Goofs

Many times Jack and others are seen stealing a car by quickly reaching under the dashboard to yank down some wires and intermittently sparking them together to make the engine start. This is impossible on many levels. Beginning in the mid nineties with the introduction of 2nd generation on board diagnostics (OBD II) all cars have theft protection that requires electronic input from the key or the computer will either shut down the fuel injection or not allow the starter motor to engage. Only a manufacturer's program (or a black market version) through the scan tool connector could bypass this. On an older car you would still have to remove the panel below the steering column (several screws) and even then the wires from the key lock and other controls are tightly molded together in bundles requiring a razor knife to separate and strip them. You would then have to connect constant power to the ignition (distributor or coil pack) and then hold the wire to the starter motor together with power for the entire time the engine needs to crank to start until releasing it, not just arcing it a couple of times.

