My R34gtt Fuse Blows...

[1R34SON]

Hey guys, My cig lighter has been causing problems i think, Before the lighter would only work if the headlights were turned on, which i found weird but never used it so i left it. Then the other day my cig lighter became loose from its socket so i tried to see if there was any loose wiring but could not see anything wrong, but i dont know what the heck im lookin at anyway.

Now after the cig lighter became loose from its socket the parkers, tail lights, dash lights stopped working. I replaced the lighter fuse which was buggered but it did not fix my problem. I replaced a burnt out tail fuse and the dash lights came back on, when i went to see if my cig lighter was working (which it wasnt) the dash lights/parkers did not come back on. The tail fuse that i just replaced blew immediately, I replaced it again but this time i didnt touch the cig lighter, i only switched the dash lights/parkers on and u betcha the same new tail fuse blew again.

Does anyone with an ounce of electrical knowledge better than mine know what might be the problem?

I supplied a pic in case theres something obvious im missing, the arrow shows the fuse that keeps blowing. Im thinking i might need a auto electrician to maybe fix my cig lighter thats fkn things up??

[Moodles2]

The cig lighter is a common place to draw power from for boost controllers, boost gauges etc, might be worth looking to see if a previous owner has done this and messed with the wiring somehow.

[1R34SON]

interesting, thanks. I think I better get an auto sparkie in to take a look, any auto electricians in Perth that feel like lending a hand? Or can anyone recommend someone for me south of the river?

[t_revz]

does your cig lighter have a white ring around it that illuminates when lights turned on?? that wire might have come off. otherwise if it only worked when lights turned on, prob wired up wrong. prob still need to just pull that panel out and will be visually obvious.

[3LGODZILA]

i work at delta autospark in redcliffe, if ur free during the day we can check it out but it'll prob be much much cheaper if i did a cash job for ya, im busy 2mro i can have a look wednesday afta work. ive gota drive to alexander heights to get home so im onli realy SOR after work (round 5ish).

the cig lighter will have an acc feed and and earth going into the back of it and a park light feed going into the side of it.

i cant tell you why it was only working when ur headlights were on that sounds really strange unless some retard gave it a headlight power feed (cant understand why)

the actual element might be all loose right inside the socket and shorting out, and cigarette lighters are usualy all pretty universal and cheap (atleast it'll rule that out)

or theres a short in the wiring the first place to look would be behind the cigarette lighter.

pm me if u want me to have a look at it

[1R34SON]

Trev dont think i ever saw an illuminated ring, but u could be right.

PM sent James!

[Nic_A31]

All dependant interior light (dash cluster, dash switches, climate control, glovebox, auto shifter) are all on the same circuit as running lights/park lights.

This is why it would only work when you're headlights were working (power is meant to be independant to illumination, read below)

its possible that the power for the cigarrette lighter is feeding off the illumination for the ciggarette lighter.

An intermittent breach in the circuit would explain fuse blowing only in specific circumstances. Brake lights will work, as the brake light circuit lights up both filaments anyway, headlights will work, but no park lights, and you wouldn't have interior lighting.

there are two harnesses going into the cig ligher.

the one in the middle is actually for illumination, and the smaller one beneath it (which you would THINK is for illumination) is actually for power) its common for connectors for either of those to snap easily. Check the wires within say...one metre, or if you can, trace them all the way to the fuse box, and see if they've been crossed over.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Nic_A31

[1R34SON]

All fixed guys, only spoke very quickly to the auto electrician, but sounds like you were on the money nic. Thanks for all the help guys!