Disabling OBD/DLM on 2018 S-Max

[RainmakerRaw]

My wife has just collected a new (2018) Ford S-Max Titanium 2.0 TDCi 150. We have had a huge spurt of car key burglaries / car thefts locally, generally using key scanners/repeaters or else the OBDII port (DataLink, I think Ford call it). Last week, twelve Fords were stolen from a single street, in one night. They just snapped the home door locks, grabbed the keys, and drove away the car while the next scally moved onto the house next door. Rinse and repeat until they'd all gone, and nobody was any the wiser until the next morning.

We have installed 4k UltraHD CCTV (Hikvision) and ABS/Avocet anti-snap/bump/drill/pick locks on the house, and also keep the two car keys in (tested) Faraday bags unless actually getting into the car that second. However, we also want to also disable the port on the car as a further time delay / obstacle should the worst happen. When I asked about the correct fuse during hand-over, the main dealer said we can only use one of their nominated companies to do this - at significant cost - else the warranty would be invalidated. I don't for one second believe that's true, as it seems to be as simple as removing a fuse and popping it back in at servicing time. I'm sure they have a very cosy arrangement with the 'security' company in question though...

Can anyone please confirm that I have the right fuse? According to the manual I'm looking at the passenger compartment fusebox, and then removing fuse 15 (10A, Datalink gateway module). If anyone can say for sure I'd really appreciate it. Many thanks in advance.

[Ams]

Hi RainmakerRaw,

Congratulations on getting new car. S-Max is a please to drive and very comfortable. I have done the same thing my S-max 2017. I've removed the fuse labeled Data Link connector. Also, as I have a keyless entry, I've bought a signal blocker pouch from amazon. This blocks the signal boosters from working from outside the house. Plus a simple stoplock steering lock will be a brilliant deterrent. 

 

Be careful when removing the fuse though as the fuse is a micro fuse and can easily slip behind the plastic trim. 

 

All the best.