Notice Anything Strange About This Airbag Sensor?

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/23/2019 at 20:30 • Filed to: puzzles, electronics, airbags

Scroll through !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and see if you can figure it out.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

This was accidentally posted to r/justrolledintotheshop last week and sinc e it was off-topic, I chose not to include it in Sunday’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But I thought it was interesting enough to share here anyway. According to the description that accompanied the photos:

It was just chilling on the frame. No wires going to it. The antenna port had a rubber cover on it. Says air bag sensor but this was a used Yukon with 170K miles on it. Has 4 super strong magnets to mount it. Didn’t have any wires coming or going to it but it looks like it has an antenna port. Under the cover is a mini USB, a couple LEDs and 3 buttons. One looks like a power, one a reset, and one a mode switch. The lights flash different when touching each one. Hooked it up to my PC but the PC didn’t recognize it at all.

If you enjoy puzzles, this is your last chance to guess before scrolling down for the answer...

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

It’s not an airbag sensor. It’s a GPS tracker.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

And that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! listed on the casing? That’s a fake too, designed to fool the curious who weren’t deterred by the thought of messing with a sensitive airbag system. Here’s an auction listing for a similar item: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

So, mystery solved... except that its presence raises even more questions for the Yukon’s owner. Very suspicious indeed.

DISCUSSION (18)

ranwhenparked > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 20:38

Dealer financed used car, by any chance?

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 20:39

I was gonna say it looked like a claymore...

Kinja'd!!!

For Sweden > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
01/23/2019 at 20:41

This was my guess as well

MM54 > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 20:44

The antenna jack and lack of mounting provisions struck me as odd, then I saw the USB port and know it was some sort of tracking something-or-other.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ranwhenparked
01/23/2019 at 20:46

or future ex spouse

dogisbadob > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 20:47

I found the new cheat box :p

jimz > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 20:54

yep, was gonna say tracker. ‘cos no part number, a microUSB header, and an SMA antenna header.

shady as shit.

shop-teacher > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 21:54

Wow, that's crazy!

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 21:59

These are pretty common for cars on BHPH lots. High repo rates and shady dealings lead for a need to track.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 22:18

In my days as a private investigator I had several of these. Used them to track down cheating spouses sometimes we’d recover them before the battery died other times we’d lose them.

Urambo Tauro > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
01/23/2019 at 22:28

How long would a battery typically last ? Does it ping you with a warning when low? And then what, charge the battery, change th e battery, or swap the whole unit for a fresh one?

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Urambo Tauro
01/23/2019 at 22:36

Battery would last 6-8 weeks depending on how much the person drove, we’d pull the tracking data daily sometimes multiple times it gave us battery level. I’d swap out the entire unit I had 10 of them. It was faster to swap the entire unit.

My MO was to carry a file folder and accidentally drop it roll under the car to retrieve and place the unit. I drove a Jag and wore business clothing. No one ever made me as a PI.

Urambo Tauro > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
01/23/2019 at 22:50

Nice.

“Depending on how much the person drove”... I take these things aren’t connected to the car’s charging system then ( that would probably take too long anyway). So why does driving behavior matter then? Does it go into sleep mode until it senses motion or something?

pip bip - choose Corrour > Urambo Tauro
01/24/2019 at 03:26

Kinja'd!!!

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Urambo Tauro
01/24/2019 at 08:49

Yes low power mode until it moves.

Urambo Tauro > pip bip - choose Corrour
01/24/2019 at 12:53

Almost convincing, isn’t it?

T5Killer > For Sweden
01/28/2019 at 12:55

Same

T5Killer > Urambo Tauro
01/28/2019 at 13:05

When I managed a Orellys about ten years ago or so. one day I had a attractive young lady in her ‘20s coming in hysterical that her ex is tracking her and put a tracker on her car. I went outside and she had a brand new 300C and she pointed out a box that was held by magnets on the underside of the car. It looks like the one the OP posted but with no writing on it and just had a small gauge wire running to the battery. I removed the wire and removed the box. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of it.