cigerette lighter wiring question

[daveid]

I have a 94 camry and the cigerette lighter doesnt work. I have a wire that goes to the bottom of the cigerette lighter and that clips in. Then above that are two straight prongs for wires to slide on to but no wires going to it.
Im assuming that those two prongs need wirings to them and thats why its not working. So my question is, are those just neg and postive connectors? if so im thinking ill just run wires straight from the battery to the cigerette lighter?

thank you,
david

[shorod]

The wire clipped to the bottom of the lighter is the positive, and NEEDS to be fused. The tabs on the side would be ground. Only one of them need to be connected. If you test the tabs that are not connected, I suspect you'll find they have continuity to each other. There should be a wire dangling around with a connector that mates nicely to the lighter housing. No need to run a wire all the way from the battery. Even if you don't find a ground wire dangling in the area, you could supply a ground from a nearby grounded point of the car. If you find/make a ground wire and the lightly socket still doesn't work, check the fuses for the lighter. The lighter socket is often on the same fuse as the horn.

-Rod

[daveid]

Thanks for the reply. Theres two wires that go into the clipped one and those are black and green, so does that still mean its the pos? I went through all the fuses before in the fuse panels, but is there a fuse on the acual cigerette lighter wiring itself?

Thanx
david

[shorod]

Are you pretty sure that the socket is the factory socket, or might it have been installed by a previous owner? If it's factory installed, there will likely just be a fuse in the fuse panel.

Are you saying the spade terminal that plugs in to the metal cylinder of the socket has two wires crimped in to it, one black and one green? That wire is likely a ground, but it should be pretty easy to confirm with a multimeter or test light. If you're not sure how to confirm this, you should find a friend that can help you or enlist the help of a local professional.

-Rod

[daveid]

ya it is factory lighter. The back of it there is a little plastic connector and the wires that go into the connector are green and black. then theres the two metal prongs above that and those two are the ones that have no wires going to them. I have a test light and multi meter but i dont know how to test the differance between a ground and a pos.

Thanx
david

[shorod]

With the multimeter you would simply touch the red lead to the wire you suspect connects to the bottom of the lighter socket, then touch the black lead to a grounded unpainted metal part of the car (seat mount, etc.). With the meter set to the 20 V DCV range (if not an auto-ranging meter, DCV if auto-ranging) you should see about 12.5 Vdc on the meter. You might need to have the key in the Run position to activate the circuit.

If you don't get a reading, then you can try switching the meter to Continuity/ohms scale and see if there is close to zero ohms resistance to ground. If so, then the connector you have is probably the ground terminal and should be attached to one of the two tabs on the can of the socket. The second tab could remain disconnected. You'll need two connections to the socket, positive battery voltage to the terminal at the bottom of the can socket and negative ground to one of the tabs on the socket.

-Rod

[daveid]

Thanx for all the info. Ill do that tomorrow and see what i come up with. I use to alawys call my dad for simple things like this and learn from him but he passed away last week and now im forced to look stupid in front of everyone instead of just him.

thanx again,
david

[shorod]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

There's nothing wrong with asking basic questions to learn by. Fortunately for you, a cigarette lighter is a good place to learn since (no offense) it's about as basic as it gets. Start the learning on easy stuff and progress to the more difficult stuff to build on the knowledge.

-Rod