Easy way to stop car from being started?

Hi... let's just say that there's someone who I want to be able to stop from driving my '97 Legacy L wagon sometimes... someone who has a key to it.

 

I would imagine there must be a fuse or something that I could pull out that would prevent the car from starting. I hope it's something simple and clean, ideally not requiring anything dangerous, or complicated procedures done with tools, that can be easily reversed by me on a moment's notice. The person I want to thwart certainly will not mess around to figure out what's wrong.

 

Any advice much appreciated.

Fuel pump relay. Can't start the car if there's no fuel

pull the harness on the coil pack, no spark no start

I agree with fuel pump relay or fuel pump fuse.

Yes, either will do, but only one will keep from putting gas in your oil when the person won't give up trying to start it. You could also pull the connectors off each injector, but the fuse would be much easier.

fuel pump fuse or remove battery cable

 

you could wire a switch inline with the fuse or fuel pump and make it a kill switch.

The Club.

Wire in a hidden interrupting switch to the starting ignition switch wire. Just find the wire from the ignition cylinder that sends the signal to start the car and put a toggle switch inline and hide the switch somewhere.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.... @BDII: haha, yes, I thought of that, but I'd like to be a little more "stealth" about it. Will go that way if I'm not comfortable with other options.

 

As for the advice given.... guys, I'm not a car person. If I knew how to do the things you've suggested, I probably wouldn't have needed to ask

 

Could I get an explanation for an intelligent layman of where to find the fuel pump relay (or fuse... is this two different things) and how to pull it, if not obvious?

I looked in my FSM and it seems the fuel pump fuse is shared with the computer. Pulling it would erase the learned trims in the computer. That doesn't break anything, but it makes things inefficient for a decent length of time as the computer re-learns the details of your car.

 

I think the cover for the fuse box says what each one is. Not sure as I mislaid my cover. The box is above your left shin when you're driving.

doublechaz, that makes it sound like maybe something I wouldn't do, then. Maybe the Club is the best option for me...

you could pull the signal wire offf your starter, its the only wire that is removable without a ratchet just a little clip/harness sitting on a electrode/ metal tongue thing. but yes you will still be putting fuel in the cylinders.

If you have an AP you can install the anti theft map

The fuel thing aside, I think that starter solenoid wire is brilliant. Easy to reach. One single step. I don't remember it having a hard to release catch, just pull it.

 

Is this something that you are likely to make use of one or two times, or semi regularly?

If you have an AP you can install the anti theft map

 

Pretty sure there is no AP for the 1998-04 model

I'm curious who this person is that has the key, but yet you don't want them to drive it....a jilted ex-girlfriend, rebellious teenage kid, grandpa who had his license revoked for old age?

On a different thought path, why not try to find a replacement set of locks/keys from subaru? The kit is discontinued but doesn't mean you can't find them anymore. That way you get all new locks and keys, they're tedious to swap but then there's a 100% certainty that they can't mess with your car.

Is this something that you are likely to make use of one or two times, or semi regularly?

Pretty regularly.

I'm curious who this person is that has the key, but yet you don't want them to drive it....a jilted ex-girlfriend, rebellious teenage kid, grandpa who had his license revoked for old age?

Wife who I'm trying to divorce, without being too aggressive, although she wants to drag it out as long as possible. She needs to drive the car sometimes, but I want to be able to stop her taking it any time she likes, esp. if I might want to use it.

There's easy and there's safe. The only one I would think to be fail proof is a kill switch wired into the ignition fuse or relay. If your not worried about a little gas getting in the oil because this only happens one or two times and she's not aggressive, the fuel pump fuse can be taken out. If she'll be attempting and failing to start the car regularly, don't do this. This is also only if the fuse or relay is not also powering the ecu. If your going to remove power from the ecu memory anyway, the better route is to disconnect the negative battery terminal which can be done with a single wrench, but I wouldn't wanna relearn those settings everyday for the duration of a divorce..This is only if you don't care about your car relearning it's fuel curves. The ecu controls injectors, ignition,starter, and fuel pump. Switches for any other single component wouldn't completely prevent the car from damage while keeping the car readily available. A break in the connection from ignition to ecu would prevent the car from even attempting to start making sure none of the components over exert themselves when she tries to fry the starter. Find someone with the ability to cut and splice a wire. Have them splice in a kill switch to the signal wire from ignition to ecu. Put the switch whereever it's easiest to access to install and to use. I know I'd choose the club if she managed to break anything, so better to make sure you don't have to. Take what you want, but don't mess with my legacy:spin:

If you don’t have or don’t use an alarm, you can get a battery disconnect switch for between $7 and $20. If you use an alarm though, it will go off when ever you reconnect the battery.

 

 

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