Tap into heavy gauge wires?

I need to tap into the ignition wires and need to know the best way to do this. The wires are rather big and the regular wire taps seem like they will be too small or cut the wire in half if I try using them.

I also noticed that the alarm says to use a relay if the car uses a high current ignition or over 30 amp ignition systems. How do I know if I need to use a relay or if I can just wire it right up. I have a 1984 Toyota Celica GT Hatchback.

Thank you,

Jeff

Really I would like to do something a little cleaner and les likely to cause a problem in the long run. If I were going to solder the wires and wrap with heatshrink, this might be the way to go but because I can't get heatshring over the joint, I don't want to solder them.

Has anyone used the T-Tap wire Taps to do this???

3M SUPER33 TAPE?

Where can I get some of this stuff?

Jeff

get it at a home depot if you have one around you. at least at home depot they give you a bigger roll than auto parts stores. you will pay about 3.50 for the roll,and while your at the depot get some tartan tape as well this is cheap and great for wrapping wires to clean up the install job. tartan is also made by 3m. you will want to have both these tapes in your tool box at all times, super33 for the conections and tartan to clean up the job. stay away from frost king tape as it unravels in no time at all especially in a high heat environment. if you do all this you will be staright and have a great job in the end

Hey 84celica,

Like mobiletoys2002 said earlier : STAY AWAY FROM T-TAPS !   Always solder and tape your connections.   Also you said   I also noticed that the alarm says to use a relay if the car uses a high current ignition or over 30 amp ignition systems.  Are they talking about an ignition kill?  In that case a relay is usually supplied with the alarm.  Is it a remote starter?  Then again most on the market can handle 30 AMPS.  Besides I have yet to see a car that draws 30 AMPS on the ignition circuit. 

I guess I'll hold off on installing the remote start function until I can get some tape and more time to figure out where to tap in for the tach wire. I found the ignition module but do not know what wire to tap off of. My alarm comes with Tach Finder Technology but I don't want to randomly tap into wires to find a valid tach soarce.

I got a good soarce for the tach now but am kinda puzzled about the starter kill relay now. The instructions do not tell me if I need to put the starter kill between the remote start wires and the starter, or between the remote start wires and the ignition switch. I'm so close I can feel it but these little things that keep popping up are driving me mad. Mad I say!!! I know that if I wire it the wrong way I am going to not be able to start the car because of the starter kill relay being in the wrong place. I really don't want to trial and error it as I know one wrong move and my ECU is toast... Or maybe not... I really don't want to chance it...

Either way, Thank everyone for all the excellent help you have provided me here on this board. I could not have done this without the help...

Thank you

Now that I read what you wrote, it makes sence. I get confused sometimes when I've got so many things going. I need to go buy me a good DMM so I don't run into as many problems as I have. I would have had a good tach wire long before had I had a good DMM to use.

Thanks,

I did it!!! I got it all to work!!! I spent some time today to finish installing my alarm. I stripped the ignition wires to expose enough of the wire to solder to. I then wrapped each wire with tape and then the whole bunch with more tape, ran the tach wire and cleaned everything up. I plugged in the power, shut the doors and hood and stood back as I hit the motor start button. Nothing happened so I thought I screwed something up. I look at absolutely everything and nothing looked wrong so I sat in the car, closed the doors and hit the button again. When I hit the button, I could here the alarm module clicking so I knew it was trying to start the car. I turned the alarm off and tried to start the car and nothing happened. About this time I was in a full panic because I thought I had royally screwed something up and my car was not starting because of something I did wrong. I looked around again and checked all my connections only to find I had not plugged the ignition wires back into the harness. PHEEWEE!!! I sat there feeling really stupid then plugged the harness back up and hit the start button. In less than a second the ACC came on followed by the car starting up. You could not imagine the feeling of accomplishment I got from such a little thing as my car starting up. I am so glad I decided to install everything myself and would do it over no problem. I have newfound respect for the guys that do this sort of thing on a daily basis and charge so little in my opinion to do it.

Now I am going to search the parts yards for a set of electric window regulators to power my windows. Something else I can wire to the alarm. :)

Thanks mobiletoys2002,

I ended up using the alarms smart tachless mode instead of trying to figure out which tach wire would work. Smart tachless mode senses the vehicle voltage when the car starts and shuts the starter off when the voltage spikes from the car starting. It has worked flawlessly even when cold. I have not had a false start yet.

I noticed a mistake I made though that may not be that big but will most certainly have to be corrected. I neglected to attach the wire that goes to the brake switch so when the key is in the ignition, the alarm lets go of the ignition; or if the brake is pressed without the key in the ignition, the motor stops running. I can only imagine this is a anti carjack feature. I also noticed that when I try to stop the car before the preset time the alarm runs the car. I can't stop it without pressing the remote start button on the remote to stop it. I can certainly see how this could be a serious safety problem...