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General Information => Upgrades (non engine related ) => Topic started by: jaed_43725 on January 01, 2013, 06:41:09 pm

Title: cigarette lighter
Post by: jaed_43725 on January 01, 2013, 06:41:09 pm
I had to replace the cigarette lighter and ran into a problem. The one that came out has only 2 prongs on the back 1 vertical 1 horizontal. So I ordered the one from ECS Tuning http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Jetta_II--Diesel/Interior/View_All/ES310595/. It as you can see in the link has 3 all horizontal. Outside of a junkyard does anyone know of a place that has the wiring to properly connect it. Or can I just plug the prongs into the center gold one and the outer silver one? Of course I didn't realize any of this until just now. Thanks.
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: burn_your_money on January 01, 2013, 08:42:42 pm
Stab at it with an ohm meter. You may need to jump power to both the outside terminals. The ohm meter will tell you quickly what you need to do.
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: jaed_43725 on January 01, 2013, 08:54:42 pm
As in check to see if power goes across both outside terminals?
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: burn_your_money on January 01, 2013, 09:25:38 pm
Exactly. It will also tell you what powers what, although by looking at the pictures it seems fairly obvious.

Since it's just spade terminals there is no need to cut up your harness to make it work, which is always nice.
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: bajacalal on January 01, 2013, 09:28:34 pm
My (educated) guess is that the center terminal is for 12v + and the outer two are ground (-) terminals.

But check it with an ohm meter to be sure. You should see an open circuit, no continuity (infinite ohms) between the + and - terminals and close to zero ohms between the two terminals if they serve the same purpose.

To connect, I would just splice plain old spade terminal connectors onto the wiring, and use some heat-shrink tube to insulate them. These should be available at any electronics or hardware store.



Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: jaed_43725 on January 01, 2013, 09:37:45 pm
I will check it out later. I will try to make it a writeup. Or maybe a sticky link.
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: ORCoaster on January 01, 2013, 11:23:22 pm
For that price, 19.00 I think I would have hit the local auto parts store for the 5.00 generic ones.   :o
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: mystery3 on January 03, 2013, 02:01:24 am
For that price, 19.00 I think I would have hit the local auto parts store for the 5.00 generic ones.   :o

How much is your time worth? The OP obviously expected this to be a plug and play event and not to get into any wiring at all whereas if you buy a cheapo one at your local auto store you'll definitely have to do some wiring even if it only takes you half an hour for the $14 savings is it worth it?
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: ORCoaster on January 03, 2013, 07:36:21 pm
YES IT IS.  It is part of the total own an old car package deal.  Never let the screws and nuts rust or stay in place for more than 60 days. 

But then I am known to be cheap and undervalue my time.

Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: R.O.R-2.0 on January 04, 2013, 10:48:13 am
For that price, 19.00 I think I would have hit the local auto parts store for the 5.00 generic ones.   :o

How much is your time worth? The OP obviously expected this to be a plug and play event and not to get into any wiring at all whereas if you buy a cheapo one at your local auto store you'll definitely have to do some wiring even if it only takes you half an hour for the $14 savings is it worth it?

sad thing, the universal cig lighters plug right into american, or mexican wiring.. just not german wiring..

that cig lighter pictured, is for german electrical system..
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: jaed_43725 on January 04, 2013, 09:57:41 pm
Problem solved. I just pushed the spade connectors out of the original connector, taped the back end up with some black tape, then pushed them on. The light ring does not work, so all well. I also had to put some tape around the cigarette lighter so it would stay tight pushed into the ring. I used painters tape on that part. But overall it looks good.

The reason I didn't just go to a auto parts store is because they don't have ones that fit properly even with some work.
Title: Re: cigarette lighter
Post by: ORCoaster on January 04, 2013, 10:49:48 pm
See you got the bug like some of us.  Made work with a little bit of your time and what was readily available to you.  Kudos man.