Dummy Killswitch that Activates Alarm

This is a project idea I’ve had for a long time, and I finally got around to it. If you like this I’ll do more stuff like this. Thanks for watching.
Amazon Affiliate Links (means I get a cut of what you spend instead of it all going to Amazon):
Latching Relay: amzn.to/3EmKB9S
Time Delay: amzn.to/42E50RT
Siren: amzn.to/40KxmY2
Junction Box: amzn.to/3Q2gDdM
Filmed on iPhone 13 Pro & iPhone 14:
amzn.to/3Cotx2N
amzn.to/3WJFB5k
This is a killswitch. It's pretty basic - it cuts the power to the fuel pump relay, so that your car can't start. Usually, this gets installed somewhere in the cabin, and it's pretty easy to bypass if you know what you're looking for. So I decided, I was going to make one that's much more complicated, and much more difficult to bypass. I'm Mike, welcome to watching me overcomplicate simple things.
So here's what my plan is. A killswitch pretty much always looks like this. I'm going to make this a fake killswitch, that activates a siren. The real killswitch will be installed somewhere else, which I won't show on video for hopefully obvious reasons. This switch for the siren, although it sounds simple, has to be a bit complicated. There's a few things that I want to mitigate with this. I don't want the switch to immmediately activate the siren, because then the thief will immediately realize that the switch he flipped triggered a siren and turn it off. I also don't want the switch to only have a time delay, because then if the thief does figure it out, he can just turn it off. So once the siren is on, it'll stay on. But I also want to be able to turn the switch off without too much effort, without having to do any sort of unplugging or anything. I also want this to work passively - meaning that it can't draw battery power before the switch has been activated, otherwise I’ll drain my battery. So now that I have a list of impossible demands form myself, let's see what I can do.
So here's my plan. Because I don't want this to immediately activate the siren, I need a time delay. Because I want this to stay on once the switch has been activated, I need a latching relay. Because I want this to operate without drawing any power until it needs it, I can't use a microcontroller, because I'm not good enough at electrical engineering to optimize for energy efficiency. So here's what I have - I have a latching relay, that will be activated by the switch. The latching relay will then lead to a time delay, which will only provide power to the siren once the time threshold has elapsed. And then to top it all off, I have another normal relay so that these other componenets don't get fried from the power the siren will pull. I have this box here for the latching relay and time delay, which we'll install here in the cabin, and this box here for the relay in the engine compartment for the siren, and then the siren itself, which is pretty dang loud. So let's wire this up outside of the car, and then we'll get this into the car.
Okay so I’m going to mount this interior box here, and then I’ll need to run these wires into the engine compartment to this box here with the siren relay. And then the siren itself will be down here in the bumper because it’s the only place there’s room for it where it won’t be terribly in the way. And I need to get the power to come from the battery, so I’ll wire that across the cowl, and we should be good to go. I should mention that this switch here will deactivate this by decoupling the latching relay, and it’ll just sit somewhere near this box here where you can feel for it if you know what you’re looking for but you can’t see it. So now that I have a good plan for how this is supposed to go, let’s get to work actually creating this.
I think I’m done. I haven't tested it yet, so let's flip this switch here. We’re in the 10 second delay, and I’m so nervous. I have to be honest, I know you can’t tell how loud this is, but if that happened to me while I was stealing a car, people related to me would need a new pair of pants oh my god. I'm going to try it again. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Yeah, this is awesome. Okay I really don't think I need to change anything, so let's get this installed in the car and give it a final test in the car.

[@papaAJ88]

I love it! Haha this is exactly my kind of Rube Goldberg shenanigans. You really cracked me up at 4:29 after testing it, big smile, silently shaking your head for ten seconds, your sleep deprived brain marveling that you walked that fine line between genius and insanity, and actually came out on top... lol.

[@benargee]

You should also make it very difficult to pop the hood so they can't disconnect the battery.

[@drive.science]

Great idea

[@luckyguy600]

Aaaa. That is when the explosives' kick in.

[@bread7509]

i just take my engine with me anytime i leave my car.

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

It's nice, obviously with a bit of time and perfboard you could do it cheaper and more cleanly but I personally enjoy the bodged-and-zip-tied look. Wish I had the space you've got in your engine compartment. Why'd you go for the siren, though? Seems to me that it'd work nicely with a big, loud, aftermarket horn. Also, locally, this would be super non-compliant as more than one connected horn system is a no-go.

[@FAB1150]

Haha this is great

[@asdasfdfgewqgrgyjh]

Man I really need to start making electronics for cars If my count is right you someone managed to spend $50 for 12v latching relay, a timer, and a plastic box Yall will spend so much for the simplest things 😂

[@drive.science]

I pay for the time savings. $50 and 2 days or $15 and 5 weeks

[@lemmmmmmmmm]

Unless I'm missing something, what's stopping the thief from just hotwiring the car anyway? Isn't this only effective if they notice the killswitch?

[@drive.science]

Even if you hotwire, your fuel pump would be cut off. So you’d have to wire 12v to the high-pressure fuel pump too, a bit more timely

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

Do you casually bring enough cable and a punch down tool to patch power to the fuel pump in every car you steal? Or do you just move on to the next car?

[@wykykyk]

Between "2:45am" and "the next day," you shaved, got a hair cut and *you rejunivated 10 years in a oxygen tent with Bubbles the monkey.* 🙂 Which state are you in? City or rural? Why do you feel the need to secure youre vehicle like this? Are there bad people living in your neighbourhood? *Great Project. Thanks for sharing.*

[@drive.science]

LA-OC area. I live in a nice enough area but sometimes I go to places that aren’t

[@luckyguy600]

I sure as hell ain't coming to your door at Halloween. I wouldn't notice that the toffee candies were actually plastic explosives'!

[@BlueSky-cy5nw]

You could do this better and cheaper by making a kill switch that is triggered wirelessly through an RF remote, or your phone's wifi or bluetooth. You can then hide the switch wherever you want.

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

Love it when my phone dies so I can't start my car. No, wait, the opposite.

[@BlueSky-cy5nw]

@@Bobo-ox7fj So you've never seen a car phone charger before? Good news. It's been invented.

[@huuffff]

Mine release the potassium chloride gas then pull the door in, close the windows and locks, disable the doors.

[@luckyguy600]

Then the chlorine gas capsule breaks emitting a 'green mist of death'.

[@luckyguy600]

What a fun web page. Thank you for wasting 15 minutes of my life. :) Does your wife have close friends she can bond with when you get 'these ideas'? Must be a rough life that she leads.