I have a 2009 Caliber SXT that I need help diagnosing why the cigarette lighter has no power. Other items such as the a/c outlet in the armrest and the rear windshield wiper works just fine. Only the cigarette lighter does not work.
Here’s what I’ve done so far…
- The number 16 and 12 fuses are fine. I visually inspected them as well as with a meter, but just in case I also replaced them with new fuses. Still no power.
- I replaced the cigarette lighter socket itself with a new one. Still no power.
At this point what else can I check? Specifically, what are other reasons which would make the outlet not work?
I would not replace the unit before checking for current at the feed wire and continuity on ground.
Did you ? Only powered with Ign Key (Acc or On).
While the power outlet is very similar to a cigar lighter base unit, it does not include the two small spring-clip retainers inside the
bottom of the receptacle shell that are used to secure the cigar lighter heating element to the insulated contact. It
has 12 volt battery voltage when the ignition is in the ON or ACC positions.
1) How would I test continuity on ground? What's the procedure?
2) You say, "If no breaks visible then I would run new ones." Are you saying run all new wires for the cigarette outlet? How would I do that? When I took the console out I could only see about 6 inches of wire before it was wrapped in loom and went under the carpet. Where would I run the wires from?
I'm just going to test the ground for continuity to test that side. Also going to run a test wire from the battery and the meter to ground to see if that gives me 12v. Hopefully it's just the ground, but worst case I'll use a fuse tap to run a new line to the oulet if the hot side is bad.
Tap any power supply with tester to see if it grounds on the outlet.
Run power direct from the battery side of any block into a fuse then through the bulkhead. You can put in your own relay from an Acc supply to be clever.
To close this one out for anyone who may have this problem in the future...
I ran a wire from the negative battery terminal to one lead of a multi meter and touched the other lead to the outlet ground. I had continuity so I knew the outlet ground side was good.
Then I ran the wire from the positive battery terminal to the feed side of the outlet. Then I put one meter lead to the feed side of the outlet and the other lead to the outlet ground. That gave me 12v.
So that told me the feed wire was bad somewhere. I just ran a fuse tap off the #16 fuse and ran a new wire to the feed side of the outlet. That gave me 12v back to the outlet and also meant the outlet only worked with the key switched on like normal and not hot all the time. Outlet now works and the mrs can charge her phone. Happy wife, happy life. :smiley_thumbs_up:
Yes, it has the 120v outlet and it worked fine. The mrs preferred the cigarette outlet due to location, plus it just bugs me when things don't work and I want to figure it out.
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