Awesome Push Button Ignition

Here's a fun project that I did to my very first car. When I first got it I was quite happy with my purchase, but soon after that I found that I really wanted a sweet push button ignition and an engine kill switch, like a rocket or a race car or something cooler than an early nineties economy car. Well, it has been nearly a year and today i tore apart my dash, cut up some wires, soldered and drilled and figured and puzzled for about 5 hours and now, the final result, you will see in this instructable.
I'll show you how to wire in a push button ignition and an engine kill switch in your car. It's easy, as I have done all of the puzzling and figuring for you. It should take between one and two hours, depending on how fast you can take apart your dashboard, but could take considerably longer. This project cost me like 25 bucks for a soldering iron, wire, one relay, two momentary buttons, and a switch. If you have some of these it will be cheaper. Either way, this is a small price to pay for such a cool feature.

Step 1: Gather Materials

For this project you will need:

One Single Pole Double Throw Relay (a SPST normally open will work as well)
One Momentary switch, Normally open (toggle or button)
One Single Pole Single Throw Switch (toggle or button)

Soldering Equipment/Knowledge
Wire (I used 18 g)
Screwdriver
Wire Cutter
Other various tools

Be sure that whatever momentary switch or button you get is a normally open, momentary switch.
anything else will not work for what we need.

Comments

[zack247]

you should be able to just splice some wires into the ignition wires, so you can still use the key or the button to start the car. that way its still startable should something go awry with the new ignition system

[BigPupaSmurf]

That and keep the steering lock from engaging in cars that have it

[zack247]

that too, i know my car locks up the wheel without a key in the ignition.

[atibagriffith]

okay so there is no need to do all of this... you basically need two 3 switches in total and you will not need the key to start only to unlock the steering wheel. you will cut out the ignition switch completely! Get 2 rocker switches with at least 30AMPS and one push button. Rewire the ignition wires to the switches. One switch will be to turn on ACC then, the other to go to IG1 and IG2. Then the push button will work as your starter! look at my youtube video below with the actually system at work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--qEY9zX2bA

[hondacivic158]

so do i connect the starter wire directly to one switch and the ignition to the other switch? then from the switch to the relay

[hondacivic158]

so what color wires from the ignition key go where on the relay?? still confused

[hurbina]

on the drawn figure wouldnt the momentary button wire be 86 and the one with the toggle be 30 and the and the looped 85 and the bottom right 87.

[oshadrina stewart]

Can you label which terminal is which in your "inside spst" and which terminal and which goes where? It seems like you have a fith terminal though but Its hard to tell.

This is what I though

Bosch usual relay - on fig 3 (inside spst relay)
#30 bottom right
#85 top left
#86 Bottom Left
#87 top right

#87a Is not shown

http://www.mp3car.com/the-faq-emporium/117895-faq-relays-how-they-work-and-how-to-wire-it-up.html

[demonas]

why relay? isnt there simplier way? Or maybe I dont understand something...

[jpayton]

The relay has a higher tollerance than the switch. and is less likely to fail. (if it fails your engine dies, loosing power steering and brake assistance. small car thats not a big deal but if you have an SUV or truck or are hauling your going to have a stoping adventure. lol

[punx777]

Agreed. There are many relays in your car. Supporting those high amperage lines may be too much for a little switch to handle all the time.

[jpayton]

You should use solderless crimp connections in any auto application. especally wires. As the wires bounce the solder cracks and loosens. Crimp connecters have plenty of give. If one of thoes wires breaks loose. Should use an automotive relay as well. They just have stronger coils.

[superdean]

do i need to use a One Single Pole Double Throw Relay... wat does it do

[jpayton]

It seperates the small switched for the possable 20amps the ignition can draw.

[fredyakaoso]

in the wire drawing you didnt label a wire coming of the relay (button left) to what does it connect?

[fredyakaoso]

Hall 9000 Can you please post a schetmatic for this project. PLEASE!!

[altered14]

hey, "WannaBButch" I'm in the same boat that you were, somthing in the wiring to my starter is shorting and i have to put a wire on the starter and tap the pos led on the battery to start the car. I just got a switch to do what you did, have you found and problems with your set up cause it sounds alot ez-er than all this. I just don't want to short and thing else.

[kayyo550]

Beautiful car btw budd

[KEttenger]

Instructable Was Informative...One Tiny Problem...Its A Honda....

[sora]

Show it off to your friends...no dont they'll steel it

[corkey123]

Is a 'relay' needed to make this possible? What is it's function? Would a push button that closes the starter circuit as long as you're pressing it to start the engine not be enough? I guess I'm just not savvy enough :( everything else has worked so far though! Nice Instructable, I'm workin' on doing this to my 88 CRX, and running the ignition wires to a push button in the gearshift.

[NGinuity]

If your car already has a starter relay, then no, you can omit it. If it does not, then no, you don't want to do this without having a relay. If it's like my 86 CRX was, then it doesn't have a starter relay to my knowledge. Just two thick wires with the ignition coil in between. Unless you get a push button relay that can handle the current, you need the relay to take the low current switch closure and turn it into the closure for the high amperage necessary for the starter to crank.

[corkey123]

Thanks for the info! I completed the project and now it's super cool!

[old skool]

push button ignitions are cool but the purpose it to hide the switch to make it impossible to be stolen. if you mount the switch on the dash it will be a dead give away when whoever is trying to steel your car notices that it wont start. my suggestion is hide it under the seat or on the underside of the dash to make it less noticable

[ghostrider2]

I have an interesting idea for a car engine. does anybody have any idea how you could modify a car engine to run off oxygen removed directly from he air around the car, basically making gasoline useless? I know it sounds too much like science fiction, but I think it could be possible. I have some idea of a design, but I don't have any solid ideas. any automotive engineers that could help me?

[old skool]

oxygen is the catalyst that allows a fire to burn. without a fuel source i.e gasoline, kerosene etc. it wil not ignite. like most of the other people have said oxygen is just what allows the fire to burn and is not actually what ignites the fire. think about it for a second. have you ever threw a blanket over a fire or maybe threw dirt on a fire? what that does is smother the fire. in other words it takes the oxygen out of the area where the fire is burning and causes it to extinguish itself. therefore if you try to make an engine run just on O2 it will simply not work.

[daltonjohnson]

 oxygen wll not burn by itself. oxygen promotes burning and without it, there could be no fire, but you still have to have something to burn (wood, coal, gas, hydrogen). if you want to increase efficiency in terms of power production, get a turbocharger. they use wasted exhaust gas to force feed the engine with more air and increase the density of O2 molecules in the cylinder. more O2 in the cylinders, the better and more complete the reaction is between the gas and O2. there were studies done to see if you could run a car off of hydrogen alone. electrolosys produces hydrogen and oxygen and you can hook one up in your car that will feed off of the "wasted" or excess electrical energy that will feed you car a fuel supplement. any questions feel free to email me

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I had that idea years ago!

[mwwdesign]

You sir, are a genius.

[hurtzmyhead]

I agree with the others that this idea wont work with any tech that we have today, but oxygen dose burn!!! why do you think that you cant smoke around old ladies that breath pure compressed air?

[grenades_and_ham]

ive been told time and time again that oxygen doesnt exactly burn it provides an enriched enviroment for a flame to burn. idk why or how that makes sense but its an interesting concept

[codongolev]

a combustion reaction (AKA burning) is whenever oxygen and something else, let's use hydrogen as an example, combine to make something new (this specific one gives off water in the form of vapor). the oxygen doesn't burn, but it does make the reaction happen. without oxygen, burning couldn't happen, but it also couldn't happen without something to burn.

2H2 + O2 = 2H2O

[dpsilver]

strickly speaking oxygen isnt the only thing that supports burning/combustion 
hydrogen will burn in a chorine or other halogen rich environment producing the respected hyrogen halide and phosphrous(white) will also ignite in chlorine

[JerryMopar]

oxygen DOES NOT COMBUST, it meerly SUPPORTS COMBUSTIONS And no, you cannont supplement a internal combustion engine solely with PURE oxygen, it will make things melt REALLY fast. The germans tried it in WWII on high altititude bombers, only to have engines melt before their eyes. WHy do you think they add nitrogen (an inert gas) to oxygen in nitrous oxide?

[bug on fire]

nitrogen is not an inert gas I thought the only inert gasses were Helium, neon, argon,krypton,xenon and radon

[dpsilver]

yes true nitrogen isnt an inert gas but the others arent either they are noble gasses i can bother to explain the difference lol but you can disgard what jerrymopar said add nitrogen to an engine will reduce its porformance or stall it because nitrogen is extreemly unreacitve because of its triple bonds between its molecules but nitrous oxide was used its is a very goo oxidizer and it could be liqufied very easy compared to oxygen and in ww2 remember that jets engines didnt exist for bombers so the engines needed an oxidizer

[Panzer_mike]

Those are the noble gasses.

[popcorn man]

Nitrous oxide is completely different, it's simply a cheap and easily compressible compound for adding oxygen, it has not much to do with the nitrogen.

[Derin]

Not possible,but you could pump more oxygen to up your mileage.

[xACIDITYx]

Unnecessary.