Various proposals have been offered regarding the protection of vehicles against theft Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8(1996)-91176, for example, teaches an arrangement in which engine control means is provided that checks a key ID code against a reference ID and enables engine starting when the two are in a relationship defined beforehand, and the engine control means is connected with various drive/control means to be controlled by connectors having a unique shapes in accordance with the configuration thereof, whereby the connectors of an engine control means of another configuration and the connectors of the various drive/control means cannot be properly electrically connected.
However, this proposed system does not always function as an effective immobilizer because the engine can be easily started by obtaining another genuine engine control means whose ID code is known and replacing the engine control means installed in the vehicle.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a vehicle electronic control system with anti-theft capability and a method of controlling a vehicle engine which overcome this problem of the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling a vehicle engine capable of preventing vehicle theft.