i would rather spend the time doing that then having to worry about the car getting stolen when i you can do something more about it...just my opinion,, and i hope i was able to help......just remember those power door locks are a nice option,,, for you and the thiefs.. so put a kill switch on it....your alarm will still go off once the doors are opened. the switch is just so they (thiefs) think they can easily open the door using the inner switch.

Another way people steal hondas are the windows. You may or may not know this, but honda windows have alot of flex. you can literally pry your fingers over the top and pull the window out, and it will bend into a U shape, with ample room to stick your entire arm in. This happens alot around here (i live in Tucson, extremely high car theft rate). I know its pretty damn hard to make a defense for the windows, but my only advice would be to get a proximity sensor for your alarm, which works well if your windows arent tinted too dark.

So far, Trey has done an excellent job in organising what will be a top notch event.
Would it be too much to ask, to arrange for a private security firm to patrol the hotel parking were most guys will stay as previously mentioned?
I know it will be the best detterant for thieves and like most ITR owners, I would be willing to pay my share of the cost.

You can bet however, if there is no extra security, for this event, my ECU,main fuse and power socket will sleep with me!!

Does this proceedure you've illustrated bypass the factory disabler system as far as the chip in the key goes???

I know if it's OBD1 they don't have the chip in the keys, but for the people who have 00' and 01', wuts the deal?????

we havent had any recent stoles come in on the new models, i havent had time to check. but as far as the factory ignition goes (i was only able to get a black and white copy from them) it is still made out of plastic and the sensor is only for the initially key entry.. meaning the sensor is located in the front of the ignition. and is not set up to shut down as one complete unit.. which is how it should be set up,, but then they (crooks) would just go to the fuse box and manipulate it from there,,,if its not set up as a complete system there will always be holes to find . i say the new cars will start jumpiing in a year or two once we and the crooks find how to do the by passes .......its always a learning experiece,,,
oh and the iginitions you will see that they are make of a cast made metal, which can be broken off the steering column,,(which is what the photos show) which inturn make the locking steering wheel part void. so they will still be able to drive the car away...just in case you thought the steering wheel lock was in a separate part.. its all integrated in one system...

That key sensor may only be on the key slot, but that sensor must be activated in order for the ECU to work. I was reading all about the imobilizer system in our cars, and without a key or an electronic bypass, there is no way to make the ECU work, other than actually replacing the ECU with an ECU with the immobilizer bisabled. So, unless they have an extra ecu handy, or have something that can dupliucate the particular signal from the chip in your key, they'll have to think of something else. At any rate, if someone really really wants your car, they'll just put it on a flatbed truck and tow the bitch away, simple as that. Nothing is going to keep someone from getting your car, not matter what you do, you can just hope what ever you do makes it enough of a pain in the ass in order to disuade them from steeling yours.