Loose electrical wire behind ashtray ( what is this ... ? )
Loose electrical wire behind ashtray ( what is this ... ? )
Author
Discussion

Hellhound

Original Poster:

24 posts

211 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
quotequote all
Hi,pulled the ashtray and found this loose electrical wire behind. Would anyone know what this wire is there for? Should it be connected, and if, where to?
Many Thanks.
[pic][pic]

tvrgit

8,489 posts

282 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all
piccy no worky

mooey

101 posts

233 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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If it has a female connetor I would hazzard a guess that it fits on the back of the lighter just above the ash tray. Does the lighter work?

tvrgit

8,489 posts

282 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all
Coincidentally, I had to put my lighter back together after it fell out of the dash yesterday when I was recharging a phone. That female connector must have touched the earth, because it blew the fuse, which also controls the horn and the radio.

It's a real fiddle getting it back on, so if it's come off, the previous owner might have decided to just leave it!

DonnyMac

3,634 posts

233 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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tvrgit said:
Coincidentally, I had to put my lighter back together after it fell out of the dash yesterday
Happened to me too, gave up a little skin putting it back together -

Helpful hint: when putting in and removing chargers always lightly rotate clockwise, tightening the connection.

tvrgit

8,489 posts

282 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all
DonnyMac said:
tvrgit said:
Coincidentally, I had to put my lighter back together after it fell out of the dash yesterday
Happened to me too, gave up a little skin putting it back together -

Helpful hint: when putting in and removing chargers always lightly rotate clockwise, tightening the connection.
Good hint! If you're taking it out with your left hand, the natural tendency is slight anti-clockwise, which loosens it. Never thought of that before.

Hellhound

Original Poster:

24 posts

211 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all
Hi, here is the pic to save me a long description.
[pic]http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss51/Hell-hound/Loosewire.jpg[pic]

caduceus

6,126 posts

296 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all
Looks like a bulb holder. Or one end of a fuse holder. But I stand to be corrected

Edited by caduceus on Monday 23 March 20:01

caduceus

6,126 posts

296 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all


You forgot to put the backslash in the second pic bracket....

Hellhound

Original Poster:

24 posts

211 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
quotequote all
Thanks Ged for fixing pic, and thanks to All for your suggestions. The cig. lighter gets red & hot, so it is something else ...

headcase

2,389 posts

247 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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Looks like one half of an inline fuse holder to me.

caduceus

6,126 posts

296 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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I've got my dash in bits at the mo, so I'll take a look behind that area tomorrow and see if theres an inline fuse or something that resembles it.

VPower

3,598 posts

224 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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Very thin wire!

Could be the light feed to the cig lighter.
Does cig lighter light up when you turn the head lights on?

verminator

723 posts

262 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
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Please be very careful when messing with cig. lighters. I still have'nt got my cerb back yet. The interior is still all over the workshop floor and the only thing left in it are the carpets. The insurance company are being billed for £5000 for the damage. The wires from the cig. lighter got so hot that it melted the adjacent wires all the way back to the fuse box, and melted the fuse not allowing it to blow and stop the damage. This was all due to a faulty lighter.

peteA

2,762 posts

264 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
quotequote all
verminator said:
Please be very careful when messing with cig. lighters. I still have'nt got my cerb back yet. The interior is still all over the workshop floor and the only thing left in it are the carpets. The insurance company are being billed for £5000 for the damage. The wires from the cig. lighter got so hot that it melted the adjacent wires all the way back to the fuse box, and melted the fuse not allowing it to blow and stop the damage. This was all due to a faulty lighter.
Hmmm - cautionary tale indeed. My cerb came without a cigar lighter so I bought one off Ebay...alloy type with TVR sticker on...pretty crap! Anyway, out in the car for the first time in ages at the weekend and realised the horn wasn't working (don't ask)...?

Got back and checked the fuse...blown...inserted new one...blew...checked what was and wasnt working...horn, interior lights, few other things including the ciger lighter.

Removed the lighter...inserted new fuse...no problems...interior lights work...horn works...only difference being no lighter in the socket?

Going to insert something like radar detector or sat nav to see if the lighter socket is working...assuming it either working and its the current draw from the cheap lighter that blew the fuse or there may be a earth fault and its not working properly at all...

Hellhound

Original Poster:

24 posts

211 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
quotequote all
both cig. lighter and its light are working fine.
I suppose if I could pull the central console I would be able to see where it belongs. Whilst reading another topic re taking console off, I understood and only managed to loosen it. I have undone the drivers side retaining screw but this was not enough. Then I also undone lossened the panel in front of passengers seat. Has anyone got a link to clearer instructions somewhere please?

VPower

3,598 posts

224 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
quotequote all
Could it be an unused wire from the radio?
Something like the automatic aerial trigger?

But also be very careful of the ignition key switch.
When I bought my car the cig-lighter fell out, the bezel was missing.
I accidentally knocked the wires off the back of the key switch as I investigated and suspect this had happened before and the reason the cig lighter had been removed and left loose.

These key switches are really poor quality and not very well made.
About 4 bits drop out!
Araldite glued back together now!


So something to remember if you ever loose all power suddenly.
Pull out the ashtray and look for two black wires with a round contact end soldered to it!


CERB BOY

61 posts

212 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
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Hi Guys

Have had same happent to me, have put lighter back together including light.But lighter does not work also horn radio and the door locking switch does not work (whether the door locking switch is related to the fault).Have pulled all fuses in box in boot and tested all okay any where else are there fuses.

Jon

Hellhound

Original Poster:

24 posts

211 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
quotequote all
Steve,
this sounds like 2 directions I have to investigate indeed.
I did loose all power once before I started looking behind this ashtray, although there seem to be many reasons for losing power ( battery, earthing, 100 amp fuse, stuck starter motor, immobiliser, and the "tracker" device, and I am probably missing some other multiple reasons ) . But it could also simply be the radio ( which does not sound in any way as good as the engine ).
I will try having a look. Have you ever remove this panel in the center yourself? When I try pulling it does not come naturaly so I stop as I do not want to break it!
Thanks.

Edited by Hellhound on Tuesday 31st March 23:21

peteA

2,762 posts

264 months

Wednesday 25th March 2009
quotequote all
peteA said:
verminator said:
Please be very careful when messing with cig. lighters. I still have'nt got my cerb back yet. The interior is still all over the workshop floor and the only thing left in it are the carpets. The insurance company are being billed for £5000 for the damage. The wires from the cig. lighter got so hot that it melted the adjacent wires all the way back to the fuse box, and melted the fuse not allowing it to blow and stop the damage. This was all due to a faulty lighter.
Hmmm - cautionary tale indeed. My cerb came without a cigar lighter so I bought one off Ebay...alloy type with TVR sticker on...pretty crap! Anyway, out in the car for the first time in ages at the weekend and realised the horn wasn't working (don't ask)...?

Got back and checked the fuse...blown...inserted new one...blew...checked what was and wasnt working...horn, interior lights, few other things including the ciger lighter.

Removed the lighter...inserted new fuse...no problems...interior lights work...horn works...only difference being no lighter in the socket?

Going to insert something like radar detector or sat nav to see if the lighter socket is working...assuming it either working and its the current draw from the cheap lighter that blew the fuse or there may be a earth fault and its not working properly at all...
Got home last night...inserted my portable sat nav and if acvtivated straight away...didn't even have to put the ignition on...and it continued to work...as did the radio, interior lights, horn, etc...can only assume it was the actual lighter I bought from Ebay...well, guess where thats going.

So, the cigar lighter socket must be permanently live..

Think the fuse was number 8 and 15A...?

I don't smoke and won't let anyone smoke in the car so want something to block up the socket when not in use (for sat nav / speed detector use...) - any ideas? Could just be a good quality, decent looking cigar lighter or maybe one of those plastic covers, the ones you get in the back of MPV's for the spare power sockets...