How to disable driving capacity of Mercury Sable 1998/99 ? Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's

'Looking for some advice from those more knowledgeable about cars than
I. I would like to disable the start up capacity of a Mercury Sable
1998/99 without the obvious move of disconnecting the battery.
Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's that is in a medium stage and I
consider that she should not be driving. Additionally her driving
license is expired and I had thought that that would have been enough.
There is no governmental agency who will step in. All that I have
contacted, including the police, say that it is a family matter. But
she sometimes goes down the block or around the block when my nurse /
caregiver is with her and it is not something for the caregiver to
address.
Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
ripping the keys out of her hand.
Two police officers who I spoke to both (in addition to saying that it
is not a police problem until she is stopped) indicate that this car
has no distributor cap. Perhaps disconnecting a/the starter wire, if
it is easily accessible ?
I do not know the location of a number of the components, but I could
follow instructions.
Again, something that would keep the battery power so that she could
put the windows up and down and keep the pets in or out of the car,
but would make it unworkable for anyone to actually drive the car…

In article >,
FJ <sec4251@remove the remove yahoo.com> wrote:

> 'Looking for some advice from those more knowledgeable about cars than
> I. I would like to disable the start up capacity of a Mercury Sable
> 1998/99 without the obvious move of disconnecting the battery.
> Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's that is in a medium stage and I
> consider that she should not be driving. Additionally her driving
> license is expired and I had thought that that would have been enough.
> There is no governmental agency who will step in. All that I have
> contacted, including the police, say that it is a family matter. But
> she sometimes goes down the block or around the block when my nurse /
> caregiver is with her and it is not something for the caregiver to
> address.
> Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
> emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
> Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
> ripping the keys out of her hand.
> Two police officers who I spoke to both (in addition to saying that it
> is not a police problem until she is stopped) indicate that this car
> has no distributor cap. Perhaps disconnecting a/the starter wire, if
> it is easily accessible ?
> I do not know the location of a number of the components, but I could
> follow instructions.
> Again, something that would keep the battery power so that she could
> put the windows up and down and keep the pets in or out of the car,
> but would make it unworkable for anyone to actually drive the car...
>
>

Eyeball the starter. You should see one big thick wire (probably red)
and a smaller wire (could be just about any color) coming from
"somewhere else". If I were you, I'd disconnect the small wire - That's
the "energize the solenoid" wire that actually makes things happen when
the key is turned. Verify that it does indeed "kill the car" before
considering the job done.

It *MAY* be connected with a "slip on" type connector. Disconnecting it
should give you symptoms of a dead starter solenoid - Everything else on
the car will work fine, but you'll get no click and no crank when the
key is turned. If you go that route, you might seriously consider the
concept of taping a note to the end of the wire in case a "good
samaritan" tries to diagnose the problem and fix it for her without
realizing that the vehicle is intentionally disabled.

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info

In article >, FJ wrote:

> Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
> emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
> Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
> ripping the keys out of her hand.

Remove all the spark plug wires and take them home with you. It's not
going anywhere without those.

And it's not something that can be fixed without a trip to an autoparts
store for most people.

Disconnect the battery while you're under there.

My grandfather had some one cut him off and he ran into a curb. That was
how he saw it anyway... nobody else was there. flattened the tire of the
car. He parked it and started walking home and the cops saw him and
drove him the rest of the way. Not sure what happened, but whatever it
was it did no damage other than needing a new tire but he decided not to
drive after that point.

In article >, Brent P wrote:
> Disconnect the battery while you're under there.

Opps guess I should have read the whole thing....

FJ wrote:
>
> 'Looking for some advice from those more knowledgeable about cars than
> I. I would like to disable the start up capacity of a Mercury Sable
> 1998/99 without the obvious move of disconnecting the battery.
> Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's that is in a medium stage and I
> consider that she should not be driving. Additionally her driving
> license is expired and I had thought that that would have been enough.
> There is no governmental agency who will step in. All that I have
> contacted, including the police, say that it is a family matter. But
> she sometimes goes down the block or around the block when my nurse /
> caregiver is with her and it is not something for the caregiver to
> address.
> Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
> emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
> Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
> ripping the keys out of her hand.
> Two police officers who I spoke to both (in addition to saying that it
> is not a police problem until she is stopped) indicate that this car
> has no distributor cap. Perhaps disconnecting a/the starter wire, if
> it is easily accessible ?
> I do not know the location of a number of the components, but I could
> follow instructions.
> Again, something that would keep the battery power so that she could
> put the windows up and down and keep the pets in or out of the car,
> but would make it unworkable for anyone to actually drive the car…

Remove the ecu fuse.

I don't think it is a fair thing to do to your mom, but if I had to go
this route, I would remove ECM fuse. It's much easier to do. Not sure
if your car has it, but most of them do.


--
MishaA
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"FJ" <sec4251@remove the remove yahoo.com> wrote in message
...
> 'Looking for some advice from those more knowledgeable about cars than
> I. I would like to disable the start up capacity of a Mercury Sable
> 1998/99 without the obvious move of disconnecting the battery.
> Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's that is in a medium stage and I
> consider that she should not be driving. Additionally her driving
> license is expired and I had thought that that would have been enough.
> There is no governmental agency who will step in. All that I have

Go to a marina and see if they have anything for leaving batteries connected
for boats that are sitting out of the water for the season. These things are
industrial-strength switches of a sort that are wired in with one of the
battery wires.

Brent P > wrote:
>In article >, FJ wrote:
>
>> Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
>> emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
>> Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
>> ripping the keys out of her hand.
>
>Remove all the spark plug wires and take them home with you. It's not
>going anywhere without those.

If you choose to do this, PLEASE mark which one goes where.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

FJ wrote:
> 'Looking for some advice from those more knowledgeable about cars than
> I. I would like to disable the start up capacity of a Mercury Sable
> 1998/99 without the obvious move of disconnecting the battery.
> Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's that is in a medium stage and I
> consider that she should not be driving. Additionally her driving
> license is expired and I had thought that that would have been enough.
> There is no governmental agency who will step in. All that I have
> contacted, including the police, say that it is a family matter. But
> she sometimes goes down the block or around the block when my nurse /
> caregiver is with her and it is not something for the caregiver to
> address.
> Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
> emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
> Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
> ripping the keys out of her hand.
> Two police officers who I spoke to both (in addition to saying that it
> is not a police problem until she is stopped) indicate that this car
> has no distributor cap. Perhaps disconnecting a/the starter wire, if
> it is easily accessible ?
> I do not know the location of a number of the components, but I could
> follow instructions.
> Again, something that would keep the battery power so that she could
> put the windows up and down and keep the pets in or out of the car,
> but would make it unworkable for anyone to actually drive the car...

FJ wrote:
> 'Looking for some advice from those more knowledgeable about cars than
> I. I would like to disable the start up capacity of a Mercury Sable
> 1998/99 without the obvious move of disconnecting the battery.
> Mom has dementia / Alzheimer's that is in a medium stage and I
> consider that she should not be driving. Additionally her driving
> license is expired and I had thought that that would have been enough.
> There is no governmental agency who will step in.

Well, yes, it is a family matter.


> All that I have
> contacted, including the police, say that it is a family matter. But
> she sometimes goes down the block or around the block when my nurse /
> caregiver is with her and it is not something for the caregiver to
> address.


> Taking the keys away from her ever vigilant grasp could create a major
> emotional problem and I am all that she has in the world.
> Thus I could be trying the next step of disabling the car, without
> ripping the keys out of her hand.

I don't know the situation, but she seems to be aware of the world if
not in complete control. I would think that she would figure out very
quickly that the car was disabled. Won't she be just as upset about
having the car unplugged as having the keys taken away?



> Two police officers who I spoke to both (in addition to saying that it
> is not a police problem until she is stopped) indicate that this car
> has no distributor cap. Perhaps disconnecting a/the starter wire, if
> it is easily accessible ?

You could have some sort of switch installed by a mechanic that would
interrupt the starter. I would suggest that it have a key lock to
prevent your mother from setting the switch.


> I do not know the location of a number of the components, but I could
> follow instructions.
> Again, something that would keep the battery power so that she could
> put the windows up and down and keep the pets in or out of the car,
> but would make it unworkable for anyone to actually drive the car...

Not a good idea actually to give her access to the car with power
windows and door locks actuated. She could lock the pets in a car and
forget they were there. She could also lock herself in as well and not
know how to get out. She would be better off if you totally disable
the car and take the keys away.