rhett838

I'm re-wiring my car, and it's VERY tedious, but it's not as tough as I thought.

Car turns, lights work, and now I'm starting to put things back together.

I broke the ignition bezel when I took it out, so I got another one. The new bezel fits perfectly, but the ignition just doesn't seat tightly against the dash. When I turn the key, the whole ignition turns.

Is it my bezel or is there a trick to get it nice and secured in there?

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The Fitting on the harness won't securely fit onto my lighter. I was trying to take it out for a closer look, but I felt like I was going to break something.

The manual says you have to remove it from the rear, but when I start turning it the whole thing turns. What the trick to that? Maybe I don't have to remove it? Do I crimp the connection onto the lighter or is it supposed to snap on? I don't even know if it works, which is why I might have to remove it.

Thanks for your help!
Rhett

1968_Post

Do you have the 4 pronged tool designed to tighten the ignition bezel? I can tell you from first hand experience, without the tool I could not get it tight. I bought mine thru Ebay.

As far as the cigarette lighter housing goes, the retainer that screws on from the back side gets really hard to remove because of the heat cycles, I'd assume. I used long needle nosed pliers to hold the housing from the front by jamming them into the housing, spreading them to hold it tight and then get hold of the retainer from the back and turn it. You have to be an absolute contortionist to do it.

Here's the ad for the tool:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/68-Olds-cutl...-/151046009939

rhett838

No I don't have the tool, that's good to know!

I'm glad to hear the cigarette lighter is hard, b/c it's kicking my ****! I was going to try what you suggested, but I wanted to see what others had to say before I start getting physical with it.

EXACTLY the info I needed...Thanks!

Octania

For holding the inside of the lighter, I have used a finger, a thumb, and one day the handle of a Craftsman nut driver. Sometimes the outer shell is rusted to the inner part and so removal is a bear. Probably not a place for spray lube either.

oldcutlass

For the nut on the ignition switch I use a points on a needle nose pliers in 2 of the slots.

Octania

Pliers will likely damage the ign and wiper switch nut. The proper tool is best of course, especially if damage cannot be tolerated. Lacking that, one could make a rectangle out of suitable material such as UHMW plastic. The ign cylinder will be out of the way anyhow.

For MOST occasions though I have found fingers sufficient. The switch always has SOME tiny bit of rotary motion. Reach back behind and move the switch cw/ccw whilst the other hand's fingers urge the retainer nut ever CCW. Each time it moves you gain a fraction of a turn. soon, it's loose enough to unscrew by hand. No tool marks.

allyolds68

I did too and it didn't damage anything. I've had to tighten similar nuts where I couldn't get the needle nose around by taking an old socket and grinding each side leaving two points.

rhett838

I live by the code of "the right tool for the right job". If a tool will save some toil and time, then I'm all about it. Does one exist for this job? I did a google search, but it looks the tool is for newer vehicles.

allyolds68

The 68 cigarette lighter has a large "nut" that holds it in from the back. I'm not sure what that tool is for but it won't help you with a 68 lighter except to maybe hold the lighter while you're turning the nut by hand

cjsdad

See that small square hole in the side of the lighter socket? There is another on the other side. That is where the tool in the picture fits to remove it and keep it from turning while you unscrew the nut from the rear. The lighter socket pictured is not the kind you will find in a classic Olds though. The nut for the lighter socket fits over the entire socket and the threads fit the rear of the socket. There are teeth on the nut that tighten up against the rear of the dash to keep it secure and stop it from loosening up. Use a finger in the lighter socket and grip the outer shell of the nut with your other hand. Turn them both clockwise and then turn the socket CCW with your finger. It will only turn a small amount because the socket is keyed to the dash. Micro turns like mentioned will loosen the nut enough that it will eventually loosen away from the dash and spin off. Using a tool to remove the cig lighter socket is like using a shoe spoon to put your sneakers on. A waste of time and money.

cjsdad

Your ignition switch should have a small tab that keys to the rear of the dash to keep it from spinning. Using your hands on the front and rear of the dash, turn the whole assembly CCW the tiny amount that the keyed alignment will allow and then turn the nut CW to tighten it. If it is still not tight enough you can put rubber sleeves on the jaws of a pair of pliers to get it tighter but be very careful because the switch housing is likely cast aluminum or some other such soft metal and it will strip easily. Make sure you do not have the nut cross-threaded as well, that will make it feel tight when it is not.

rhett838

Update:

I've been so scattered brained with other parts of the car, that I forgot to follow up with this. Car is wired and ignition is in. I gave up on taking out the lighter. I had so many other issues to address, and I thought that was distracting me from the big picture.

Fast Forward to last night...The connection that came on the new wiring harness is too big to make a secure connection onto the nipple on the back of the lighter housing. Regardless, I held the wire in place and plugged in my phone charger into the socket...and it worked!!! So I don't have to change out the lighter housing. BTW the lighter doesn't work, but that's alright.

Here's my Question: Do I crimp the wire connection onto the back of the lighter housing? I assume I can, but I just don't like hacking into and mangling the new harness and its connections unless I absolutely have to. What are the Male/Female connection specs? I'd rather just make a little 3in wire and connect the lighter housing to the harness that way.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

oldcutlass

The terminal is barrel type for the lighter. Are you sure your pushing it on far enough?
There are replacement heater unit cartridges for the cigarette lighter itself.

rhett838

That's good to know. I'm not really familiar with it at all, so I worry when I force things, but I"ll give it some more umph!

I didn't know you can replace the cartridges either. I'll give it a shot. It'd be neat have that lighter working even if I don't use it. Who knows when I might have to use it to help me start a fire?

cjsdad

The older lighter socket has a threaded connector on it that the factory harness fits onto. The newer lighter sockets have a smooth connector that is a bit smaller. If you look carefully at the factory harness connector you will see that it can be squeezed down to a smaller diameter and still have a round connector so it will fit, and stay on the newer style socket center connector. The older socket should have a male spade connector that is part of the retaining nut for the ground lead and the newer one will not. Here is a typical older style socket.


I do not know if the older retaining nut will fit the newer socket or not. If not, you may have trouble getting the ground to connect. This is the factory connector for the newer style socket.