This has got me stumped....

[Slo-Sho]

Recently my cigarette lighter has been inoperable, it was shorted out (since corrected). Using my DMM I have found the the receptacle has 12v but when I push in the lighter it goes to ground. Another thing I have noticed is the glovebox light and the two overhead map lights will flicker and sometimes not work. I suspect that they all may be on the same circuit but I have not been able to pinpoint or locate any blown fuses/links. Can anybody suggest where to look/test?

 

[n8rsk8r]

when I redid my headliner, the maplights would not work till I pushed up on the housing. Can you move this? Or is it solid? If so, you may need to tighten the screws, pop out the plastic cover. One of those screws is for ground. As far as the glovebox, I dunno man. Which year is it on? The automatic or the manumatic?

 

[Slo-Sho]

This is on the '95. When the flickering occurs the glovebox light and both maplights will start tweaking out at once. This all happened when the lighter plug got shorted out. I tried looking at the wiring diagrams posted in this sub-forum but I have not been able to locate a diagram for my particular problem.

 

[Off Road SHO]

The cigarette lighter plug is just a resistance coil that get hot when you run 12 volts through it to ground. The outer metal ring of the plug and the socket are the ground. The center of the coil of the plug is what is supposed to touch the center pin of the socket. So it does in fact "short out" to ground for it to work properly. However, the current can't take a "shorter" path in its' "short to ground" travels. Try getting a new cigarette lighter from another vehicle and see if it causes the same flickering when inserted.


Tom

 

[Slo-Sho]

The lighter receptacle is dead. It gets 12 volts to it then goes to ground (via DMM) when any load is put on the circuit (lighter, cell charger or otherwise).

Can anyone tell me where the lighter circuit gets it's power from?

 

[Slo-Sho]

ttt...I've searched all the wiring diagrams found in the link but have been unable to locate the power wire going into the cigar lighter.

 

[SHOZ123]

Circuit 12, a 20A fuse which also controls the horns.

 

[projectSHO89]

The lighter receptacle is dead. It gets 12 volts to it then goes to ground (via DMM) when any load is put on the circuit (lighter, cell charger or otherwise).

Can anyone tell me where the lighter circuit gets it's power from?

This means that it has a high resistance in its supply circuit path. When the cig lighter is plugged in, all the voltage is dropped across the high resistance, allowing very little current flow through the lighter itself. A minute current through a low resistance will yield very little voltage drop (negligible).

Look for a burned connection or a loose/corroded wire between the lighter and the fuse panel. Keep as a possibility that the fuse itself may be at fault. I've had them go to a high resistance without opening and will cause your symptom.

Try blowing the horn while the lighter is loaded. If the horn blows normally, then F12 is fine and the fault is between the lighter and the splice where the horn and lighter lines connect together.

The dome/map lamps, glove box lamp, engine compartment lamp, and the vanity lights are all fed from the same supply. The source of this supply depends on whether or not the vehicle is equipped with remote keyless entry (RKE) or not. If so, the power comes from RKE module pins 11 & 12 (Battery saver output). If not equipped with RKE, it is fed off the same circuit as all the other courtesy lamps via several splices/connectors.

Steve

 

[Slo-Sho]

Thanks for the quick replies. I forsee many hours of searching for these splices...You'd think that 20amp C/B in the IP fusebox would've done it's job.


P.S. The car does not have factory RKE.