How do I hotwire a car? This is a very good question to ask if you need help solving a mechanical issue by yourself. It might seem like a difficult procedure. However, this article will give you easy details on how you can hotwire a car. If you are caught in a car situation, it is probably a good idea to look for help who can offer assistance. However, the topic of this article probably suggests that you need to fix that problem by yourself. You can still get all the tips you want on how to hotwire your car in this article.
How Do I Hotwire A Car?
On the topic of cars, there are newer car models that are now sophisticated in hiding the car wiring. This not only hides the wiring but all the steering column or similar designs. Suffice it to say, it might be a herculean task.
However, If you lost your keys and you want to hotwire a car, it is very important to be careful when dealing with the wiring. You are advised to use as much caution as you can muster to handle this situation. If you want to know all about how you can hotwire a car, here’s how to go about it:
Hotwiring the Steering Column
Keep in mind that these steps will only work if the car models are older than the mid-90s. The process of hotwiring a steering column is detailed below:
- Enter the car that you own and gain access to the owner’s manual. Check to see if the gear selection and steering column can be overridden.
- Be careful because this may cause serious damage to the shifting mechanism and this affects the steering column
- Remove the plastic cover on the steering column. You can use a screwdriver to remove the 2 Phillips-type screws or concealed clips.
- Once you have removed the panes of the steering column, you should see a roll of electrical wires. There are three main bundles of wires:
- The wires leading to the battery, ignition, and starter lead straight up the steering column
- The wires leading to the column-mounted controls on one side, like cruise control, lights, and other indicators
- And the wires leading to the column control on the other side, like wipers or seat warmers.
- Pull out the ignition, battery, and starter wire bundle (Sometimes, the starter wires are yellow, the Ignition wires are brown and the battery wires are red). Still, you are advised to read the Owner’s manual.
- Strip out about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of insulation from the battery wires and twist them together
- Wrap them with an electrician’s tape if you have one
- Connect them as they will provide electricity against the ignition components
- The engine should be able to run when the starter is turned.
- Next, you connect the ignition on/off the wire to the battery wire. Also, the dash lights and other electrical features should be alive by now
- Then, if you want to drive the car, you need to spark the starter wire. Be careful as it can get dangerous at this part.
- This means you have to strip the starter wire at about ½ inches and that’s about 1.3cm. The wires are now live and you can touch this to the connected battery wires.
- Note that you are not to twist it. You only have to spark it against the battery wires so that the car starts.
- At this point, you rev the engine so that the car can start. Revise it a few times so the car doesn’t turn off again.
- Once the car starts, you can just detach the starter wire and start driving.
If you want to end the journey, you only have to unfasten the battery wires from the ignition wires and the car dies.
Powering The Dash
- Open the hood of your car and locate the red coil wire. You can find them located at the rear of all the V8 engines. The Four-cylinder engines are located on the right side, near the engine center. The Six-cylinder engines are on the opposite left side.
- Bring your jump cables to start working. Run one cable from the positive battery terminal to the positive side of the coil.
- You can run this to the red wire that leads to the coil.
- You are now to find the starter solenoid. If you drive a Ford car, you will find this on the right-side fender well. This is near the battery
- However, if you drive a GM car, it is located on the starter under the steering wheel.
- Just as I mentioned the steps previously in this article, unlock the steering wheel. Or, you can place a flat-blade screwdriver in the top center of the steering wheel
- Push between the column and the wheel. You can be rough here. Do so until you find the solenoid.
- Nest, you connect the solenoid to the positive battery terminal. You should see a small wire at the top of the solenoid and the positive battery cable below.
- Furthermore, you have to remove the ignition switch wire from the solenoid and short the solenoid’s positive post to the terminal. This is where the ignition starts. You are advised to use an insulated screwdriver when working these steps.
- Now, the solenoid should be activated and the starter can start the car.
These are convenient ways that you can easily hotwire a car if you are in an emergency. However, when working these steps, do be careful as it can really cause serious damage to your car and to you if there’s no caution.
