Immobilizing an outboard?
 

Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the transom
but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor from
running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when stopping at a
waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that will
immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't entail
popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack

Jack wrote:
Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the transom
but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor from
running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when stopping at a
waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that will
immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't entail
popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack

People who steal boats are probably not going to start your boat
anyhow. They'll just drive up in their boat, toss a line around a
cleat or the eyelet on the front of your boat, and drive away with it
in tow. They won't want to waste time dicking with the uniqueness of
your system in order to drive it away - plus they wont want to be half
way on their getaway only to run out of gas. If it was a HUGE boat, it
might be a different story.

If you are looking for something simple, maybe just put an inline fuel
switch in your fuel line. Turn it off and the boat ain't going far
unless they search for it. If you're looking for something more
discrete, then you'll probably need to pop the cover off that motor and
at least do some wiring to an external toggle switch (not sure what
you'd wanna toggle though as I know little about the actual inners of
these motors)

Jack wrote:
Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the transom
but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor from
running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when stopping at a
waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that will
immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't entail
popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack



1) Take your saftey switch clip & lanyard with you.

2) Put an in-line fuel cutoff switch under the cowl or hidden/protruding
from cowl, in the stretch before the fuel pump.

3) Install a hidden SPST switch under or behind the cowl(in the "grip"
area on top) wired to short the magnetos to each other when in the "ON"
position.

4) Take the prop with you. This may come back to bite you, though, if
the motor throws a rod in the hands of the thief.

5) Switch the spark plug wires (they are usually too short to do this
though on that motor) or take them off the plugs - (cowl off req'd)

6) Put in a pair of defective/grounded out spark plugs in place of your
good ones. - (cowl off req'd)

7) Ground out the spark plugs with discrete jumpers to ground. - (cowl
off req'd)

8) Disconnect the choke linkage so it can be activated only by removing
the cowl. Leave it in the full choke position. - (cowl off req'd)

And none of these will prevent the boat from hitting the high seas in
tow behind another boat.

Rob

"Jack" wrote in message
news:TgmNe.143062$wr.43769@clgrps12...
Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the
transom but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor
from running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when
stopping at a waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that
will immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't
entail popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack


Run a galvanized heavy duty chain through the outboard (between the transom
mount and underside of the engine cover) and somehow padlock it to the dock
using a secured hasp or heavy duty eyebolt.

On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:46:11 GMT, "Jack"
wrote:

Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the transom
but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor from
running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when stopping at a
waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that will
immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't entail
popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack


A length of plastic coated metal cable with eyelets on each end and a
padlock. It ain't hidden, but it will immobilize it unless they have a
boltcutter or something with them. You used to be able to get the
plastic coated cable so that it self coiled when not in use and
already had the eyelets in the end. They used to use those at a
previous job to nail down "portable" computers back when they
definitely were NOT laptops and were serious objects de theft.

The Other Dave Hall

Jack wrote:

Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the transom
but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor from
running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when stopping at a
waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that will
immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't entail
popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack



I have a similar type fishing boat. 14ft aluminum boat w/7.5 merc
outboard. I chained the boat to the dock. And have a lock on the engine.

Capt Jack R..

Thanks guys, for all the suggestions. I specifically liked the coiled
locking cable idea (or anything that is a quick and easy dock tether). The
ideas of immobilizing through some sort of cutoff switch is interesting to
look at. I was also thinking of chopping out part of the fuel line (from
the the bow tank back to the engine) and inserting some sort of quick
connect link that can be taken with me. Those immobilizing ideas would come
in hand if we were just temp. docking to go into a cafe for some eats.

But I do get the point that if someone is skulking around for a nice
runabout, they will probably just pull up alongside and yank it away behind
their own boat. As mine is a red & white 60's classic, it might just be
marketable. lol
Jack



"Jack" wrote in message
news:TgmNe.143062$wr.43769@clgrps12...
Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the
transom but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor
from running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when
stopping at a waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that
will immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't
entail popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack

Jack wrote:
Hi.
We have a 1990 pull-start 9.9 Evenrude outboard and it's mounted to a 14'
runabout. Lately, our harbour has been experiencing thefts of motors as
well as the boats themselves. With ours, the motor is locked to the transom
but I would also like to find a nifty way of disabling the motor from
running so the boat itself can't be motored away ..like when stopping at a
waterside cafe or pub or picnic, etc.

Is there anyway of installing a hidden switch or some such device that will
immobilize the motor. This should probably be something that doesn't entail
popping off the engine cover each time we stop.

Appreciate your ideas.
Jack



Put Ficht or E-Tec stickers on it.

K