MPGuino Stolen :(

[Coyote X]

Someone ripped the MPGuino off the dash of my Astro today. Kind of annoying cause I just got it dialed in. Not sure what they are going to do with it cause they will have no idea how to use it but I guess they needed it more than me. They just pulled the wires off so it shorted them all out and burned what was left of the phone wire up. I will take the dash apart tomorrow and get the old wire out and put a new phone wire in. I have a second spiffie kit I was going to use instead of moving the one already built unit back and forth between cars but I guess I will build it and keep moving between cars for now.

Not a big deal though cause dcb should hopefully soon have some boards made up and I will just order one off him when he is ready to sell them Good thing these things are way cheaper than a scangauge or I would be more annoyed about it.

[SVOboy]

Wow, that's depressing.

*hug*

[cfg83]

Coyote X -

That sucks, but it's also sooooo strange. Maybe the guilty party is lurking on this site trying to figure out how to make it work, like an MPG-Shark.

CarloSW2

[Coyote X]

Funny thing was I had an old Fujitsu tablet pc laying on the center hump under the radio they didn't even look at apparently. I guess they saw the display of the MPGuino lit up and just had to have it.

Other than being annoying it really isn't a big deal I guess, but if they manage to figure out what it is then they will probably end up here and looking at this thread. I really don't care about it being stolen since it is just stuff and I can always buy more stuff. Plus it gives me a chance to modify the way it was built so it can fit the dashboard much better than the one that was in there. I do have a good plan for making it look almost stock just like I did for the arduino based brake controller I built.

So to the people who stole it, have fun with it and if you need help hooking it up msg me and I will hook it up for you if you need it that badly.

[wagonman76]

Wow sad to say it finally actually happened. That was one of the first things I thought of after building the mpguino in my Celeb, someone ripping it off since the display resembles scangauge data and scangauges are so expensive. Since I only drive the Celeb in the summer, I usually end up putting a newspaper or something over the guino to keep the direct sun off the display, but another reason is to keep prying eyes away.

Thatd be something to see a thread pop up here with a pic where you could tell it was yours.

[Clev]

Sorry man, that sucks. I guess I'll have to build mine into the dash somewhere like I first planned.

[metroschultz]

This doesn't bode well for me,
I just got my "MPGuino in kit form" for Christmas.
I have not locked the doors on my Metro ever. (maybe not 100% true, but I can't remember having ever locked them), I don't even know if the locks work. (Who is going to steal a 15 year old Metro with license tags "CPT SLO")
So I guess as well as putting the kit together, I will have to find a way to incorporate it into the dash so it looks stock and irremovable.
Screwing the Vacuum Gage to the dash was a breeze and no one has ever messed with it.
Maybe I will use that idea (I don't remember which thread) of an old deodorant case to put it in. Then it will just look like I stink.
I am sorry to hear about the loss Rick, I hope it all works out in the end for you.
Schultz

[gascort]

Awful. At least if they stole a stereo or something they'd likely be able to use it. No punk teenager is going to be interested in the MPGuino.

I'm the same way; never lock the car - it looks like a p.o.s. so that's usually security enough. I am a big fan of hiding stuff in plain sight; my car doesn't require keys to start or run, but you'd never know unless you read my blog to see how. I have like $60 in tools in the car, but hidden in odd places throughout. I made the hood release really tricky to find for when I install my Optima battery for my solar panels... Thank you for the heads-up on your loss; I will have to work on a way to hide the MPGuino from curious eyes.

[MetroMPG]

Sounds like a case of "Oooh! Shiny!" *steals*

Your response to the situation is admirable though.

[Coyote X]

The new one looks much nicer mounted and stuff.




So the dash on my Astro is pretty well complete now. The gauges on the side are a tach and air bag control. The led that is pulled out of the dash is the torque converter lockup indicator and the mpguino sits in a box right below the temp gauge. I just need to glue something down so the box snaps in place instead of being held on with double sided tape.

Once I figure out why I am not getting a vss signal to the computer and fix that then it is setup and working again. Right now I can only use it as a gallons per hour display. Hopefully the vss controller in the ecm isn't burned out so it will be a minor fix to get it going.