Cigarette Lighter Plug Not Working?

[Achilles99]

OK, I tried filling my tires with air using my 12V air pump. All of a sudden, the pump stopped working. Tried it using a friend's car... no luck. No problem, just throw away the pump, right? Wrong! Now, my cigarette lighter socket doesn't work! I tried the air pump, a vacuum cleaner, and even the lighter. None seem to work. Can anyone suggest why? Is there a fuse for the cigarette lighter somewhere? The light on the rearview mirror works fine. Stereo works... headlight works... dash lights work. I looked at the fuse panel, and nothing listed the cigarette lighter.

I'm stumped! Is this covered under my MaxCare warranty???

 

[WANTED]

FUSE, READ YOUR MANUAL, GOODLUCK

 

[Ulysses]

Fuse #4 in the power distribution block located in the engine compartment, 15 Amp fuse. Not the fuse block. Also check that the wires under the cigarette lighter aren't hosed.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

From what I recall....you probably don't have back up lights either.?.?

I have not tested this, but I recall reading that the lighter and back up lights are fused together...but I cold be wrong.

Thanks Ulysses for the pointer to the fuse!!

 

[jimandela]

Mine failed once.. loose wires behind the plug.. good luck finding the problem

 

[KERS-VPR]

Buy a Bic

 

[Achilles99]

Read my manual? That's a good idea... I just looked at the fuse panel in the cabin, and didn't see anything mentioned about the lighter. Hopefully, the manual covers the block that Ulysses mentioned. Thanks for the tips! Hopefully, I can just replace a fuse and not have to worry about melted wires!

 

[Ulysses]

Distribution block right next to the positive battery cable under the hood.

 

[Nexus-6]

Sonofa...wow...

I came on here tonight to look for this exact info.

Mine stopped working tonight under the EXACT SAME conditions...using a 12v tire inflator which I've used before with the Viper.

The dang thing just quit working. I figured that I'd popped a fluse but the fuse is intact (the fuse is the same fuse as the hazzard lights - a 25a).

Double checked the fuse by replacing it even. Still nothing.

I have the faceplate out and have removed the lighter itself and it all looks clean...nothing blown, the wires look alright.

If it's not the fuse, I'm going to assume that something in the actual lighter assembly went "pop" - I guess I'll try replacing that next and hope that the wires aren't bbq'd someplace...

I use my lighter socket to power my V1 - I don't have it hardwired (just have the cable routed cleanly under the dash and I plug it in when I need it).

 

[Nexus-6]

Ahhhhhh....

So I did a bit more digging around.

The fuse box in the engine compartment? The 25A fuse labeled "cigar lighter/hazzard lights" was intact.

No "cigeratte/cigar lighter" fuse labeled in the cabin fuse panel.

However...

There is a pair of 15A fuses near the top right of the panel...one of them is dang near inacessable because of a strut in the way but the other one...well, it was blown.

The panel does not label this fuse (on the panel diagram it's actually blank) but it's the only other blue 15A in the upper right corner. I started pulling all the fuses just to see if I could track anything down and lo and behold, there it was...melted through.

Swapping in a new fuse tomorrow and that should be it.

For anyone running into this problem down the line (say, 2 years from now and using the search function at 1am) shoot me an email if you need help.

 

[plumcrazy]

could also be one of the two wires being off behind the cig liter. just pop off the panel on the console and check.

should be 2 connectors on the back of it

 

[SNKEBIT]

sounds like you guys gotta get a real air-compressor!!!!

 

[Nexus-6]

could also be one of the two wires being off behind the cig liter. just pop off the panel on the console and check.

should be 2 connectors on the back of it

This sounds like it's the most probable cause for most folks...it was the first thing I checked too (but it was all good).

A fresh fuse in that unmarked spot fixed the problem and the V1 is back in business.

And yes, definitely no excuse not to spend the extra jack on a real compressor now.

 

[WickedSpeed]

Figured I'd chime in here to add some more info... I took delivery of my '00 GTS today and the first thing I wanted to do was plug in a fancy USB splitter into the cigarette plug that also gave a power readout due to the car arriving unable to start and requiring a jump. Noted my USB splitter didn't work at all at the shipping docks when I picked up the car. Tried another one. Nope, didn't work either.

Asked the seller if he knew why the cigarette lighter didn't seem to be getting any power, and if there were any modifications to the wires behind the cigarette lighter. Seller said he didn't know of anything, and didn't see anything else connected to it when he had the dash off previously.

Got home, looked it up in my shop manual that came with the car, found out where the fuse was (in that fuse box where one jump starts the car), blue 15A. Popped off the cover and sure enough, that "Cigar" fuse was glowing red. As in one of those fancy LED fuses that glow when it blows.

Car was completely off, doors closed, etc. Pulled that glowing 15a fuse, and threw in another one that popped just as I pushed it in. Tried one more time in case the one I had just pushed in was a dud. Same thing. What the heck...

Car is OFF. No Key anywhere near the car. Doors closed so no dome light on, etc. Yet something is drawing enough power to blow a 15a fuse.

1. Is the cigarette lighter always powered even when car is off (like my recent Lotus)? If so, means there's a short or an abnormal draw somewhere between the lighter and the fusebox. Ugh. Hopefully just a short right behind the cigarette lighter, but if not, this gets complicated quick.

2. If the cigarette lighter is powered off when the car is off, then that means there's a short or abnormal draw somewhere between the ignition switch and the fusebox. A little easier to trouble shoot I hope.

Can somebody let me know whether their cigarette lighter is powered 24/7 or only when the car is on? Thanks.

-Wicked

 

[WickedSpeed]

Update: I've learned that the cigarette lighter plug is always powered.

I also got a great tip from a Daniel on the Gen 2 Dodge Viper facebook group.

"Get a bulb (anything with a holder will do) a couple of long wires and two small spade terminals. Attach the terminals to the wires and the wires to the bulb, then stick the spade terminals in each side of the fuse holder.

While there is a short the bulb will glow. I'd check the cigarette lighter socket itself first, then work back from there wriggling the wiring. When the bulb flickers or turns off you've found the rough location of the short and can focus your search on that area.

You want long wires so you can hang the bulb into the cabin so you can easily see it while you stuff around."

 

[DJ'sviper]

You guys gave a lot of good information. I appreciate it. I'm glad I quit smoking 45 years ago.

 

[Twinturbosd]

Very appreciated, same thing for me just it’s been at least 2 yrs now, however I didn’t use an air compressor just my radar and it decided to quit working

I’ll look at unmarked fuse location tomorrow.. thanks again

 

[WickedSpeed]

I removed the cigar lighter and dismantled it completely, cleaned it up, reassembled, reinstalled it, and threw in a fresh fuse that promptly blew again.

I went down to the local auto parts store and bought a $5 cigarette lighter. The package said it was good for dodges up to 1992 (and about a million other cars). It looked close enough so I bought it and installed it. The only thing that didn't fit right was that the female Viper plug was too big for the male part on the lighter to stay on so I squished it down down on the Dodge female end with pliers a bit to make it oval-ish so that it would bite when I pushed it onto the aftermarket cigarette lighter. Tested with a new fuse and... problem solved! I can't figure out what was wrong with the OEM one, but the after market one has been working great for the past two weeks.

-Wicked