I think I fixed my 12v/cigarette lighter...but a question

[chrisfinlay]

Ok, from the top: I bought a D8 a load of months back, and noted that the cigarette lighter didn't work (not a worry as the car was only £375!). My first thought was the fuses - so I dug out the handy guide from here, found out what fuse went where, checked it and....damn, it's intact. So I put it back where I got it, and thought "someday I'll take the thing out and check the connections". I never did, until today. I pulled the fuse out so I wouldn't zap myself, and went to town on it. Would the bloody thing come out all the way? Nope. So, defeated, I pushed it back in, and went to replace the fuse...I then noticed that slot 1A had 3 places for the prongs to go...previously, the fuse had been in the top 2 - so I thought "well, maybe the guide was actually for a D9?" and pushed it into the lower & middle slots. I plugged my phone into the charger and lo & behold, the charging icon came on!

My question is this though - I hadn't even put the keys in the ignition. I know there's some electrical current flowing round anyway (interior lights, central locking etc) but is it normal for the cigarette lighter to function like this? Or have I somehow done something silly to the electrics?

I know my previous car, a Lantra, needed the ignition to be in Accessory position before the cigarette lighter came on...

[Archangel]

got the same prob, sure I saw somewhere someone mentioned moving the gearstick gaiter to check connections on underside of cig lighter. need to know myself as want to use my FM transmitter with radio !

[chrisfinlay]

When I lefted the gaiter up to fit the non-smoker kit I did see some wires running under, pretty easy to get to, but didn't investigate, so it's easy to get to. Pull ash tray up, and unclip gaiter - job done.

[omega]

i think that when the fuse is in one slot it only works with the ignition on,and if you move it to one of the other slots it works all the time.

[DiscoPol]

i think that when the fuse is in one slot it only works with the ignition on,and if you move it to one of the other slots it works all the time.

Seconded

[chrisfinlay]

Fair enough. Curious as to why it didn't work in the previous location (ignition on for it to work), must be something duff inside. Oh well, it works now!

Thanks for the info folks

[mjb]

i think that when the fuse is in one slot it only works with the ignition on,and if you move it to one of the other slots it works all the time.

Correct. The stereo fuse is also like this, and it's the case on both D8s and D9s