What is an immobilizer?

Every car owner thinks about how to protect his vehicle from hijacking. So you need to know what an immobilizer is. It is an electronic security car device that deprives the car of mobility, blocking all its important systems. Its main task is to break some electrical circuits necessary for engine operation. This will prevent the hijacker from stealing the car. If you use additional solenoid valves, you can achieve lockout of non-electrical systems.

There is another option for the immobilizer. It involves first starting the engine and driving the car while hijacking. However, after a few meters the engine stalls. In this case, most likely, the thief will simply throw the car. Immobilizer - a device that protects the vehicle from burglary and prevents its theft.

The peculiarity of this device is that even in the event of its unauthorized disconnection or destruction, the system lock is not removed.

Immobilizers are contact and non-contact. In the first case, the owner must turn off the device with the help of a special electronic key. You can not make a copy of this key if there is no master card. In the second case, the immobilizer is controlled by a key fob or a card (the so-called "label"). The receiving antenna hides under the lining of the cabin, and the radius of its action reaches a meter or two. The driver simply carries a label with himself, and it does not need to be specially brought anywhere.

To better understand what an immobilizer is, and what is the principle of its operation, it is necessary to study its elements. It consists of three parts:

- Control unit. This is the circuit from which signals are received about the activation of the entire system.

- Blocks. Perform the function of immobilization of the car, carrying out the rupture of all important electrical wiring circuits.

- The key. He is at the owner of the car. The control unit recognizes only it.

What is the next generation immobilizer? Such devices use fingerprint scanning. To start the engine, you need to attach a finger pad to the optical device (scanner). If a car uses a lot of people, then samples of their prints need to be added to the overall system. There is also a technique for fingerprints of two different fingers, one of which blocks the system. If, for example, a hijacker forcibly forces a car owner to unlock it, he can use another finger. The car starts to move, but then stops, as the engine stalls.

Electronic immobilizer has a disadvantage when installed on an outdated car. In this case, there is a risk of spontaneous locking of the system. It simulates a physical malfunction, and this makes it difficult to diagnose and repair an "iron horse".

There are many types of immobilizers with completely different levels of protection and the number of functions, which directly affects their cost. Any anti-theft device has a high price. It makes sense to pay if you want to keep the vehicle.

It is necessary not only to know what an immobilizer is, but also how to choose it correctly. First of all, you need to take into account the features of using the car, its brand, technical condition, and storage space. This will help determine the level of risk of theft.

Today, most cars have an alarm system. It is either of factory origin or installed after the purchase of the machine. But it just notifies the owner of the burglary and does not interfere with hijacking. It is worth noting that one immobilizer is also not enough, as there are people wishing to steal the wheels, radio tape recorder and so on. Therefore, to effectively protect the machine it makes sense to share both the alarm and the immobilizer.