Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) #@$!!%@^# T-Taps AARRGGHHH!!

[LoneRam]

This is the finally of two other posts reguarding stumbling and dying. I started a new post to give others a heads up. After changing my fuel filter and looking into blockage somewhere I found my smoking gun, the (*&%$^@# T-Tap for my pusher pump. The tap had severed the original pump wire which was only being held together by the plastic. After soldering the wires together the truck runs perfect! So beware your T-Taps.

 

[dsherman]

What is a T-TAP

 

[LoneRam]

It crimps a wire provides a male spade connector so you can run another wire off the first. It's a cheezy way of splicing into a wire. I'll shoot a pict if I remember after work.

 

[dsherman]

Please send a pic !!.

Thank you

David

 

[willyslover]

another name for these POS wire taps is Scotch locks [3M / Scotch brand is the originator or these damnnn things]

 

[Shovelhead]

Originally posted by dsherman

Please send a pic !!.

Thank you

David

Ask and ye shall receive:

#ad

 

[merryman]

Get any group of guys together who work on their vehicles and the odds are you can hear numerous stories of T-tap problems; I hate them, but I did my pusher before I heard about the pig tail add on, and couldnot figure out how to access the OEM wire to drive the silonoid except the dreded T-tap.



Vaughn

 

[Dane]

What is a T-TAP

It's a electricial connector for lazy people that causes them to work harder in the long run

 

[Cooker]

I have had good and bad luck with T-Taps, but I hate scotch locks. If they are not exposed to the elements, and you use the proper size for the wire you are working with (the most common problem) I have had great luck with the 100's of T-Taps I have used. If however they are exposed to the elements, forget about using them. JMHO.

 

[Loren]

Originally posted by Dane

It's a electricial connector for lazy people that causes them to work harder in the long run

Dane,



Boy is that the truth!



I just sent Robert an article that he may publish in the next TDR issue about exactly this. It starts with my ordeal of trying to re-attach my booster pump wire at midnight in the rain in a parking lot in Indianapolis. It was all because I used at T-tap instead of doing the job right at home.



Geno's just got a Swenco T-tap connector that uses a screw on cap over a needle. The needle pierces the wire's insulation and makes contact with the conductor. I haven't used any on my truck yet, but it's a huge improvement over the clamp-on type. At the very least, it won't cut the wire in two the way my original one did, the same as LoneRam's.



I was impressed with the Swenco connectors. If you don't want to solder or crimp fittings, they are the way to go.



Loren

 

[WadePatton]

I'm not much on "piercing" either, that's what the BC cover is supposed to do. But after the 3rd fix (in a year) lasted less than a week, I'm going to tap that wire properly.



Any T-junction solder fittings out there?

 

[RHARVEY]

So what connector are you going to use... I have had real good results with the Scotch locks...

Which one is the best????



Rick

 

[Loren]

Rick,



I'd recommend either soldering together a custom pigtail with spade (or similar) fittings on every wire, or using the Swenco connectors sold by Geno's.



I tested the Swenco fittings for my article I submitted and they are much better than the clamp-on style of fittings. It doesn't look to me like they can break a wire at all.



Loren

 

[RHARVEY]

Thanks Loren!



I need to get some of them ordered!



Rick

 

[RACE427]

T Taps and unsoldered splices

Any of these methods are not the work of a true Professional Mechanic/Technician. The average vehicle owner uses this garbage and they have been known to cause all types of electrical gremlins to appear and cause havoc! People who insist on using them create alot of work in repairs for the rest of us! LOL

 

[Loren]

TGreco,



You'll get no argument from me about true professional mechanics and the use of these connectors. The catch is, how many "professional" mechanics use them every day?



My experience has been that if I allow anyone to "professionally" install any accessory, these clamp-on connectors will be what they use. That's why I do this work myself now.



My connection of choice for my own trucks is a soldered pigtail, usually with spade fittings to allow removal if necessary (for troubleshooting, for example). Is there a problem with crimped-on spade connectors?



I realize that in an ideal world, everything would be soldered with heat-shrink tubing covering the splice, but I do sometimes like to take these things apart. A spade connector, usually crimped on, is my compromise. I have used several of these on my truck and if I'm setting myself up for future problems I'd like to know ASAP, before I install any more of them.



Do you have suggestions?



Loren

 

[RACE427]

anything crimped

Any wire which is crimped is asking for potential failure in the future. The only acceptable electrical repair is a correct splice, soldered with rosin core solder and either insulated with 3M electrical tape or heat shrink tubing. This repair is the sign of a true automotive mechanic / technician in today's world.



Any gypsy repairs will be almost impossible to troubleshoot in the future if they should fail electrically. Try using butt or crimp connectors on computer lines and you will be digging yourself into a hole with future driveability problems. Cannot begin to list all of the electrical gremlins I have seen caused by faulty owner performed electrical surgery or by an incompetent mechanic, wanna be. Just a thought that is all.

 

[Steve Campbell]

"Any wire which is crimped is asking for potential failure in the future."

... ... which is precicesly why, if I do decide to use one, I "fill" the connector with "nolox" (or something similar) before inserting the wire and crimping. I realise that this is not a "permanent" connection..... sometimes I don't need one... ... but it is the next best thing to soldering.



Come to think of it, I have never had to "trouble shoot" one of this type of connections yet.

 

[WadePatton]

Loren--while TGreco's method is the ONLY way we do race car wiring, I've seen NOTHING but scotchlock/t-tap/crimp-on junk from ANY regular automotive repair facility.



I just re-tapped my VP-44 wire. I was using the Blue Chip cover and thought it might be the problem. Used crimp-on t-tap (GAWD I hated it), but didn't have time to order other type stuff--can't be bought off the shelf here) and I don't really see how you could get a solder job done down in there. Someday if/when I pull the harness/pump out.



I'm a radio op. I can melt solder.

 

[AlFischer]

The reference to computer connections is incorrect. MOST connections in computers are now IDC. (insulation displacement connections) Take a look at the cables on your hard drive. Your floppy. The cables for the power connections are all crimp. This applies not only to PCs but to Mainframes.



It seems to me that a 'suitcase' connector is really an IDC connector. Properly used it is good.



Now, computers are not exposed to the elements. Trucks are. However, take a look at every connector on the wiring harness in your truck. They ain't soldered! They are crimp connectors.



And they give trouble sometimes. Especially if wet and salted.



If I make a 'homemade' connection I solder it and heat shring it. I may even go so far as to use a silicon capsule. And given the right (or wrong) situation even these may fail.



Just my opinion.