The first cry for help comes from someone called ZotWise, who earns himself a High SpiritS CD. He says:

Heya guys,
Firstly, you've got to congratulate yourselves on a great website. It's got all the right stuff, (Yadda yadda... General 'HSLife rules stuff, which you know already - DJ Ess)
The reason I am e-mailing you is cause I want to hot wire my dad's car. When he goes out, he leaves the keys in the ignition so I usually just take the car out for a bit while he's gone. Problem is, he's busted me every time. 
Don't ask me how. I then decided to take the master keys and have them copied. Once that was done, I put the originals back. Unfortunately, I left my keys on the table in my room, and my dad saw them, took them and so I'm back at square on. Again.
So, last resort... Hot wire. I know very little about this, so I'm begging you to help me.
Any tutorials on the subject or information on how an ignition system works would be so appreciated.

Thank you, guys.
ZotWise
P.S: The car has some anti-theft hotwire-ing device which activates should the car be hotwired. Can you bypass this, if so how?

HSLife says:

Let us say right from the start that taking your Dad's car without permission, hotwire or not, is illegal. You're Dad can call the cops on you if he wishes - not good.

Also, taking his keys to copy was also against the law, but damned brave, so respect.

Right - so you want to hotwire a car?

First our nice lawyer tells me to type "HSLife in no way condones the hotwiring or stealing of cars. Use this technique only if you lose your keys and never to someone else's car."

Right.

So we're assuming you've lost your keys. Gain entry by using a universal key on your window (such as a brick, or a big stick), and get in. Incidentally, do not smash a small corner window on your car - these are the most expensive to replace. The cheapest to replace is, strangely, your front windscreen. Get in. Now unscrew/unsnap the bottom of the steering column and  take it off. You should see the ignition barrel. You need to get rid of that pesky key barrel, so lets have it off. The cover is attached on the left. Sometimes in old cars it's just bolted or screwed on, but in newer cars it's normally bolted and then had the head of the bolts cut off so you can't undo them. Drill these out with a power drill, and slide the casing off the ignition barrel (you may have a few screws to take off before you ca do this).

Behind the bit the key goes in is a nice slot that a screwdriver will turn perfectly. Job done

Unless the cars 'anti-theft hotwire-ing device', or 'immobiliser' is a fancy one, it should disarm as you turn the screwdriver key.

Let's face it Zot, you don't want to be doing that to your Dad's car. The best bet is to either copy his keys again and hide them, buy your own car, or, you know, ask him if you can borrow his car?

The reason he busts you is probably because he knows the mileage on the trip clock, and there isn't anything you can do about that (don't try driving home in reverse, it doesn't work).

Good luck to you, mate.

If you have any problems you need help with (or just want to make one up to win a CD - DJ Ess) then drop us a line and we'll sort you out.

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