mystery short

[Raider L]

I put in a new cigarette lighter recently and it worked fine for the first few times then it didn't work one day. So I did the first thing you do and that was I checked the fuses. I found one blown, no big deal, and I put in a new one. Then the next time I used it, it didn't work. So the first chance I had I checked the fuses again and sure enough it was blown again. Well, that was puzzling. Why is it blowing the fuse, it never has before. So I checked the lighter install and everything seemed okay. As a matter of fact I had done some rewiring down there recently making all those wire good, and better. I had installed a glove box light but the only time that light comes on is when you open it so there's no problem with a funky ground. Besides, I don't do funky anything.
I've been gone for awhile dealing with the health problems left over from having Covid-19, and I haven't felt like doing anything.
I'm going to check this out but I wanted to see if anyone has an idea what some little bitty thing I may overlook could cause it to continue to fail.
Anybody got any ideas?
I pulled the lighter out thinking it may have just been a bad one and has a direct short in that coil part. Like I have changed lighters before and everything is like it always has been, I didn't change any wires up when I went through it when I was puitting in the glove compartment light, that's all like it was. That's why I'm puzzled. What am I not seeing.

 

[Snoots]

Some lighter sockets have 2 tabs that get shorted to the +12 when you push in the lighter. It's a PITA but fixable. Do your trial and error with the fuse blown and watch for the tabs movement.
If you have a DMM with a tone setting it's a lot easier.
Some lighter sockets had a thin phlenic collar that corrected this. I've seen them but haven't in a long while.

 

[Raider L]

@Snoots
You are probably right because as I recall now I did have to pull the ash tray to install the lighter socket and it may be the part that's defective.
Those kinds of things are probably best fixed by replacing the whole thing, even though pulling that ash tray is another pain in the you know what to. But it is what it is.

I embarked on the replacement of four of my Autometer gauges because when I rebuilt my truck I already had some of the cheaper Autometer gauges and just kept them in the cluster when I installed all the rest of the Sport Comp gauges. They aren't even made by Autometer anymore. The cheaper gauges now are "Autogage" by Autometer. The ones I kept in the cluster say Autometer in small lettering at the bottom of the gauge. So over time I purchased Sport Comp gauges to replace the other ones so all my gauges will be Sport Comp. Unfortunately they are all plastic now, instead of the metal ones like all the other Sport Comp gauges I have in the cluster.
I'll take pics so people can see the difference. There are pics of the new plastic gauges when I purchased my fuel pressure gauge I put on this site way back last year. I'm sure it is in this topic but since I didn't write down the title I have no idea how to find them. I'm sure that this program has a way to do that, like, maybe under my name or something it will show all the posts I've made? Maybe?
I also did a pic show of the power wire fix that goes to the lighter, when I tapped into it to provide a power wire for the glove compartment light. Since my truck never did have a glove compartment light I had to make that but by tapping into that lighter power wire. Actually it's that orange wire under there that goes to the courtesy floor light, that one.
And no, I don't have one of those tone meters, I think that's what you are referring to? I've seen them but don't have but the regular digital volt meter.

 

[Turbo4whl]

If your '74 has the original lighter socket, GM was still using their own type lighter. not a Casco type. Casco's were in many GM's to, but not in 1974.

Cascos have a sliding ash shield, the GM only type have a fixed ash shield:

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The wrong lighter could have worked, but it probably bent the contact as @Snoots stated.

 

[Raider L]

@Turbo4whl
Yeah, I don't even recognize that type lighter. I guess the original was changed out before I got the truck back in '81. When I changed out the lighter before this last time, I had a box of other spares and just put pieces parts in until I found one that worked, then that one failed without blowing the fuse and I didn't have anymore to put in so I bought a whole new one and put that in. The one I bought was just what they had at Advance Auto that said worked for GM. I didn't try to get a NOS one or a reproduction one, I didn't even know what that was, I thought they were all like the one that was in the truck when I bought it, another Autozone special I guess. So I just kept buying them. So you reckon I should try and find one like the original? Like, at this point since the socket was what came with the lighter, they match. So maybe buy another one like it and try again?
I did have one in there that lasted for years until the heat caused the ears down inside to be so weak it wouldn't hold the lighter in while it was heating. That's what led me to try some of my pieces parts until I just went ahead and bought a whole new assymbly.

 

[Raider L]

Besides I don't even use it to light cigarette's, I use my Zippo. I use the lighter socket for USB power whenever my grandkids are in the truck. And you know their cellphone batteries are always about dead. I've got one of those car charger things with two USB's. But occasionally I do use the lighter for what it was meant for and I want it working. You do know that to judge whether or not the vehicle is worth buying, "Does the cigarette lighter work?" That's just a joke, you know.

 

[Turbo4whl]

I would not look for an original. Casco, made in USA is my choice. It will work fine.

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[Raider L]

@Turbo4whl
Thanks!
Well, I went on the Casco site and it wouldn't pull up, it said the way they created the site wouldn't work. So I clicked back and there were a couple more but when I clicked on them it bumped me around until it ended up on a Advance Auto Parts site. So I just typed in "Casco cigarette lighter with receptacle", and it went to Ebay and the guy had one out of the box but NOS OEM for $24.00. I couldn't find one that looked like the one you have. So I'll make a decision here soon as to what I'm going to do.

You know I go to extreme to make sure my electrical system is perfect, with no problems and nothing that could cause a problem. Because when I worked on planes it was the worse problem when you have a "intermittent" electrical glitch. It would take all day to find the dang thing, if then.

When I rebuilt the truck I took every wire loose, cleaned every single wire from end to end then arranged the wires in groups like aircraft style. It's so if you ever need to get into the wiring it will be easy and you can add or subtract whatever you need to do without it causing a problem with any of the other groups of wires. Doing what I did to the wires I found that from the factory they had routed the wires through the fuse block backwards and upside down. I couldn't believe they did that. I just left it in disgust. And this happens. I know it's not the wire, it's the receptacle is bummed up. Crap Chinese junk! I'll get one soon. You know it's that lighter thing. The truck is not entirely operational until the lighter works.

 

[Turbo4whl]

My old Jacobson garden tractor had a spot labeled for a lighter, but just a plug in the hole. I added the lighter. Years later I got a Craftman tractor. Well it needed a lighter too, so it got one also.

 

[Raider L]

@Turbo4whl
Where did you get that one?

 

[Raider L]

I did a thorough search on the web, i.e. Echler's, Classic Truck, Classic Industries, and Ebay, PartsGeek, and a dozen other after market sites and they're all the same. Some more or less expensive than others. I think I'd have as good luck at Advance Auto Parts and at least I wouldn't have to pay shipping. Oh well, thanks everybody.