...IS VERY EASY and We Guide You Step By Step!

1. Lay the Cat Safeguard harness out in your engine compartment and fish it through to the underside of your truck;

2. Set the Cat Safeguard modules into place and plug them together;

3. Connect the Cat Safeguard modules to the Cat Safeguard harness;

4. Connect the Cat Safeguard harness to your truck's alarm system--It plugs in!

5. Make the connections to your truck's electrical system.

 

IT TAKES ABOUT AN HOUR!

 

 

>>>>>>>>>>> BUT BEFORE YOU BEGIN <<<<<<<<<<<

Installation of the Cat Safeguard Catalytic Converter Theft Deterrent System should require less than an hour.  The important thing is to understand what you're trying to do before you actually start to do it.  That's why it's important to read and understand the instructions FIRST. 

WE' RE HERE TO HELP YOU IF YOU GET STUCK

To begin, although the instructions that follow may appear to be complicated they are actually very straightforward--just take them one line at a time. 

Once you being reading them, you will find that the instructions simply consist of the following major steps:

STEP 1:  SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

This step simply tells you to make sure your vehicle is stable and that you should wear appropriate clothing and eyewear to prevent injury.

STEP 2:  DISCONNECTIING THE NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL

This step tells you how to disconnect the vehicle's negative battery terminal

STEP  3: THE CAT SAFEGUARD WIRING HARNESS

This step familiarizes you with the main Cat Safeguard wiring harness and shows you how to stretch the harness out along the passenger side of the engine compartment from front to back, with one end of the harness across the very front of the vehicle, and the other end extending down to the underside of the vehicle. 

STEP 4:  THE HOOD LATCH ASSEMBLY AND HOOD AJAR SWITCH

This step shows you how to connect the front end of the Cat Safeguard harness to the Hood Ajar (Hood Latch) switch.  It's very easy to do and there are videos to show you how to do it.

STEP 5:  INSTALLING THE CAT SAFEGUARD MODULES AND SENSORS

This step shows where and how to place the three Cat Safeguard modules under your vehicle.  They each attach to the vehicle with strong magnets--there is nothing to unbolt, and they will not move.

The step then tells you where and how to install the sensor mounts and the sensors themselves, and how to route and secure the wiring.  

And the last part of this step shows you how to plug everything together to complete the assembly.

STEP 6:  BATTERY JUNCTION BOX (AKA FUSE BOX) CONNECTIONS

The last step shows you how to connect the Cat Safeguard into your vehicle's electrical system.  It's very straightforward.

THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT--IT SHOULD REQUIRE LESS THAN AN HOUR TO INSTALL THE SYSTEM

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BEFORE YOU BEGIN

THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTION SHOWN HERE ILLUSTRATES A TYPICAL INSTALLATION--NOT NECESSARILY THE INSTALLATION FOR YOUR PARTICULAR VEHICLE.  THIS IS SHOWN HERE TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT'S INVOLVED.

DO NOT USE THIS INSTRUCTION FOR INSTALLATION ON YOUR VEHICLE!

YOU WILL BE PROVIDED WITH INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR SPECIFIC VEHICLE

Installation of the Cat Safeguard Catalytic Converter Theft Deterrent System is extremely straightforward.

Each system comes with everything needed to install it--the only things that you need to provide other than common hand tools is a soldering iron or wood burner tool:

You will use the soldering iron to create two small divots in your vehicle's Battery Junction Box (located in the rear passenger side of the engine compartment) in order to allow the Cat Safeguard wires to connect into your vehicle's electrical system.

The Cat Safeguard Electronic Catalytic Converter Theft Deterrent System consist of the following major components:

a) Main Processing Module

b) Two Sensor Modules

c) Power and Vehicle Interface Harness

d) All hardware required to complete the installation 

Installation involves the following steps:

STEP 1:  SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

WARNING!

 

STEP 2:  DISCONNECTING THE NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL

Raise your vehicle's hood and disconnect the ground (negative) connection at your vehicle's battery.  The NEGATIVE battery terminal is shown in the photo immediately below  Notice that the POSITIVE terminal (immediately above the negative one) generally has a red wire and terminal cover as delivered from the factory--yours may be different depending on whether or not your positive wire may have been replaced at some time in the past:

 

 

 STEP 3: THE POWER AND VEHICLE INTERFACE HARNESS

3a. Familiarize yourself with the ends of the Power and Vehicle Interface Harness--one end will have a single FIVE-PIN connector, while the other end will have the connections necessary to interface with your vehicle's electrical system and alarm circuitry.  The end with the five-pin connector is the end that you will start with and route under your vehicle.

 

 3b. On the passenger side of the engine compartment you should be able to see a small gap that is 1) directly beneath the passenger side firewall...

...just to the rear of the passenger side plastic inner fender panel and 2) just outboard of the passenger side main frame rail.  If you put a light source (a flashlight or a trouble light) under the vehicle just behind the tire you should be able to see light shining up through the gap.  Fish the five-pin connector end...

...of the CAT SAFEGUARD Power and Vehicle Interface Harness down through this opening--it will dangle above the ground and you will be able to see it hanging down beneath the vehicle.

3c. From under the vehicle on the passenger side gently pull on the cable until you have pulled approximately three feet of the harness under the vehicle.

3d. In the engine compartment route the other end of the Power and Vehicle Interface Harness up the passenger side firewall...

 

...and behind the Battery Junction Box.  Make the turn from the firewall onto the passenger side of the engine compartment above the passenger side inner fender panel.  If you've done it correctly you should come upon a ground lug on the harness...

...that is right next to the Battery Junction Box.  There will also be two wires with fuses in them that are there as well.  Don't do anything with them yet.

3e. Continue routing the harness forward along the passenger side of the engine compartment.  Ensure that the harness passes below the hood support strut and past the windshield washer fluid bottle.

Then continue on around to the front of the engine compartment.

At this point you will have routed the harness up almost to the passenger side headlight.  The next step is to get the end of the Power and Vehicle Interface Harness over to the hood latch assembly:

3f. You will now notice a plastic shroud that covers the radiator and a/c condenser, and which surrounds the hood latch opening.  You will need to remove four of the fasteners that secure the passenger side end of the plastic shroud--they are easily removed.  Each fastener is a two-piece assembly and consists of a "fastener body" that is inserted through the shroud and down into the engine compartment metal, and a "stud" that goes down through the "fastener body" to secure it in place: 

You will want to remove the four fasteners that secure the passenger side end of the shroud so that you can get under it.  The fasteners can be removed by gently inserting the tip of a medium size flat blade screwdriver

                                  (WARNING: DON'T USE A KNIFE BLADE!)

into the slot that is along the perimeter of the fastener "stud".  Do this carefully--it's very easy to flip them up into the air and down into the engine compartment, so be careful.

 

Once the stud has been lifted (but not actually removed from the fastener body) you can pry the fastener body up to remove it.  Again, don't allow it to flip up into the air--they are easily lost. 

3g. Repeat step 3f. for the remaining three fasteners.  With the four passenger side stud removed the plastic shroud can be lifted far enough to allow access to the area immediately forward of the radiator and a/c condenser.

WARNING:

THE FOLLOWING STEPS REQUIRE WORKING IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE A/C CONDENSER.  THE A/C CONDENSER CONTAINS HIGH-PRESSURE REFRIGERANT.  THE CONDENSER IS EXTREMELY FRAGILE AND IS EASILY PUNCTURED.   

CAT SAFEGUARD ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU PUNCTURE YOUR A/C CONDENSER!

YOU ONLY HAVE TWO EYES--BE SAFE, WEAR EYE PROTECTION!!

 

STEP 4:  THE HOOD LATCH ASSEMBLY AND HOOD AJAR SWITCH

Before proceeding further take a look at the end of the harness: You will see a bridle consisting of two connectors: one male, and one female (the female connector is the larger of the two):

 

What we are going to do is to disconnect the factory harness from the hood latch assembly and then insert the CAT SAFEGUARD harness between the factory harness and the hood latch assembly.

 

4a. Disconnect the factory harness from the hood latch assembly.  The place where the factory harness connects to the hood latch assembly is clearly visible down in the hood latch well--this is where the lever that you use to release the hood is located.  

 

If you look down in there carefully you will be able to see where the factory wiring harness connects to the hood latch assembly ("Hood Ajar Switch Connector" in the photo above).  You will need to remove this connector from the hood latch assembly.  This is done by pressing the latch button (marked "Connector Release" on the RIGHT HAND END OF THE HOOD LATCH ASSEMBLY CONNECTOR:

 Once this button is pressed the male harness connector can be removed from the hood latch assembly connector.  It takes some trial and error to do it

A little tip: We have found that the easiest way to do this is to push your right hand through the grill to the right of the hood latch assembly and your left hand through the grill to the left of the hood latch assembly.  Then, you need to press the latch button with your right hand while gently "bending" left end of the male harness connector toward the a/c condenser.  Please refer to the three videos which immediately follow:

 

HOOD LATCH CONNECTOR INTRODUCTION VIDEO

 

HOOD LATCH CONNECTOR REMOVAL VIDEO 

 

HOOD LATCH CONNECTOR INSTALLATION VIDEO 

 

You will be able to feel and hear the connector release when this has been done properly.  Once done you can remove the male harness connector from the hood latch assembly connector. 

CAUTION:

DO NOT pull on the connector by the wires--pull on the connector body only.

 4b. Next, lift the end of the shroud that you released in steps 3f and 3g.  Once the shroud has been lifted the path to route the end of the harness over to the hood latch assembly should be obvious.

4c. Route the harness beneath the shroud and over to the hood latch assembly.

4d. Connect the two CAT SAFEGUARD Power and Vehicle Interface Harness connectors to the the Ford factory harness and hood latch assembly.  The Ford factory male connector will plug into the female CAT SAFEGUARD Power and Vehicle Interface Harness connector.  Then the male CAT SAFEGUARD CAT SAFEGUARD Power and Vehicle Interface Harness connector will plug into the female hood latch assembly connector.

4e. Then, working back from the hood latch assembly route the harness back toward the windshield washer fluid bottle.  Take care to ensure that nothing snags the harness.  The assembly photo highlights where and how you can secure the harness as you work your way back toward the engine compartment firewall.  The CAT SAFEGUARD kit includes self-adhesive zip tie mounts that allow you to secure the harness between the shroud and the firewall.

4f.  As you approach the ground lug on the harness you will again notice the ground screw that is securing the factory ground wires to the vehicle engine compartment.  Remove the screw, insert it through the CAT SAFEGUARD CAT SAFEGUARD Power and Vehicle Interface Harness ground lug and then through the factory ground lugs.  Tighten the screw securely, however do not over-tighten it.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT PORTION OF THE CAT SAFEGUARD INSTALLATION.  THE UNDER-VEHICLE PORTION OF THE CAT SAFEGUARD INSTALLATION IS AVAILABLE IN SIMILAR DETAIL, HOWEVER IT IS NOT SHOWN HERE FOR THE REASON OUTLINED IMMEDIATELY BELOW:

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STEP 6:  BATTERY JUNCTION BOX (AKA FUSE BOX) CONNECTIONS

Step 5 is specific to each particular model year truck.  For the purposes of this guide we are going to show a typical vehicle.  YOU WILL BE PROVIDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR SPECIFIC VEHICLE. 

 

The CAT SAFEGUARD Power and Vehicle Interface harness comes with the correct fuses already installed for your particular model--all you will need to do is to verify that the fuses that are installed in the harness are the same values as the ones you will remove from your panel.  The fuses that we have included are the same quantities and values as those that are specified in the 2016 Ford F150 owner's manual.

You will notice that there are two fused wires in the harness: a short wire and a long wire--each wire contains two fuses-- a 2 amp fuse to protect the CAT SAFEGUARD and a second fuse to protect the truck's circuit.

NOTE: 

NOT ALL TRUCKS WILL HAVE FUSES IN BOTH SLOTS

5a. We will begin with the short wire: 

In the 2016 F150 the short wire has two fuse positions, each of which contains a fuse: a 2 amp fuse in one position and a 7.5 amp fuse in the other--see photo. 

Please note that fuse # 113 has been highlighted in the Battery Junction Box photo below:

 

Verify that fuse # 113 in your panel is 7.5 amp.  If it is not 7.5 amp please stop work and contact the factory immediately for assistance.  However, assuming that it is a 7.5 amp fuse then use a fuse puller to remove fuse # 113 from the truck's fuse panel.  Temporarily route the short wire over to fuse panel slot # 113, but do not install the wire into the fuse slot yet.  

Using a soldering iron or electric wood burner tool melt a small divot in the side of the Battery Junction Box as shown in the photo below.  The divot should be deep enough that the wire is not chafed, cut, or crushed when the cover is replaced.

 

Verify one last time that you are about to install the short wire connector into fuse # 113 and then press the short wire firmly into place.

5b. Next, we will work on the long wire: 

In the 2016 F150 the long wire has two fuse positions, one of which contains a fuse: a 2 amp fuse in one position and NO fuse in the other--see photo. 

Please note that fuse # 21A has been highlighted in the Battery Junction Box photo below:

 

Verify that fuse slot # 21A in your panel is has no fuse in it.  If it is not empty then please stop work and contact the factory immediately for assistance.  However, assuming that it contains no fuse then temporarily route the long wire over to fuse panel slot # 21A, but do not install the wire into the fuse slot yet.  

Using a soldering iron or electric wood burner tool melt a small divot in the side of the Battery Junction Box as shown in the photo below.  The divot should be deep enough that the wire is not chafed, cut, or crushed when the cover is replaced.

 

Verify one last time that you are about to install the long wire connector into fuse slot # 21A and then press the short wire firmly into place.

5c. Verify the connections one last time.

5d. Replace the Battery Junction Box cover.

5e. Verify that the harness routing is correct and that nothing has been pinched, chafed, cut, or otherwise damaged during installation.

5f. Apply any needed self-adhesive zip tie mounts as required.  Tighten the zip ties and trim the ends.  Ensure that you do not accidentally cut any wires in the process.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT PORTION OF THE CAT SAFEGUARD INSTALLATION.  THE UNDER-VEHICLE PORTION OF THE CAT SAFEGUARD INSTALLATION IS AVAILABLE IN SIMILAR DETAIL, HOWEVER IT IS NOT SHOWN HERE FOR THE REASON OUTLINED IMMEDIATELY BELOW:

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WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THAT THIS MAY CAUSE

Cat Safeguard

Houston, TEXAS USA