Horn, hatch release, power door locks, power mirrors, cigarette lighter, courtesy lights and dome light don't work. Seems that the common problem (after extensive searching) is the damn cigarette lighter. I would like to disconnect it and just forget about it, since I don't ever use it, but I have absolutely no idea how to go about doing so. I removed the screws that are underneath the armrest and also the screw that's underneath the ashtray, and it didn't really seem to do much more than loosen it up a bit. I'm not entirely high up on the automotive intelligence, so any help on this topic would be absolutely amazing.

Thank you so much for your help, in advance.

 

Bump.

 

I can't remember , but I think the top of the console needs to come off. Also check your fuses, sounds like the courtesy fuse is blown.

 

Yeah if all of those things are out at once than its MOST likely a FUSE. Fuses are underneath the sterring wheel to the left of the brake pedal.

If the fuse keeps blowing than you know you have short at which time you would need a diagram to trace it down.

Good luck, and yes those things are common issues, but not all at once (other than a blown fuse).

Don't try to disconnect the lighter. Even if you don't smoke you might want to use it for any kind of accessory as well as a charger. Trust me. Just fix the problem and don't worry about the lighter.

 

I know for a fact that it IS the Courtesy fuse. It just kept blowing every time I'd try to put a fuse in there. Reason I asked about the cigarette lighter is that it seems to be the culprit in the majority of the searches I had returned to me. It would be somewhat of a temporary fix...just so I can get the horn working so my car passes inspection.

 

Did you unplug any of that stuff before you started having problems? That happened to me once, it kind of took me a little bit to figure out what was going on. I had removed my upper console for some reason (don't remember now), but I could drive around for days and not have a problem, then all of a sudden I would start my car and nothing worked. Turns out that I had hooked up the wires to the hatch release backwards, so when I would come home and shut the car off and pop the hatch to get something out, the fuse would blow, then by the next morning, I would be scratching my head wondering what the hell was going on. It kind of took me a bit to correlate popping the hatch and the fuse blowing because I did not notice right away. So, everytime you blow a fuse, think back to the last thing you used before it went.

 

Just start taking stuff apart to get behind the lighter socket. Sometimes the ground bends enough to where it makes contact with the power wire. I am sure that the lighter wiring close to the lighter is the culprit. Getting to it should be easy. Just pay attention when you take stuff out.

 

this happened to em about 17 times before i figured out that change was falling into the lighter and shorting it out blowing the fuse...i believe the top part of the console is held on by clips that u have to pry up..i can check later today when i go to my garage...i just cute the wires on the lighter and taped em off instead of doing it the right way but this fixed my problem completely

 

take the shifter plate off first, this will allow the lighter radio trim to come off easy, otherwise you will break the little tab and it will never go back in nice and tight. i agree change will short it out. easy solution is to just tape off the wires but consider fixing it for real if you want to save someone the hassel latter.

 

Well, 4 months later, I finally got around to my car again. I unplugged the cigarette lighter and popped another fuse in.

Back to square one. Fuses keep popping in the CTSY slot! Where do I go from here?

 

Someone had a suggestion elsewhere to place a 12 volt light bulb across the fuse slot. It will light as long as the short remains. Good idea. Guess you could also place some type of audio buzzer there instead of a light bulb so that you would not have to keep your eye on the light bulb.

But let us say you put a light bulb there. Then you can go around to various components and unplug them to see if the light goes out. You could also stick your arm under the dashboard and grab a hand full of wires and shake them to see if the light goes out while you do so. That would possibly help find errant wires that have disconnected by accident, been rubbed until the insulation was rubbed away, been cut from previous audio systems, etc. The light would definitely save on fuses during your hunt.