# Temporarily disabling a car **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770 "2003-04-20T03:41:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lastcomic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lastcomic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lastcomic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/1 "2003-04-20T03:41:03Z")
Can anyone tell me how to temporarily disable a car? I don’t want to do any permanent damage. It would be best if it were simple, undetectable (or at least hard to detect) and easily repairable. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/2 "2003-04-20T03:50:08Z")
Pull the coil wire. ---
**Author:** ![lastcomic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lastcomic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lastcomic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/3 "2003-04-20T03:56:52Z")
Man that was quick. Wouldn’t that be easy to see just by looking under the hood? I’m kind of looking for something that is easy to do but difficult to detect. ---
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/4 "2003-04-20T04:00:22Z")
One common way, for older cars, was to remove the rotor from the distributor. You could also disconnect the battery, remove an appropriate fuse (if there is one), or unplug the spark plugs. If you’re planning to do it often wire a switch into the ignition circuit and hide the switch under the dash somewhere. It depends on how quickly you want to be able to do it and how knowledgeable the potential car hacker is. If you want to go the distance, you could siphon off all the gas in the tank… ---
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/5 "2003-04-20T04:13:57Z")
I missed that last post, **lastcomic**. Removing the rotor is difficult to see because you replace the distributor cap. Unless you know to check inside the distributor, you won’t see it. However, it’s not easy to do on a car with electronic ignition. What conditions are you thinking of? Is this a one-time thing, or will your teenager be trying to make off with the car on multiple occasions? Now that I think of it, some car alarms come with ignition disablers. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/6 "2003-04-20T04:20:34Z")
There must be a story here, the **lastcomic** , with 5 posts is asking how to disable a car? Let’s see if they bother coming back to fill us in. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/7 "2003-04-20T04:24:08Z")
Before any of us help you do something illegal, could you fill us in as to who’s car it is, and why you want it disabled? Assuming you have no ill motives, you could slip the Serpentine Belt off the pullys, and pull it up and leave it there. (IF the car has one). Discharge the battery before doing this. Even if jump started the battery will not stay charged for long because the belt usually runs the alternator/generator. Looking under the hood won’t help find the problem, because if you do this like I said it will leave the illusion that the belt is still on the pully. Putting it back on takes a wrench. Not the best way to achieve your goal, but it is hard to detect. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/8 "2003-04-20T05:24:45Z")
On a 4 cylinder engine if you just pull the first two spark plug wires then put them back in the opposite place the engine probably won’t run. It’s almost impossible to detect, very easy to do, and very easy to fix once you want to get the car going again. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/9 "2003-04-20T05:56:53Z")
Take the lead wire off the coil pack. Not the same as disconnecting the coil wire, but just as effective and harder to see. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/10 "2003-04-20T05:58:36Z")
How about taking off the distributor cap, and pouring some conductive grease or something under it? Lotsa bad things you could do to the carburetor if it has one. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/11 "2003-04-20T06:05:03Z")
What about Axel Foley’s old standby, a couple of bananas up the tailpipe? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/12 "2003-04-20T06:15:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > \*\*What about Axel Foley’s old standby, a couple of bananas up the tailpipe? \*\* That actually works to some degree (the original gag used a potato). But sometimes the engine starts and runs and builds up enough pressure to turn the inserted object into a missile! Another thing that might work is slitting the vaccum hoses. slitting the underside will delay detection. The hoses will still be on but not doing their jobs. Regardless of what technique is used, eventually someone will find out what the problem is. **lastcomic** needs to come back in here and explain his motives. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporarily-disabling-a-car/169770/13 "2003-04-20T06:31:21Z")
I’m going to close this. I can’t imagine how the answer to this would be used legally. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator