How To Change A Cigarette Lighter In 1999 Dodge Ram

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Cigarette lighter sockets are very useful for operating lighters and many other electrical gadgets, but they wear out over time. Fortunately, removing the socket is a relatively easy procedure that doesn't require mechanical experience or many tools. To first, shut off the motorcar and fuse to cease power from reaching the lighter. And then, you can get a socket out of the dashboard or the lower one-half of your vehicle by removing interior panels. Remove a lighter socket to replace it with a new ane or an alternative to charge whatever device you lot demand while driving.

1
Turn off the auto'southward engine using the ignition key. As long every bit you lot have your fundamental out of the ignition, you are fine. Don't attempt touching the lighter wires or the fuses while the car is running. Make sure the radio isn't running since the cigarette lighter socket often shares a fuse with the other components in the center of your auto.^[ane]
- Stay safe by turning off the vehicle before treatment any wires or connected components. If you don't accept the proper precautions, you could end up sticking metal inside the socket while it is still active.
two
Locate the fuse box in the vehicle. The fuse box typically is underneath the hood or the dashboard. Check inside the glove box on the passenger'southward side if you don't see it anywhere else. It looks like a covered black box with a agglomeration of colored plugs inside of it and is sometimes labeled.^[ii]
- If y'all can't find the fuse box, consult your possessor's manual for more than information. Some vehicles even have multiple fuse boxes decision-making different parts.
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3
Remove the cigarette lighter fuse with a pair of pliers. Wait for letter labels near the fuses or on the fuse box cover. You can usually remove a fuse box comprehend past hand, but you may also need a Phillips head screwdriver for yours. Once yous locate the fuse responsible for the cigarette lighter, employ needle-nose pliers to pull it out of the box. Set the small fuse aside in a condom location until you're ready to put it back.^[3]
- If you don't see a fuse box diagram inside your vehicle, bank check for one in the owner'southward manual.
four
Use a multimeter to make sure you deactivated the lighter. A multimeter is a handheld device that detects electrical currents. To test the lighter, you have to first notice an exposed piece of metal in your vehicle, such as a commodities on the door. Hold the black probe to the piece of metal, then touch the ruddy probe to the cigarette lighter socket. If the meter moves, the socket nevertheless has an agile current and isn't prophylactic to bear upon.^[iv]
- You can get multimeters at most hardware or automobile parts stores.
- If the meter picks up electric activity, check the fuses again. You may have removed the wrong ane by accident.
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1
Utilise a hook to reach the slots in the cigarette lighter. Look inside the cigarette lighter socket to find the small-scale openings around its sides. These slots allow you lot to grip the socket, merely you need a strong piece of metallic to remove it. The easiest tool to utilize is a lighter socket removal tool, which looks like a minor metal bar with a pair of prongs on the cease. Fit the prongs into the slots to begin removing the socket.^[v]
- You tin can detect socket removal tools online. Besides, inquire at your local car parts stores for alternatives.
- If you don't accept a socket removal tool, observe something similar that fits inside the lighter socket. For instance, you could utilize a metallic hook or curve a metallic coat hanger to latch onto the socket slots.
ii
Turn the lighter socket clockwise to loosen it. The socket rests inside a 2d metallic tube on your vehicle. Unlike most other connectors in the vehicle, you have to spin the socket clockwise to disconnect it from the tube. Use the removal tool to loosen the socket by spinning information technology in place. When the socket is loose, it turns freely and may even pop out of the dashboard.^[six]
- The socket is often a niggling stubborn at first, so put some force into turning it. You may need to go a pair of pliers to turn the socket past hand.
3
Pop off the dashboard panel if you can't remove the socket. If the socket loosens but doesn't pop out, pry off the panel around information technology. Check the panel beginning by trying to remove it with your hands. If you can't remove it past paw, get a plastic pry tool and slide it underneath the panel. Work effectually the edges of the panel, gently prying it abroad from the rest of the motorcar until you are able to elevator it and look behind it.^[7]
- Shop online or visit your local hardware and auto parts stores for pry tools. Make certain y'all get plastic ones instead of metal to avoid damaging the car panel.
- The cigarette lighter socket may still be attached to the rest of the motorcar, so don't rip the console off as shortly equally you disassemble it. This is specially true if the socket is well-nigh the radio, since the radio and climate command wires most likely also attach to the panel.
4
Unplug the wire connector if it is still fastened to the socket. Lay the console flat so you are able come across any wires behind information technology. Notice the back end of the socket and cheque it for a wire zipper. If the lighter socket has a wire in it, squeeze the plastic connector, then pull information technology abroad from the socket. The connector is typically a round piece of plastic with a bright coloring like bluish.^[8]
- The connector is usually piece of cake to remove past hand. Y'all may need to pull it with a piddling bit of force to popular it off of the socket.
- You can remove other connectors on the panel. If you removed the plate around the radio, for instance, the radio controls also have plastic connectors. You don't need to remove those connectors, but unplugging them gives y'all a trivial more room to maneuver.
v
Pull and turn the socket equally needed to end removing it. Reach behind the panel to push button the lighter socket toward yous. Virtually sockets pop out of the dashboard panel without much difficulty. You may besides need to spin the socket to loosen it a piffling more before it pops out. Grab the forepart terminate of the socket to plow it by manus until it slides out of the panel.^[9]
- Endeavor to avoid forcing the socket out. It is pretty easy to remove, and then if it feels stuck, chances are it is still attached to the car. Cheque for a wire connector and rotate the socket clockwise until information technology loosens.
- If y'all can't remove the socket and know that you cleared away any wires, utilize pliers to turn it until it loosens.
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ane
Remove the side panel to admission the back end of the lighter. If the lighter is about the gear stick in your vehicle, reach into the chamber underneath the stick to become to the socket. Motion the seats back as far as possible, and then pull off i of the plastic panels in the center part of your car. If y'all can't get the console off by hand, employ a plastic pry tool to wedge the panel off of its mount. Work slowly around the edge of the panel until you are able to slide it off.^[10]
- Get pry tools by shopping online or visiting hardware or motorcar parts stores.
- The panels you lot demand to remove are underneath the gear stick and very noticeable. Every bit long as you remove one panel on the chamber housing the gear controls, you lot tin can reach the lighter.
2
Turn the wire connector counterclockwise to pop it off the socket. Wait for a plastic wire connector on the back finish of the lighter socket. It has a green and a blackness wire coming out of it, connecting the socket to the rest of the car. To remove information technology, grip it lightly between your fingers and rotate it counterclockwise. It comes free after almost a quarter of a turn, so turn information technology slowly to avoid pulling the wires.^[11]
- The wire connector looks like a round plug. It is often gray, but it might be a different color in your car. The plug always has a pair of wires, green and black, that make information technology recognizable.
- Some cigarette lighter sockets have 2 dissimilar plugs. I plug on the side holds the green ground wire while the other plug in the eye holds the black ability wire. Remove both plugs if your vehicle has them.
3
Take the clips off the electrical connector to remove it. The next component on the lighter socket looks like a round, grey cap with an opening holding another wire. It has a pair of fly-similar clips on the side. Grab both of the clips and gently pull them abroad from the cigarette lighter to slide the connector off of it.^[12]
- The electrical connector has a carmine wire supplying ability to lighter. Set the connector aside to avoid damaging the wire.
4
Use a socket wrench to remove the nut holding the lighter in place. Removing the connectors exposes the back terminate of the lighter socket. The nut is a metal ring with an opening in the center and it fits over the dorsum end of the socket. The easiest fashion to remove it is past plumbing fixtures a ¹⁄₁₆ in (0.sixteen cm) socket wrench over it. Twist it counterclockwise a few times until information technology is loose enough to twist off by hand.^[13]
- Finish removing the nut past standing to plough it counterclockwise past mitt. Slide it off of the socket and set it aside.
5

Take the low-cal housing off to remove the cigarette lighter. A second metallic cylinder, the lite housing, covers the back stop of the lighter socket. All you have to do is slide it off to remove it. Removing it leaves the lighter socket exposed, and so but pull it out of the hole in the plastic.^[14]

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Every car is a little different, so the exact socket removal process may differ slightly depending on your vehicle. Refer to your owner's manual for more than specific instructions.
If your cigarette lighter socket stops working, check the fuse first. Fuses are more likely to blow out than the socket and are as well cheaper and easier to replace.
Supplant a cigarette lighter socket past buying a new ane, then sliding information technology into the slot that holds information technology in identify on your vehicle.

Thank you for submitting a tip for review!

Electrical wires connect to the lighter socket, and touching information technology while the wires are active could result in an electrical shock. Always shut off the machine, remove the fuse, and exam the socket with a multimeter to avert problem.

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