Petrol theft- security advice please.

[230ina245]

I made a lock for the filler flap - like most "modern" cars - when I first bought my 240.
I used a door central locking solenoid thing & the end from from a big (broken) drill bit as the bolt. That went under the rear side panel & through a hole drilled through into the filler cap area. Had to weld a bracket with a hole for the drill bit bolt onto the inside of the fuel filler flap. Painting the flap again was the fiddliest bit of the whole operation! Wired it into the central locking circuit & don't even think about it now.
When the central locking is locked, the bolt is pushed out & through the bracket welded onto the filler flap. There is no way it could be pryed open - even if the flap was pryed up around the locked area there would still not be access to the filler cap.
Tim

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Bugjam1999

Thanks for all the replies,

Unfortunately some suggestions aren’t possible in this case- the car usually lives on the road outside my parents house - it doesn’t usually get a space on the drive so that was a bit of a one off - hiding it behind a gate or in a garage etc whilst good suggestions aren’t things I can do.

I’m going to fit some sort of anti-syphon device to the car and cctv to the house, whilst I appreciate that cctv might work and it might not, no other cars on the road have been targeted which implies I only have to make it a little less appealing as a target for it to be left alone the same as everyone else’s.

I already have a dog... but since I don’t live particularly close to my parents house, she’s not much use as defence in this case!

Cheers

The inside diameter is 50mm/2" (not sure whether the mail works).

Alan

[classicswede]

The idea of a dummy tank with a nasty fuel mix is a good one but you would need to having fuel stolen often to bother doing it.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by classicswede

The idea of a dummy tank with a nasty fuel mix is a good one but you would need to having fuel stolen often to bother doing it.

And it could cause for example criminal damage ... so a definite vote of no from me to that idea.


.

[Bugjam1999]

Originally Posted by 230ina245

I made a lock for the filler flap - like most "modern" cars - when I first bought my 240.
I used a door central locking solenoid thing & the end from from a big (broken) drill bit as the bolt. That went under the rear side panel & through a hole drilled through into the filler cap area. Had to weld a bracket with a hole for the drill bit bolt onto the inside of the fuel filler flap. Painting the flap again was the fiddliest bit of the whole operation! Wired it into the central locking circuit & don't even think about it now.
When the central locking is locked, the bolt is pushed out & through the bracket welded onto the filler flap. There is no way it could be pryed open - even if the flap was pryed up around the locked area there would still not be access to the filler cap.
Tim

Do you have any pictures of this please? I'm keen to do something similar.

Cheers

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Bugjam1999

Do you have any pictures of this please? I'm keen to do something similar.

Cheers

What about somthing like this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-S40...7/391461474879

Have a button to energise the solenoid to release the flap, put a spring on the flap to push it open when you press the button then you can get out, lock the car and the fuel flap will be open. Fill up with fuel, close the flap and it's locked until next time you need to add more fuel.

Less wear on the solenoid and mechanism and if you're wise, you'll add a pull cord to manually open the solenoid from inside the boot in case the solenoid fails, flat battery or other electrical fault prevents you using it.

[Whippy]

I've got security lights and cameras. Short of a few Claymores I think that's about best I can do.

[XCR]

Criminal Damage ?

999 : Hello
Arsewipe thieving scumbag : Me car won't start 'cos I nicked this blokes fuel the other night and its facked me engine !
999 : We'll be right round sir, sit tight.

No real concern there then.

I worked in a security advisory capacity for many years and despite popular opinion, thieves like this operate quite randomly, driving around looking for the right opportunities. Avoiding streetlights, foot traffic, bus stops etc....
Their thought process is fairly unsophisticated too....Large car = lots of fuel....Old Car = unlikely to be bristling with security devices.
I'm assuming that brand new cars nearby were not touched ?
They cover a surprisingly large area as they tend not to frequent the same areas too often.
Believe me when I tell you that they will not remember your car. At the time their minds were fixed on not getting caught.

Installing a small visible deterrent in the front and rear of your vehicle and even one on the inside of the fuel flap may well be enough to stop them in their tracks and move them on.
They are the size of pound coin, have a flashing red LED and take a CR2032 battery.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Keep it simple.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by XCR

Installing a small visible deterrent in the front and rear of your vehicle and even one on the inside of the fuel flap may well be enough to stop them in their tracks and move them on.
They are the size of pound coin, have a flashing red LED and take a CR2032 battery.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Keep it simple.

An even simpler solution is a 12V flashing LED, choose your size, colour etc from this :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flashing-...V/283635323555

Connect the +ve (red) wire to a permanent +12V feed, connect the -ve (black) to a switched ignition feed (that means you could connect both wires on the igniton switch or fusebox for simplicity) and the LED will flash when the engine is not running. It will go off when you switch to position 2 on the key so won't distract you while driving.

No button cells to need replacing, it can be made to look factory or aftermarket alarm fitment and never needs to be switched on or off separately.