Hello there friends!
I’m new to this idea, and I’m really trying to build a one-of-a-kind car. I was wondering if these chips can be programmed to start the engine of my custom car. I’ve done my research on these microchips, I just haven’t come across any information on this task specifically. Please let me know if you can help! Much appreciated!
Short answer, yes
Long answer it depends on how you want to do it
Nothing stock with the car is going to work
There is a LF module you can get and install, it will work with a xEM or anything else using EM mode I believe
Problem is it’s not a super secure solution, you need to permanently disable the oem rfid transponder system, and then either leave a key shank in the ignition, or remove the lock core
Locking and unlocking a car is usually a bit more unique from car to car
Searching these forums for “vehicle” has LOTS of reading material.
First let’s learn a but about what your car is… it’s custom but what are you baseing it off of? Do you have an ECU with a key transport based immobilizer? Is this like 1960s technology with just a simple hotwire scenario? Is there a steering column lock that needs to be dealt with?
Its a 1963 Cadillac, and I’ll be putting a 2002 5.7 LS in it. That does have an ECU. The column doesn’t lock, and the ignition itself is old technology,
Will it have a modern immobilizer? If it wont, making it implant compatible should be pretty easy.
It won’t, I’ll make sure of it. Can it also be programmed to operate the locks? Sorry if these are stupid questions, I don’t know a lot about this…yet
Yes, you may want to have a reader accessible from the outside for the locks and another one inside for the ignition. This is not necessary but it would be better for practicality IMHO.
Those work though plastic and glass so you can get creative with the placement. In fact, the reader antena coils can be hidden if you want.
Would I need two chips, or could one be programmed to do all four things? (Unlock and lock the doors, and start and kill the engine) Also, is there a package deal the offers all the goodies Id need for this?
You can use one chip.
It would depend on what system(s) you put in place.
I would design something that does both with a single implant…unless of course you wanted a 2FA system.
One implant tech for Access and another for start/stop…
Which leads me to
Most people here have home-brewed their on solution for there own set up of which there are many paths.
Luckily you are starting with a relatively clean slate, and can build you solution into your design rather than having to work around what’s already inplace.
I can think of a few solutions that would work for you.
You sound quite practical, mechanically which often gives you at least some exposure to electrical systems, so there are some more analogue “plug and play” options for you.
OR
Do you have any Arduino knowledge? or are you willing to learn?
Whatever you choose for your project, just know It can be done, and there will be people here that can and will help you with your project.
Speaking of which, where are you located?
@maine …are you in Maine like Stephen King? or somewhere else?
The car has power locks, but everything in it is shot, so I’ll need to change it all anyway. Might as well install what I need to make it work the way I want it to now, right? I don’t know anything about Arduino, but Id learn, for sure. And yeah, I live about an hour from his house.
Off the top of my head I can’t think of anybody close to you unfortunately.
Now we/you need to decide on the path you want to take.
Quick question
So you are going to change out the locks?
Do you know what with yet?
Will the remote fob have a single lock/unlock toggle button?
next I would suggest you go to #projects and search some of the vehicle solutions to choose what might suit the path you want to take.
The let us know here back in your thread and we can start to point you in the right direction of where to start
Well the car is from 1963, so i can put whatever I want in it for locks, and there is no fob.
And what towns are you familiar with here? What state are you in?
The little ol’ State of New Zealand.
Well I did an online USA state quizz and got 98%…Does that help?
Stupid Delaware… what a dumb place for a state 
Don’t ask me the state Capitals…
That’s not close haha
Is Stephen King the only Mainer you know of?
…
…
…
Yep
Technically the chips themselves are not programmed, the reader reads the chips (or submits a challenge to the chip and gets a response) and then based on the response it does whatever it needs to. It could be as simple as reading the UID from the chip and deciding that that chip is the right one, or using something from vivokey for cryptographic identification of the user.
But two different readers can take different actions with the same chip. One to switch the state of the locks, and one to do the same with the engine.
You might look through some of the car parts dealers looking at things like shaved door handle kits.
I don’t know if you have better options or other plans yet but if you’re looking for some inspiration, for my car I used an Arduino, pn532 reader, and a handful of relay modules.
I mounted the reader against the inside of the windshield on the driver’s side down in the corner and ran the wires down behind the instrument cluster. Then I ran wires from the terminals on the lock and unlock buttons on the inside of the door to a couple of relays.
I programed the Arduino to look for tags every few seconds to save power and if it finds one it just compares the ID number to a list of keys I set. If it’s good, it triggers the relay for door unlock for half a second and waits up to a set time for me to hit a button to start the engine.
Your situation is different than mine so you’d have to figure out engine start and kill but if I didn’t start it in the time limit I set, it relocks the doors automatically. If I do start it, it waits for me to hit the button again to stop it and then relocks it after a delay.
The Arduino program is on my GitHub and if youre interested I could link it or walk you through seting up something similar (as far as my knowledge goes at least). I love these kinds of projects but just haven’t had much time to work on my own lately