Adrianx

2004 S500 4Matic. Just got the Valentine and trying to hook up to cigarette lighter wiring. Before disecting, tested and lighter does not work. Checked all three fuse boxes and no fuse blown.... What could it be?
Trying to hook up to the overhead console(sunroof switch) but cannot tell which wiring to tap in for + and -.
Any help would be appreciated.

tower

I figure 1 of 2 possiblilities.

Simple one first, the lighter itself is Kaput. Had this happen on my W220, checked it via the rear lighters which did work. I substituted one of the lighters from my W140 (retired) and it continues to work just fine.

Second one is from my experience with our 95E320. Lighter wouldn't work, neither anything I placed in the lighter. Fuse good (sound familiar?) It was the actual connection to the lighter socket. The wire looked intact, but due to the flexing of the ash tray opening, the copper at the connector fatiqued. I removed the connector, expanded it to release the copper wire shards, and re-crimped it to the existing wire. Worth a look but probably a lot of tear out to find.

Ron

Adrianx

Thank you. I checked and looks like the connection is bad. I am going to tackle this and get it working again.

glennpaganetti

Ok , similar prob. 2004 s500. phone charger came apart and shorted out cig lighter. Fuses are good and replace ash tray with new lighter. No power to socket from engine. can not find a diagram to show path of cig lighter wiring from engine bay trough fire wall to ash tray.
Seems easier to run new power then to trace where short might be. Anyone Help

rainan

cig lighter not working but there is power

ls1_mast

I HAVE THE SAME ISSUE . there is power but it doesnt get hot enough ! have ever got to the cause of the issue ?

tower

I was ready to replace the whole ash tray assembly when I chanced on the solution in my case. Look at the lighter itself. When you depress it to engage, the element coil pushes further down, just clearing the body of the lighter proper. But there is no locking mechanism on the actual lighter portion to hold the lighter element in place while heating. So what holds it in? Now look in the female socket. At the bottom of my 2002 S, there is a "U-shaped" projection about 1/2" wide (guessing by memory). The ends of the U point upwards towards the lighter proper when inserting the lighter. This is the electrically live portion that the cigarette element must touch to complete the circuit. In my case the metal "U" had eventually widened so that the element never touched it. I bent both edges inward (carefully) so that when engaged, the element body was pinched by the "U". Kind of like your thumb and middle finger holding a quarter by its edges. Its since been working great for me for the last couple of weeks. Be careful on the amount of bend because too much and the element proper interferes. I think the "U" is a bi-metal construction so that as the element heats, it expands outward releasing the lighter.

YMMV but good luck.
Tower

ls1_mast

thank you so much for your useful reply . i was playing with it desperately yesterday and did exactly like u descried. and when i bended the inner locking mechanism and bushed it in . it stayed inside rather then going out ( which used to do long time ago ) and now its working great