Current draw draining battery - how to fix?

[6079]

The fuse that powers my cigarette lighter (if it was working properly), and a glove box light, and a trunk light, seems to be draining my battery, even after only a few hours.

My first thought is to somehow turn off those two lights, but I don't know a safe, practical way to do that. Any thoughts on that are appreciated.

My second concern is repairing my cigarette lighter to working order may then become a large draw, and may have been part of the original problem anyway, as I got the car like that.

The best idea may be to have this current draw directly fixed. Is there any way I can do this myself? If not, any estimates as to price or chances of success I can expect from an auto shop would be appreciated.

[richtazz]

The lighter could be internally shorted, enough to draw power but not enough to blow the fuse. Have you checked to see if the glove box light is actually turning off when you close it? A temproary solution is to remove the fuse to stop the draw until you can pinpoint the cause.

[6079]

Originally Posted by richtazz

The lighter could be internally shorted, enough to draw power but not enough to blow the fuse. Have you checked to see if the glove box light is actually turning off when you close it? A temproary solution is to remove the fuse to stop the draw until you can pinpoint the cause.

That fuse has actually been blown for years until I decided to get my lighter working again. Even with a new fuse, the lighter would not work.

From here, should I install a new lighter socket, or find what is causing this draw first?

[jdl]

I agree with the moderator, about the lighter. Did you check for the draw-down with the heating-element removed from the lighter socket.

I've seen those lighters blow fuses on numerous GM vehicles. I guess if you have to have a lighter, you might try a new heating element, go from there.