Dodgy cigarette lighter

[gotchiguy]

I have one of these Bell plug and play black boxes in my cigarette lighter but it often flickers, and when I start up it needs a good wiggle before it makes a solid connection. I wouldn't normally be bothered but bell insist that it's plugged in 24/7 so I think I need to do something about it.

I've had a look through the service manual and 57A doesn't actually give any instructions about the cigarette lighter.

How would I go about removing it and replacing it & would something like this work: https://ebay.eu/1pJLuvA or should I just get one from Renault/ Renault to do it?

 

[sullii94]

I have this aswell! Really annoying when you've got the satnav in and it takes about 5 mins to find the right position so it charges!
I was thinking a replacement would sort it? But I don't know what'd fit :/

 

[oscar]

you'll need to remove the centre console

remove gearstick trim with a screwdriver or trim removal tool > remove countersunk bolts holding the centre console in plate > remove any connections to the cigarette lighter itself and the rest is simple really, with the centre console out you will be able to see how you will remove the cigarette lighter. it's held in by a clip or something of the sorts, my centre consoles not been in for well over a year lol

 

[sullii94]

Where would be the best place to get another lighter socket?
Renault? Or would a random ebay one, or random renault one be right?

 

[oscar]

renault mate yeah, is it the actual bit you light your fags with that's humped or is it the socket connection itself (the bit that heats the cigarette lighter) ??? renault for the socket itself will be fine, for the fag lighter part you can ebay that for sure!

 

[sullii94]

It'll be the socket itself, the lighter works as when you push it in you can see it gets hot
But when you plug something in like a charger, you have to fiddle around with it for ages to try and get a decent connection so it charges

 

[gotchiguy]

It'll be the socket itself, the lighter works as when you push it in you can see it gets hot
But when you plug something in like a charger, you have to fiddle around with it for ages to try and get a decent connection so it charges

Exactly, it's the socket not the lighter.

It seems the socket is quite corroded too. Did you have a quick look at that eBay link? It is for a socket which says it fits a twingo. Do you think it'd work? I bet Renault will be quite a bit more?

 

[oscar]

contact alexfowler12 and buy one of him if you wish, doesn't come on often but his dads breaking a twingo (doesnt matter if it's a 133 or a 1.2 dynamique or w/e ... its all the same)

but yah it should be fine mate. if it doesn't work, get your money back ; false advertisement ain't it

 

[singlespeed]

The problem is the centre electrode in the bottom of the socket doesn't stick up much, so you end up breaking the connection way too easily

Get the lighter socket freed from the console, so you can get to the connection on the back of it. I think it was a small Allen screw that goes through, which acts as the centre connection. Unscrew this and add a small washer before refitting it, so the head of the Allen screw will now protrude a bit more into the socket

 

[gotchiguy]

The problem is the centre electrode in the bottom of the socket doesn't stick up much, so you end up breaking the connection way too easily

Get the lighter socket freed from the console, so you can get to the connection on the back of it. I think it was a small Allen screw that goes through, which acts as the centre connection. Unscrew this and add a small washer before refitting it, so the head of the Allen screw will now protrude a bit more into the socket

Great tip, I'll give it a go. Thanks!

 

[gotchiguy]

I had a good look today and the bottom contact is very badly rusted. I think I'm just going to get that part off eBay and solder it in.

 

[sullii94]

Used Neil's washer idea, cleaned the connections, and it works! Thanks guys

 

[gotchiguy]

Great news, Adniral are now on my back about the box not working properly so I'm going to swap it out for a new one with the washers

 

[gotchiguy]

I added 5 washers and put in a new bolt and we'll see what happens. It seems a bit better so far, obviously the new bolt is clean so no corrosion. The eBay lighter I linked to above would have to be soldered on. Not a problem I suppose but the plug is neater. The green surround is also larger than the hole the orange one filled so you would have to enlarge this slightly to make it fit

 

[sullii94]

5?! I only put 1 in myself and it worked

 

[gotchiguy]

5?! I only put 1 in myself and it worked

Yeah five little ones. On further investigation the black box centre prong may be half the problem. It seems that it needs to be compressed halfway (through a click) before it accepts power. Strange. You can see the corrosion in the picture, my old bolt was covered in it too.

 

[oscar]

spark your fags with one of these baddies when you're in the car, it's much easier in the long run! obviously i realise you don't smoke and you only want to use it for your phone charger etc

 

[user 980]

So what I though was dodgy car chargers (3 to be exact) is in fact another one of renaults attempts at putting a car together :lol:

 

[sullii94]

Mine was probably a lot worse than that! Just get a wire brush on it, the little cross part at the bottom comes out too
Does your charger work now? Mine worked straight away when I tried it, no more messing about

 

[gotchiguy]

,

Mine was probably a lot worse than that! Just get a wire brush on it, the little cross part at the bottom comes out too
Does your charger work now? Mine worked straight away when I tried it, no more messing about

Yeah I realised that the little cross comes out too - in anticipation of replacing it I took the whole centre plastic console thing out I didn't have any wire wool on me at the time and I figured the cross doesn't really make any contact anyway so it wasn't worth waiting. It seems to be working better but it's difficult to tell because the manual for the box doesn't explain what the different combinations of lights mean. Anyway, they are flashing slightly differently now so surely that can only be a good thing.... Haha! & I'm not allowed to unplug it for three months else I would test it with something else.

Not worth a separate thread but the clips on my rs driver's mat don't seem to match those fixed to the floor so it moves around. Is this normal? There seems to be a male on the floor and a female in the mat but the male seems to be too....wide....