Voltage source and grounding for keyless entry within the cabin
 

I'm adding keyless entry to my 87 GXL. I've got the power door lock actuators installed. I've got those wired up to relays to pass along the power. I've got the keyless entry module programmed and it sends a signal to the relays to lock and unlock the doors. I've tested it and it all works great...but

I'm testing it by getting the positive feed from booster cables off the battery and I'm grounding it from the negative side of the booster cables. So I know it will work, but I can't drive with my hood up and booster cables coming in through the window.

To clean up the wiring, do I have to go through the firewall and run leads up to the battery terminals or can I get the power from inside the cabin? There must be a good grounding point either in the driveside or passenger side footwell, at least. I thought about getting positive power off the cigarette lighter, but I believe if the key is off, that accessory won't work, and obviously neither will the keyless entry then. Where can I get a constant 12V positive source, without going through the firewall? At the end of it all, I want the wiring to be hidden, and look like factory.

(Even if I had to go through the firewall to get the (pos) source, hanging a wire off the battery terminal looks tacky to me. There must be a cleaner way to do it)

Any suggests for a grounding point or positive source point from under the dash?

Thanks

There should be a constant 12v on the ingition switch harness. I am not sure what color it is though. At work, we use Directechs.com for wiring, and I am not at work so I can't look it up for you. We always use the 12v constant at the ignition for our power. There should be chassis grounding in the driver side foot well behind the kick panel if I remember correctly that you can ground to.

Just be sure when you do find the wire color the 12v cont. is supposed to be, that you probe it with a multimeter BEFORE you splice into it. Sometimes wiring diagrams are wrong. We run into this sometimes at work and if we didnt always back probe before splicing, we'd all be fired by now.

The keyless entry on my car was the one place where I got lazy with the wiring. I just used a fuse tap to tap off one of the fuses in the box. I think I pulled from the "room" fuse. The type of tap I used plugs into the box in place of the fuse and has two slots; one for your new circuit and one to hold the original fuse again.

There is a small M6 stud on the inner driver kick panel which is a good place for grounding. No need to run out to the battery.

The fuses I surronded in yellow are on the battery bus and have pwr 24/7. The other fuses are powered by the ignition/key. So any of the items on the yellow batt buss will do.

I'm not the best at soldering and I'm nervous about hacking into the ignition wiring, so I'll try the fuse tap approach. Plugging into the driver side fuse panel seems safe, easy, clean and uses a short run of wire.

I've been to a few stores looking for something like a fuse tap, but it doesn't seem to be readily available. I guess I'll try a specialty hotrod shop for a fuse tap.

Canadian Tire. :)

If you do it right the first time you can avoid potential problems in the future. If you probe your suspected 12v constant like your supposed to before soldering and making things permanent, you can't really screw it up. Probe the 12v constant and turn the key in all possitions besides start and make sure it is always 12v, then you are golden. You also dont have to solder. You can use a straight but connecter and crimp it. That circuit isn't high current or anything. Hell, that is better than tapping into the fuse block with a spade.

I will also add that if there is an alarm with that keyless entry you damn sure want to do a good job on the wiring and make it look as stock as possible to keep thieves from easily pinpointing the wiring.

I looked for a fuse tap on the shelves at Crappy Tire and Princess Auto, but it didn't jump out at me. Maybe I'll ask for help at PartSource.
Will I still be able to put the cover back on the fuse panel with a fuse tap stuck in there?

Maybe a straight butt connector is cheaper, cleaner and easier. Like I said, I'm not a good solderer and I don't want to fry my ignition. But a cold crimp should work. Are they usually reliable and solid?

Can I get away with needle nose pliers, or do I need to buy a special crimp tool?

Cold joints are pretty reliable as long as they arent in the engine compartment or exposed to moisture.

You'll need a crimp tool, but you can get a stripper/crimp tool at the parts store for $15. You'll probably find yourself needing it again so it isn't a bad investment.

I ended up using the fuse tap approach. That way I could totally remove the keyless entry mod, without a trace, if need be. I used the crimp on the fuse tap. I didn't buy the crimp tool. And my needle nose pliers didn't work too well either. But my visegrips sure crushed it.

Thanks