Bum cigarette lighter.

Hello folks:

Still a great newsgroup; wonderful people here. Anyway, I wanted to ask if anyone has had any experience with a situation similar to my current one.

I have a '98 Maxima SE and I noticed that the cigarette lighter didn't work. No big deal, I don't smoke, but I do need the power source. So, I checked the fuse and sure enough, it was open. Okay, maybe the fuse finally gave up. No other bad fuses, no other electrical problems.

Jammed a new 15-amp fuse in, then pushed the button. Oops, a spark the instant the coil touches the bottom of the socket. Open fuse again. This leads me to believe that it's the lighter socket itself, either by not being properly grounded or by being otherwise defective internally, but I haven't been able to find another one to try yet. Haven't ripped this one open to look inside, either.

Anyone have any ideas or ways to test or otherwise investigate the socket? Any and all replies would be appreciated. Thank you.

Art.

Reply to
Art and Monique
Loading thread data ...

The lighter plug-in itself might be shorted. I think of it like a toaster - the element needs to provide some resistance to heat up/glow... if that itself is shorted, then I can imagine the fuse would blow. I don't have a cigarette lighter in my car to compare... but just thought I'd share my thoughts.

Cheers, Nirav

96 Max GLE, 118k
Reply to
njmodi

My best guess is the socket itself is shorted at some point.

Reply to
woodstove

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.