Where is the cigarette lighter fuse on celica GT-S 2001

Hi,

Where is the cigarette lighter fuse on celica GT-S 2001? I did not see any label from the main fuse box next to the battery.

Thank you, Havfun

Reply to
Havfun
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It'll be listed in the manual.

Reply to
Hachiroku

Look in the fuse box under the driver's side of the dashboard.

Reply to
Ray O

Trick question! There are TWO fuses for a cigarette lighter outlet. There's a regular fuse in the fuse block, usually inside the car.

There is also a thermal protector built into the rear of the lighter socket assembly, so if someone leaves the element pushed in for too long it will blow on built up heat before the car can catch fire. This will also get blown from running a power inverter, spotlight, or other high draw 12V corded accessory for too long.

The thermal protector is not replaceable separately, you need a complete lighter socket assembly. (The socket and mounting shell - NOT the whole ashtray or dashboard area.)

If you use high draw power accessories a lot, get a separate 'Power Outlet' socket installed with a separate FUSED feed line back to the battery. They can deliver 20A to 30A all day with no problems - just make sure you don't run the battery down.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

This is good to know. I?m still a little stuck though. There was a local guy who did some minor cosmetic work in my car and used a hair dryer plugged into my cigarette lighter. Several months later my girlfriend goes to charge her cellphone and nothing. I started checking it out and found I have 12v coming from the wiring harness so it turns out the socket is dead. The odd thing is when I look the socket over it looks just like a new one. I happen to be in for a oil service at Toyota recently. (No blow fuse either.) I was wondering it there is a way to disassemble the back end of this and use a socket from Checker to build one that works. I just don?t want to pay $40 for one of these from Toyota.

What part goes bad on the socket? There?s not too much to it. The Toyota one has a different rear end attachment compared to the one at Checker. The socket housing is identical but the connector part and the end is different. Both sockets have a small nut you can take off. That?s why I was wondering if I could build a hybrid (so to speak). It?s off a 94 Celica.

Any ideas?

"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote: > On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 03:26:58 GMT, Havfun wrote: > > >Hi, > >

Reply to
SBMongoos

First, check for 12V between the tab at the bottom of the socket and the side of the socket. If there is 12 V there, then the tab at the bottom of the inside of the socket may be mashed down out of reach of the accessory plug.

If there is no power coming to the tab at the bottom of the socket, you can try taking the socket apart to see if you can find the fusible link and see if it is open (the most likely scenario if there is power to the socket but the socket itself is dead.

Another solution is to find a replacement part from a junkyard.

Reply to
Ray O

Congratulations - the "local guy" who did the work should have known better and hooked his power tool straight to the battery. When you get done, take him the bill for the new lighter socket.

The thermal fuse link is built into the back end of the inner lighter socket shell, between the power terminal on the back of the socket and the bimetal release clip at the back inside of the lighter socket.

The ends of the "U" shaped clip at the back of a lighter socket grabs the rim of the lighter element, and when the element heats up red hot the bimetal bends like a furnace thermostat, the two ends go wider releasing the grip on the element, and the spring pops the lighter out to turn off the power and signal "Ready".

The thermal fuse link is sandwiched inside the socket, and not supposed to be repairable - they make dedicated devices that look like a little inline fuse with two leads, but it may be nothing more than a blob of solder between the two parts with a known alloy formulation ergo a known melting temperature. It melts and falls away at the desired temperature, and the power connection goes open.

If you try repairing the socket you will most likely remove the overheat safety function. If someone wedges the lighter element in so it doesn't automatically shut off when hot, it can catch the car dashboard on fire. This of course would be bad.

A replacement lighter socket from the auto parts store will functionally work fine, but you need to take your socket in to get the right one. And you need to find an auto parts store that stocks them, because there are several possibilities.

"Power Accessory Sockets" don't have the bimetal to grip a lighter element, so they don't need the thermal safety - you can wire them straight to the battery (with an inline regular fuse, of course) and load them to 20A or 30A all day with no problems.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

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