No power going to cigarette lighter wires

Harbor_Handed · #1 02-20-2019, 10:05 AM

Hi, since I bought my truck over 2 yrs ago, the cigarette lighter has never worked, so lately I've been trying to get it up and running. I put a new 20v fuse in, but it didn't help. I bought a new lighter socket/well, but it still didn't work...so I immediately returned it to O'Reilly's, and the guy came out with a tester, which showed that the wires themselves have no power.

I'm wondering...where do I go from here? With my radio bezel off, I've tried tracing the 2 lines down in there, but they just bundle together with other lines and get lost. When I pull on them, they are clearly connected and not hanging loose. I don't understand why the lines have no power, and am wondering what my next step should be.

Does anyone know what might have happened, where I can disconnect the wires at, and if it's fairly easy to just replace them with new wires? I am female and don't know anything about electrical wiring and I certainly don't want to try taking my dash off...Can I access the wires from below?

Any help appreciated. Thank you!

dvrich · #2 02-21-2019, 08:46 AM

Check for 12 volts at the fuse to narrow down the possible areas to check.

Harbor_Handed · #3 02-23-2019, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvrich

Check for 12 volts at the fuse to narrow down the possible areas to check.

Thanks. I don't have a multimeter and don't want to pay $20 just to check that one thing. I'll check at the auto parts store next time I'm there to see if they can test check the fuse.

My Ford Ranger · #4 05-13-2019, 10:38 AM

2000 Ranger XLT.
I had the same issue. Found that the fuse was burnt. On my truck it's #17 25 amp fuse and it's also the same fuse that sends power to the Data Link Connector under the dash.
Replaced fuse and that did it, but only after I bought a new complete lighter unit, which the original was in bad shape.

Scrambler82 · #5 05-13-2019, 09:20 PM

Harbor_Handed,
How did this turn out ?
Was thinking it might be the Lighter Socket; sometime the ceramic insulators at the bottom of the unit get worn or broken from heat.
Also, if it is a bad Socket, don't use the 12v Power Socket for a Lighter !

Harbor_Handed · #6 05-19-2019, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrambler82

Harbor_Handed,
How did this turn out ?
Was thinking it might be the Lighter Socket; sometime the ceramic insulators at the bottom of the unit get worn or broken from heat.
Also, if it is a bad Socket, don't use the 12v Power Socket for a Lighter !

I bought a new OEM socket online, tried a new well in there, and bought new 20 amp fuse (which is what is specified in the manual for my model year). Nothing worked.

I gave up on it, was told it would cost a lot to have a mechanic try to isolate what the problem was. If it's this confounding, I'll just leave it broken.