I posted the question here a month ago about how to get at the accessory outlet in the cargo space of my 1999 OB, which was giving me no power, but I got no answer. So I took the car to my local distributor's service dept. They said the socket is defective, they could order a new one, it would cost $133 with installation. No thanks! I reply. They say, $75, please, for the diagnosis. AARGH!
So I bought a replacement socket at Radio Shack for $9 and went to work pulling off upholstery and liners in the back trying to get at the socket myself. I should have saved the $9 and thought a little harder:
Lots of the upholstery and lining in the car just pops out. If you're lucky, you can re-use the little plastic buttons that pop out when you yank on things when it's time to re-assemble. But a little thought would have saved me lots of trouble.
Because you don't have to remove anything. Just wedge a screwdrver behind the rim of the outlet and it will pop out too.
The socket was not at all defective. It was just fused, not with an ordinary fuse, but with a fusible link of alloy wire ingeniously constructed inside the back of the outlet. I figured it was safe enough to rely on the fuse for the circuit itself, which also serves the seat heat in my car, so I soldered on a little jumper across the melted wire, and the thing works fine.
Saved $133. Would have saved the $75 + $9 and an hour of my time if I had had the knowledge beforehand as to how easy the fix was.
If anybody finds this useful, drop me a line, please. Otherwise I would feel that I had wasted even more time by posting this.