71cutlasss

hi, we recently found a gr8 cutlass in ohio, on a family vaction. my son has always been a fan of the classic cars and styles so was hard to resist. he wants very much to keep it original, the cigarette lighter is not working, appears that there is no place to attach the wire we found to hook it up, so he can play his ipod through the radio. the front ring on the lighter assy turns but does not seem to come off, anybody have any ideas as to how to remove this without destroying it?? any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

lshlsh2

Welcome someone will chime in with info on cig. lighter. Your son should get a chassis service manuel. It has a ton of info for his car. $25-50 They are year specific.
Larry

71cutlasss

thanks, we have a chiltons manual for it, also the original book from the factory.but unfortunately niether shows anything other then wiring on it. thanks for the reply. hopefully someone will know how to remove it so as not to do any damage to it. thought that it would have a ring nut on the back pr something like that but no luck yet. thanks again

rocketraider

First, what year?

Some lighters have a male spade terminal for the power wire, others have a threaded post.

Most lighters can be removed from dash by holding the front retainer ring, then reaching up behind and unscrewing the housing from the lighter body. A few snap into the dash from the front and you'll have to compress the retaining tabs on the back side of it.

Make sure the battery is disconnected or the clock/lighter fuse is pulled before you mess around in there much.

Either way, if it's crudded up in the well I'd get a new lighter well assembly. I guess you can still get one; if not, if all he wants it for is to power his iPod just get a 12v power outlet. It will fit in the original lighter space.

lshlsh2

You really need the service manuel. It has all wiring diagrams, etc. It is what GM gave the dealers to fix the cars. It is about 3 inches thick. Once you have one you will never look at chilton again. I know I was there.
Larry

z11375ss

Ha, a cigarette lighter in a car! That's a hoot! I have a new SHO. No lighter.

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO.

jaunty75

The service manual for '73 says that you remove the cigar lighter by first pulling out the **** and "then by using one finger inside of lighter pull outward until wiring is accessible, then disconnect wiring."

In other words, the lighter is pressed into the dash from the front, and it has to be popped out the same way. It's not removed from behind.

At least, as I say, this is for '73, and for all Oldsmobiles that year. I'm guessing it's the same for '71?

jaunty75

You may not have a lighter, but you must have some "power points." That's what they call them now, and they come with just a plastic cover. In fact, most times you are warned not to stick a lighter head into one because they're not made for the heat generated.

Not having an actual cigarette lighter I think is actually pretty common these days. Cars don't automatically come with ashtrays anymore, either, I don't think. At least neither my '02 Dodge truck and my '09 Altima have one.

But with everyone wanting to power cell phones, GPS units, satellite radios, backseat DVD players and on and on, I don't think there's a car made nowadays that doesn't have at least one 12 volt "power point", and many cars have more than one. Even the lowly Nissan Sentra I owned a few years ago had two.

71cutlasss

thanks everyone for the info, see what happens. gr8 to know there is such a place to get info