83 Hurst/Olds .Car has an aftermarket cd player in it that is about 10 years old. Was driving around today and the cd player just shut off and the cigarette lighter will not work. The fuse box is a monster pain in the *** to view and diagnose. Moreover, over time the indicator shorthand has rubbed off. I pulled a few fuses to try and diagnose but came up short before I came up short. Is the cigarette light a fuse? Could a bad ground be causing this?
Thanks!
Adam, PA

 

Do the courtesy lights still work? Often they are on the same fuse as the radio constant and lighter.
yes, a ground wire that came loose could cause the radio and lighter to die and the c-lights to remain working.
Given that is an aftermarket radio, it will be a good idea (if fuse is good) to pull the radio and inspect the wiring. Many radio swaps are pure hack jobs and poor connections are common. I almost had a fire under my 72 dash because of this.

 

The interior lights do not come on unless the door is open. Not sure if thats a fuse or dimmer switch issue. The ground behind the radio looks like it heads up to the firewall. I wish the fuse box was easier to read and a little more assessable. i think its odd that the electric for the cig lighter piggy backs from the radio but that may have been some alterations by the previous owner.

 

Okay, I lied. The dome light has its own fuse in this year.
The clock (radio memory), cig lighter, glove box light, pwr antenna relay, and warning chime box all branch from a 20A fuse called CLK/CIG.

The fuse is in the middle of the third row up from the bottom of the fuse block.
There are three 20A fuses in a row. Left is for TURN, middle is CLK/CIG, and right is DOME.

Digital radios need an unswitched power wire for memory and that often branches from the lighter circuit. The main radio power comes from a switched circuit, but many radios will still shut off if the memory wire is disconnected.

 

Ill take a today, thanks! Where did you find this information?

 

This was pulled from the 86 factory chassis manual. Since 1981 through 1988 are so similar, the data should still be valid. It is the best I could do anyway!
Check to see if there is anything in the cig lighter that could have caused a short, blowing the fuse. Often plugging in something there off-square can cause a short - I have done it.

 

Is it a haynes or chilton? I need a new book and I'm not tickled by the Haynes (too many cars). I'm gonna take a look at that today and see if we can fix. Thanks a lot for the help. Radio was on and I had just pushed the lighter in to get it hot so I think we are on the right track here.

Adam, PA 83 Hurst Olds

 

Rob said what it was.

- Eric

 

If you do not like the Haynes, then you will hate the Chilton's.
I have the Haynes and it does have copies of some of the wiring for late models, but not all.
Get the Factory manual if you plan on keeping this car a while and working on it.

Sounds like the fuse blew. If you push too hard on the element, or the element is not a factory part, a short can occur and the fuse will blow.

 

It was the fuse, everything is dandy. I plan on keeping this car forever so I'll look into a factory manual. Thank you very much for the help.
-Adam

 

Not a problem - glad you got it all fixed with little trouble.
A factory service manual is the best tool you can have for your car. I advise a paper format that you can take out to the car easily.

 

I was doing some searches for a paper manual for myself and came across a few. An orange book that says "Fisher Body Service Manual" (is this only for body panel repair?) or does it include wiring, motor, etc?

 

You need the chassis manual. The body manual is handy for limited body parts like doors, seats, windows, etc. all the wiring is in the chassis manual for this year i believe...

 

We just had the same problem on our '86 Cutlass Ciera (not the same car, I know) Caused by a short in the trunk light wire. The trunk hinge mechanism creates a "scissors" action when closed. GM should have routed the wire up the side of the hinge, instead, they routed it right through the scissors! Over time, the hinge cuts its way through the insulation, and shorts the wire, causing the fuse to blow.
On our car, that fuse runs the lighter, dome light, horn, trunk light, trunk release, load leveling, radio presets, clock persist, door chimes, power antenna, and I don't know what else. The owners manual did not mention the trunk light.