OBD Relocation, Siren and multiple "Dummy" interfaces

[Josh256]

Hey Folks,

After reading a few articles with comments from local police I decided to go ahead with the following two OBD modifications, wired in series:

Dummy OBD relocation kit:
1) Relocated Toyota OBD2 interface. Distance from original location to the kit's main "hub" depends on how much time spent dismantling the oem wiring harness. The OEM connector is mated with the relocation kit's main/hub connector - this OEM to dummy relocation kit hub/junction should be situated somewhere extremely difficult to access. You will not need to access this location at a later time since the kit provides a pass-through 2M extension interface to the OEM connector.
2) Installed said 2M extension OBD2 interface to an accessible location I will share with Toyota service if/when necessary
3) Installed "dummy" OBD2 interface relatively *close* to the original location and not at the original location intentionally. The relocation kit provided "dummy" interface uses factory connector and decently imitated wiring harness - it also provides an active, broken/faulty OBD interface to diagnostics tools.

Dummy OBD siren kit:
4) Connected the Dummy OBD + Siren kit to the aforementioned relocation kit's decoy/dummy OBD port (recall: located relatively close)
5) Installed wired siren to a remote location, Installed siren kill-switch to another remote location
6) Installed dummy OBD2 port to factory location (clicked into molding socket under dash, between brake pedal and steering wheel)

Result:
If I connect anything to the factory location OBD2 port the siren is triggered. If I were to rip the lower dash apart, rip the Dummy OBD+siren kit out and re-attempt to connect with the second, nested/decoy OEM OBD2 port I get power and a faulty OBD interface to my diagnostics tool.

I'm happy to share pics/vids of the pre-install harnesses & post install results - I won't share anything else for obvious reasons. The kits shipped from Europe and took ~1 week to arrive in Canada.

PS: I elected not to go with an OBD lock as this would take me minutes to bypass, likely less for an experienced thief.

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[Sagebrush]

It makes me wonder, what crime-ridden city do you live in?

 

[Josh256]

It makes me wonder, what crime-ridden city do you live in?

Toronto - vehicle theft epicentre since Covid.

I'm not from Toronto but here now/regardless. No need for any of this on the gen 2 Taco nor Porsche.. both of which were equipped at factory with the following millennial anti-theft device:

 

[Sagebrush]

Toronto - vehicle theft epicentre since Covid.

Gotcha. We–in the middle of Idaho–get a truck stolen about twice a year. Old ones.

 

[chasea1989]

Just an FYI, the technician that works on your truck is going to be mad as hell. Everytime I've tried to use bi-directional control through any kind of pass through OBD cable, it has errored out. Which means that if you need any kind of diagnostics done, they're going to have to go digging/hunting for the main OBD port, which is going to be a pain in the ass especially with that siren installed. My suggestion is that if you *ever* take it in for something besides an oil change, take it all out beforehand. If you don't I wouldn't be surprised if they charged you extra labor to bypass it all.

 

[Josh256]

Ya, point taken. I had a back and forth with Dummy OBD about exactly this and they were adamant it's a true pass-through. I did testing before/after using my Bosch hand held then OBD Fusion +BT adaptor to ensure it was working to the best of my abilities [OBD Fusion is pulling everything on the relocation port, etc].

All that said, I agree it's a risk. I'm not sure when my next service will be but I will report back if/when any issues are encountered.

 

[chasea1989]

Reading through a pass-thru usually isn't a problem, but when trying to command various components, it can get a bit dicey. I've had to deal with fleet vehicles where the company will put some sort of GPS tracker on a passthrough and I've never had good luck doing in depth diagnostics through them. Usually have to find where they moved the original OBD port, which is buried up in the dash somewhere and go through there

 

[Josh256]

The Dummy OBD team said it would work but to your point and if it doesn't: I would need to build an OBD switch -- which is technically a 5 or 6 wire switch [capture below, can't tell but <8!]. As a telecom engineer: using a passive Cat-5 switch would work;) Cat-5 though Cat-7 all being 8-wire twisted pair;)

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