bronto

So I checked the fuse chart for my '79 and it reads as fuse #5 should control this. But it shows fuse 5 handling both the instrument lighting and the cigarette lighters. The cig lighters don't work, but the instrument lights do.
Seems like a wire short somewhere? Are the front and rear cig lighters on the same wire?

Speedtoys

You're in Reno now? Thought were in Socal?

And..TWO lighter sockets???

bronto

Yessir. I was in the Santa Barbara area. I am the latest refugee from California in the Reno area. Love it. Bought a condo for half the price and twice the square footage of the one I sold. And a TWO car garage.
Yes, two sockets. I didn't know that was unusual. It's in the console between the rear seats. Part of the ash tray, as it is in the front.
I'm currently on a road trip/vacation retrieving my 928 and bringing it to Reno. It's been in hibernation for a year while I renovated and sold my Santa Barbara condo, and shopped for, bought and moved into my new condo. I don't know when the sockets stopped working.

Mrmerlin

probably shorted by plugging in a USB power socket. check all the fuses.
next remove the right console cover and look at the front lighter wires,
to make sure they are not shorted

davek9

FYI...a "Short" in a circuit will blow the fuse, an "Open" (broken connection/wire) will leave the Fuse undamaged but the load in this case the cigarette lighter won't work (no 12 volts
Sorry but I always see the term "short" used incorrectly and just felt the need

Do you have 12v at the base of the lighter w/the key on?

Dave K

Mrmerlin

NOTE its common for the cig lighters to be internally shorted with aftermarket USB power adapters,
this will blow the fuse.
NOTE the cig lighter may be powered with another fuse circuit,
thus check all of the fuses,
use a multi meter to check for in and out power at each fuse
ground one side of the probe then check for power on either side of the fuse ends,
and you can go one further,
and check the in/ out of each fuse connector on the rear side of the CE panel.
If the panel ever got wet then these connectors on the rear of the CE panel can get corroded,
and the fuse may be good but the output may not and this is how you find it.

bronto

Thanks, just got home from my road trip.

You're saying that the fuse chart may be wrong?

I do use it for USB charging.... and an mp3 player. The front one, but never the rear one. They are both dead.

"Internally shorted".... does that mean the unit will need to be replaced?

I'll try the multimeter sometime this week.

Mrmerlin

usually the plug slides sideways and the tip shorts out the power to the ground,
and poof goes the fuse.

Really just make sure that you put the insert straight into the lighter socket, this should prevent blown fuses

Alan

Fuse #5 is for the dual cigarette lighter/power outlets on a '79 - however it is Not for instrument lighting. It does supply the button illumination for the pod switches: Fog Light, Window Wiper, Odo/Mileage Reset, but only those 3 (so not all switches).
Fuse #11 is for general instrument lights. So change fuse #5, turn on accessories see if it works - if not then take fuse #5 back out and test it electrically (if it is blown again would imply you still have a short). If it seems a fuse may be blown its always better to test it electrically than to rely on visual evaluation, also if you know the fuse is good it may point you to fuse holder & fuse holder to fuse connection issues.

Alan

bronto

Just went for a nighttime drive, and the dash **** lights are lit. So I don't believe the fuse is blown. I'll still test the fuse though to be sure, probably next weekend.