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I understand elctrical in cars and have worked on it in some of the school cars, but I am unfamiliar with splicing wires. We discussed it, but never really did it. SO I am here to ask about it. I am curious, say I am going to hook up oil pressure gauge or something along that lines, and it asks me to splice one of the wires into another wire, say a ignition wire, now how would I do that? What is the best way to tap a wire into another wire? Use a special crimp connecter? I understand how to splice 2 wires together (basically twisting them, then soldering them), but how would I do it if the wire is being used in a circuit? I was thinking that you would strip enough of the wire insulation off in order to splice the new wire into the old wire, but how would you strip the insulation off a wire that is being used in a circuit? Someone please help me on this one? I would appreciate it.

 
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basically just stripo away the part of the cover that you want to tap into, and twist and soder the wire your tapping into the other one onto that open part.

 
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I prefer to slice into the insulation and tie the new wire into that point and solder.

There is a special tap made, Blue in color "3M Scotch blocks" or something like that one side goes over the existing wire and the new wire is blocked about half way and a metal blade is pushed in and ties the 2 together then there is a cover that clips down to cover what is exposed of the blade.

For best results long term connections in a car should always be soldered IMO

 
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now how do you strip away part of the wire? I understand how to do it on the end of a exposed wire, but how do you do it with a wire that is being used in the circuit?

I know they have stripper tools to strip the insulation, but doing it with a wire with no open ends confuses me? How would you strip away about a inch of insulation?

 
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Get these from RadioShack.

 
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A really easy alternative would be to use "Tap-In Squeeze Connectors" When you push the metal piece down with pliers, it strips the wire for you. It's also clean, simple, and really sturdy so there's no chance of the wires disconnecting.

EDIT: Kizuel beat me

 
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those things are commonly called "tap splices" that can be found and any hardwhere store for a few bucks for like a 30 pack

 
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A good thing to use is a good sharp razor blade to slice the insulation only, sometimes the insulation will easily separate from wire sometimes not. And of course some wires location prohibit this method.

^^ Those are the tap connectors as mentioned.

 
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T-Taps... easiest splice ever...

 
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splicing using a tap connector is normal to what most people do. now me on the other hand I snip the wire.. strip all the ends.. prepare to soldier it but slid heat shrink tube over it first then soldier. after its done slide the heat shrink back and you have a strong connection thats protected better than putting elec tape on it

 
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This from a post white rabbit made in the car audio basics thread started by diskreet, located in the sticky: His information about soldering.

There’s no way I can advocate solder to make connections. the name of the game in a car is "preserve the value of the vehicle", not "make the best connection that’s humanly possible". there’s a reason that the vast VAST majority of high end shops out there use t-taps rather than solder, and its not entirely speed! Its far more important to have a high resale value on the car five years from now than a connection that will last forty years rather than twenty years! if your taps are falling off after two weeks, its not a sign you need to solder, its a sign you should be working harder on making a solid tap!

 
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those scotch taps are junk if you're tapping higher voltage wires or larger wires.

Just take a really sharp exacto knife and slice off some of the wire insulation... then wrap the new wire around it and solder. Cover with electrical tape.

 
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Im with kizuel Get these from RadioShack.

 
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That post was as useful as this one

 
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yup same here never had a problem i nall my wiring needs that way.