Cigar lighter and reverse lights not working...help please

[drummer829]

Ok so my dad gave me his old radar detector and I went to power it up but nothing. Tried the radar in my girlfriends car and it powered on no problem. So I bought new fuses, installed them and still nothing. I haven't used the little cigar lighter power point for about a month so I'm not sure when it stopped working. Other than that my radio, aux input and everything else works great. Any one have any ideas?

Also both of my reverse lights stopped working. Changed the fuse on those and nothing, but I'm installing new bulbs to see if its just a weird coincidence that they both went out at or around the same time.

[Sponsor]

[matmatician]

The reverse light is most likely a reverse switch gone bad. Happened in my focus. It's a cheap part, I forgot how much the fix cost. Don't know about the cigar lighter, a fuse would definitely make the most sense.

Heres a how to on the reverse switch.
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160808

Good luck!

[drummer829]

Could it be because I already have my PIE aux hooked up using that power source and there's not enough for the radar?

EDIT: nope that's not it.. I disconnected the aux and still nothing

[drummer829]

i took a picture to try and help you guys help me. as you can see the PIE power cable is wired with the black wire of the power outlet. I unplugged that and still nothing. I was thinking maybe it was the the power outlet itself or that orange outlet piece. i googled for a replacement power outlet but couldnt find anything, does anyone have a link to get one.

[IMG][/IMG]

[elsolo]

The outlet is very simple, just get your voltmeter or test light and check for voltage on the wires that supply the outlet.

The black wire you Tee'd into is just a ground wire.
Test with a test light between the colored wire and another ground, to see if that black wire is no longer making a good connection to ground.

The colored wire is on fuse #47 a 20 amp, behind dash, and that is after a 40 amp fuse #7 under the hood

I have no idea what a "PIE aux" is, or why you would have Tee'd into the ground wire on a 20 amp circuit for it.
The cigar lighter is the simplest circuit on a car. You have a fused hot lead, and a ground wire.

[drummer829]

Only problem is that I don't have one :( ... Is there any place I could use one lol

[elsolo]

If you don't have a multimeter or even a test light (light bulb with two wires) then you have no business whatsoever digging into your car's wiring harness, modifying it, or trying to repair it.

You might as well ask how to replace your brake rotors without any tools, it just isn't going to happen.

[drummer829]

Originally Posted by elsolo

If you don't have a multimeter or even a test light (light bulb with two wires) then you have no business whatsoever digging into your car's wiring harness, modifying it, or trying to repair it.

You might as well ask how to replace your brake rotors without any tools, it just isn't going to happen.

Well I took it out to take the picture and to check if anything was loose or anything like that but no luck

[elsolo]

How did that splice on the black ground wire get there?

[mikeeshaq]

Don't have a voltmeter? no problem!
Harbor Freight is your friend For less than $10.00 you can get yourself a digital multimeter

YouTube is your friend also!

Try typing in: using a multimeter
Or perhaps type in:
alternator battery multimeter
There you will find a multitude of videos of varying quality in trying to diagnose automotive electrics