A while back I had a battery drain on my 1991 C4, I had everything that wasn't essential disconnected from the battery. It turned out that it was the stereo amplifier that was the problem, and now I want to reconnect the cigarette lighter so that I can have a source of electricity (mainly so that i can inflate the spare tire in case of a flat). As you probably know the spare is stored without air in it and there is an electric air compressor included in the car that is supposed to plug into the cigarette lighter and inflate the tire. With this in mind I need to get this back up and running. What is the proper procedure to reaching and re-connecting it to the battery.

 

I pulled my stereo out and only found marginally improved access. i also took my glove box out and then had to try to get the glove box light and switch assembly reinstalled which is also a bear. Long skinny fingers. You can get the lighter socket to come out through the hole by unscrewing the back off and letting it fall out and then slightly re-spring the tabs that hold it in when you push it back into its hole. It is a shame, but my wires would not pull out far enough to pre-connect it to the housing. I had to squeeze my hand in the back and hold the wires while pushing the socket back into its hole. Good luck.

 

I bought a spare 12v socket from Maplins (Radio Shack) and wired this under the dash (tucked out the way) picking up a live feed allowing two important features to run at the same time - the beer cooler and speed camera detector for my annual pilgrimage to LeMans!

 

^^^
This is the way to do it. Here's a pic of the plug at the back once the glove box is off:



BTW many 964s need the ignition to be on for the cig lighter to work i.e. it might not be of use for charging via a trickle charger.

 

Is this true? My wires are not connected to the back of the lighter, and I was looking to make the cig lighter functional so that I could charge the battery....

Thanks,
-B

 

Maybe it's a Rest-Of-World thing? Mine works when I leave the trickle charger on and the ignition switched off. I use the porsche trickle charger plugged into the lighter when I am gone for more than a week or so. Jack

 

It's certainly true on mine (euro car) that it's powered by the ignition.

 

Speaking of cigarette lighters, I cannot plug anything into mine, my gps and tire inflator do not fully insert inside the housing. Everything looks like its fine, but nothing fits inside. Do I need an adaptor?

'89 C4 in America

 

The tyre pump connector should fit. As long as the voltage is delivered to the plugged-in device, it's fine.
If you can not have the original tyre pump plugged and working, there is probably someting shoved in the lighter's housing, or it might be damaged.

In the lighter itself, only cigarettes and cigars do fit. Tip of a finger as well, but it smells funny and it really hurts.

 

I have a feeling this might only be true for RHD cars. Both of mine (LHD) did/do not need the ignition to be turned on for it to work, but I have heard of this before for other RHD cars.

 

Good thread, I was messing in this area last night. I was installing a dash cam on my car (Russian style!)

My cigarette lighter is always powered, even w/ the ignition turned off.

I also noticed the car's cigarette lighter is either too shallow or not tight enough to firmly hold most accessory plugs in place.

I actually broke the accessory plug on my dash cam trying to tighten up the fit, therefore, I am going to hardwire it into the my unused radio harness (constant power) w/ an in-line fuse.

When not in use, I'll disconnect the power cable at the camera in order to not drain the battery.

 

Oh, and to answer the original question, I was able to stick my hand through the opening for the radio and hold the connector while I lined up the cig lighter and reconnected it.

My car has a radio delete w/ factory delete plate, so I didn't have to remove the radio for access.

On a related note, how is the light on the cigarette lighter suppose to work? I see the bulb attached to the connector, and it lights up the plug, which is really only visible when the cigarette lighter is not in the plug. When the cigarette lighter is in the plug, I don't see any light shine through to the lighter at all (unlike the fog light and rear defroster switches).