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View Full Version : Electrical Battery Drain – Cigarette Lighter Illumination?



klaatu42
07-01-2015, 10:51 PM
Hello. Aside from the troublesome #3133, I have #11633, which runs perfectly and is in great shape... BUT, there is a battery drain issue. It takes just a few days for the battery to drain to the point where it needs a boost. I haven't looked into it deeply yet (because I'm so busy with #3133), but the other night, I noticed that the cigarette lighter illumination was on when the car was off. It's fairly dim, but bright enough to be seen through the window.

It's another dark night, so I just went out and did some checking. It is on when the headlight switch is off, but oddly it turns OFF completely when the headlight switch is on (when other illumination – instruments, AC panel, etc. – is on).

The rheostat has no effect, but does still control the other illumination properly.

Has anybody ever heard of this?

Is it possible something is feeding some voltage up through that bulb's ground? There is a flashing LED installed for the security system not far from there (next to the passenger window switch).

I haven't opened this up yet to take a look. I thought I would ask if this is a known issue before doing so, although I haven't seen anything in the forums yet about this issue.

Wiring diagrams tell me that there are several other lamps connected to the same Red/Orange wire, but those other lamps do not appear to be exhibiting the same issue. I suspect they have different grounds (and I'm sure they require much more current). The grounding diagrams I've seen don't seem to include this lamp, and #3133 has the entire cigarette lighter deleted, so I can't use it as a cross-reference.

This vehicle has an audio system with capacitor, remote doors, cruise control, and a security system. The only other issue I know of with this vehicle is that the battery light does not come on when the key is turned. I haven't yet checked to be sure that the correct bulb is installed, because so far the battery has been charging while driving, and #3133 has been posing much more significant difficulty.

Jonathan
07-01-2015, 11:15 PM
Andrew, do you think you might just have the purple wires and this red/orange one hooked up incorrectly? Like the illumination power is going to the cigar lighter portion accidentally and the cigar lighter power is going to the illumination? I think there are three wires and connections in total and maybe a couple of them are in the wrong spot?

Tell me if you have power to the outlet or not in those circumstances... I believe the way mine works is that it stays powered even with the car off and yet the illumination does not stay on. Could be those are backwards somehow.

DMCMW Dave
07-01-2015, 11:19 PM
The back side of the lighter assembly has rotated so that the bulb hits the - terminal i.e. the case. Great design. Just rotate it back and the light will go out. Happens all the time.

klaatu42
07-02-2015, 12:34 PM
The back side of the lighter assembly has rotated so that the bulb hits the - terminal i.e. the case. Great design. Just rotate it back and the light will go out. Happens all the time.

Haha. Thanks, Dave. You're right, great design!!

john 05141
07-08-2015, 04:12 PM
It would be great if all problems had such an easy solution :-)

Jan