355 Cigar/Cigarette Lighter Wiring

I just noticed that my cigarette ligher doesn't work. I don't smoke, but it's nice to have everything working on the car.

I checked for voltage going to the holder and noticed that it was only present with the ignition on (unlike the wiring diagrams which show it hooked up to the battery via the Parking Light fuse at all times). The positive wire was also a different colour (green) instead of the wiring diagram's red/black. I checked my driver's manual and the legend on the passenger footrest and all showed the cigar lighter running off the parking light fuse.

Is ignition ON required on later model cars (and they just forgot to update the manual, etc)?

Thanks

Cheers
Ian.

P.S. I'm pretty sure that the cigar lighter is broken (not the holder). New ones in the original style are no longer available. I have the option of paying U$50 plus VAT plus postage for a used original lighter (P/N 61107500) with no logo/legend on the top, but an interesting shape, or buying a new OEM Ferrari replacement with a picture of a cigarette on top for only £9.26 (Eurospares) plus VAT plus postage. The new ones look very "ordinary".

 

Ian -

I think if you fit the new style lighter 226942 you also need to change out the lighter body, 226941. I won't be back in the office until Monday, but IIRK the new style lighter is too narrow to make contact with the old-style body.

 

Thanks Daniel! If it helps, the old lighter is 24mm from the underside of the lip (which sits flush with the holder) to the bottom of the lighter. Diameter of plastic barrel is 22mm. Button movement is around 4.5mm~5mm.

My existing holder is ok (I can run my OBD2 analyser using the holder)

 

I've just had feedback from a local seller of a new type lighter. I don't know how accurate his measurements are, but he says the barrel is 20mm and the total length of the lighter is 33mm. My old lighter is 22mm and 37mm respectively. The total length is not too critical (as long as it is not too long to go under the lid), but how far the lighter inserts into the holder and how far the plunger goes into the lighter would be more critical. Contact points may vary, also.

 

I'm struggling to understand the operation of my lighter. With a typical accessory plug, the outer spring clips of the accessory plug touch the metal barrel of the lighter holder ... and the inner spring loaded contact of the accessory plug holder touches the metal contact at the bottom of the cigar holder. The Ferrari lighter, however, doesn't have spring clips on the outside. The barrel of the lighter itself is insulated... or at least the upper half of the barrel is. Also, the lighter inner plunger doesn't seem to go deep enough into the holder to touch the metal contact at the bottom of the holder.

There are spring clips at the base of the lighter holder, but I don't know if they're supposed to hold onto the barrel of the lighter or the plunger of the lighter. They seem more the size of the barrel, but that doesn't make sense electrically. Perhaps the spring clips have been bent outwards on my car?

 

The spring clips at the bottom of the housing grab the plunger, i.e. the "cup" of the plunger having the heating coil inside it. The spring clips are by-metallic and slowly spread out as they are heated-up and, at certain point (heat), they spread enough to release the "cup" of the plunger which then springs out. If your clips are bent too much out, they will not hold the plunger when you press it in; the plunger will immediately spring out. You can carefully (and equally) bend the clips a bit inwards with a flat screw driver (power to the lighter disconnected) and then do trials with the lighter plunger - if it pops out too soon, bend-in a bit more; if you judge that the plunger takes too long to pop out, pull it out and see how bright red the heating coil is - if too bright, bend the clips back out a bit. Go in very small bending increments until you get satisfactory plunger operation. And don't forget to disconnect the power to the lighter every time you do adjustment of the clips as you may cause a short circuit with a screw driver (the clips are positive). If the lighter has power only with the ignition on, then it is easier.

 

To me, this doesn't make sense. The lighter itself has a latching mechanism activated when the plunger is half way down (i.e. when the bottom of the plunger is level with the bottom of the barrel of the lighter). This happens even if the lighter is not in the holder. This latching suggests to me that the bi-metallics are in the lighter itself. Also, if the lighter button has to be pushed through two stages of latching, it could be misleading to the user.

If I had to guess, I would say that the plunger only has to touch the spring clips, not latch on them... but that doesn't make sense either... my clips seem too low to do this. I was suspecting that not only have the clips been pushed apart, but pushed down.

Anyway, I'll do what you suggest and squeeze the spring clips together a little. I'll let you know how I go.

Thanks!

 

Mine also doesnt work, Tried to use it for a plug and no joy.

 

Do your centre console-operated parking lights work, Johnny? They use the same fuse. With regular accessory plugs it should work (unless the wiring or power to the lighter holder is faulty). You have an older car, so I assume it's not like mine (i.e. yours is hooked up directly to the battery and not via the ignition).

Well... I adjusted the spring clips on my holder and the spring clips gripped the plunger when I pushed it fully down (i.e. two clicks to fully down). I could tell the lighter was operating after a few seconds - smoke rising (just burning dust and lubricant). I waited for a few moments and heard a soft click (presumably from the bi-metallic latch), but the lighter did not move. Unfortunately, when the lighter is fully depressed, it sits flush with the ash tray and it was impossible to pull the lighter out of the holder (and it continued to heat). My fingernails were not strong enought to extract the lighter. Fortunately, I had the option of switching off the ignition. I'd hate to think what would have happened on a lighter hooked up directly to the battery.

Can someone confirm that the lighter only needs to be pushed half way down to start heating (or does it have to go all the way down)? I'm a little reluctant to experiment further. It seems like a bad design if you can't manually stop the lighter heating.

 

It's interesting to see that the Ferrari lighter is depicted in Wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_lighter_receptacle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_lighter_receptacle#/media/File:Car_cigarette_lighter.jpg

 

Update... After about 5 or 6 attempts at adjusting the clips at the bottom of the holder.... success! Some of my tweaks wouldn't latch the plunger, some of them held the lighter down for too short a time (before releasing). The element was hot, but didn't glow.

The final iteration: Lighter button pushed all the way in.... after 8 (?) seconds, I heard a small click... then another small click shortly afterwards... then shortly after that, the lighter returned to its fully up position.

Thanks again, Miro (You saved me a few hundred dollars!) That's another bottle of Dom Perignon I owe you )

 

I think I've figured out what is happening. The bi-metallics are in the lighter itself. The spring clips in the bottom of the holder are simply spring steel. So... Pushing down on the lighter (against the coil spring* in the lighter) activates the bimetallic latch in the lighter, but pushing further down also latches the plunger in the spring clips in base of the holder. The combined resistance of the lighter bimetallic latch and the spring resistance of the holder clips keeps the lighter held down (ensuring electrical continuity). When the bimetallic latch in the lighter releases due to temperature, the coil spring in the lighter overcomes the resistance of the spring clips and the lighter returns to it's fully up position.

I stand to be corrected

*not to be confused with the heating element

 

The lighter itself (the removable assembly) has three main parts: the outer sleeve, an intermediate segment (a bit like a cup) and the centre plunger to which the heater (coil inside a cup) is attached. The main coil spring acts between the centre plunger and the intermediate segment. At the start of pushing the plunger (button), the force of the coil spring pushes the intermediate segment first pass the 3 small spring clips in the outer sleeve. At this point, the heater cup has not yet contacted the main clip at the bottom of the housing. If you stop pushing the button at this stage, it will not return unless you pull the button back (the 3 small spring clips on the outer sleeve are holding the latched intermediate segment which, in turn, holds the plunger about half way in). As you continue pushing in, you finally, with quite a bit of force, latch the heater cup into the main clip (+12V) at the bottom of the housing. This clip is bi-metallic and, as it is heated by the heater cup, it starts slowly spreading out. The two small clicks, more like "cracks" (all car lighters make this sound), you heard just before the plunger popped out are the signs of the heater cup about to be released. As the main clip slowly spreads out and comes near the release point, the heater cup starts moving out in a few tiny steps (thus the "cracks") and finally escapes. On the way out, the plunger (the back of the heater cup actually) first hits the intermediate segment and pushes it back up past the 3 small clips on the outer housing; then, the plunger is in its final "out" position. The intermediate segment (and its friction/holding by the 3 small clips) acts as a buffer for the plunger as it is forced out by the coil spring; it dampens the impact of the plunger (the kick-back) onto the outer sleeve to prevent the whole lighter element flying out of the socket (I have seen this happening on a somewhat faulty car lighter).

You can verify that it is the main clip at the bottom of the socket that is bi-metallic and that it spreads out when heated if you try to push the lighter back in immediately after it has popped out - the plunger will not be held fully in (or held for a short moment only) but will immediately spring back. This is because the main clip is still hot and spread out so it cannot hold the heater cup. Once you give the main clip a bit of time to cool down (and close back), the lighter again operates normally.

 

I'm pretty sure they work but it's been slumbering for a while I'll have to check everything and narrow it down.

 

OK.. Thanks Miro. Makes sense

I guess if I had played a bit more, I would have eventually figured it out. I assume that if the lighter is still hot, it should still latch at the intermediate stage (as there are no bi-metallics involved in the lighter).

Cheers!

 

G’day mate, just got back from a crazy vacation. The grass was greener. I found out the particular batch has thorne.

Nearly all older cars have their cigaret lighters connected straight to the battery and not through the ignition key. Because they draw a high amperage between 20-25 amps, they should not be piggy backed of another device fuse even if the device draws equal among amperage. OK, I didn’t read all the posts in the thread. What is your question? LoL

 

Yes, the 2.7 wiring diagram shows this. Fortunately, we don't have any wiring diagrams for the 5.2 (other than the ones I created from wiring tests of my own car). My lighter now works and my car definitely runs off the ignition key (the lighter doesn't work when the key is off). I was hoping someone would try testing their '97 or later car to see if works with the ignition off.

The 2.7 car's lighter has the same fuse as the parking lights. I don't know how likely it is that the lighter and the parking lights are used at the same time. Do the parking lights dim when you use the lighter on a 2.7 car???

 

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That’s got to be the most idiotic thing from the electrical perspective. Electronic devices should not be fed from the same fuse since one will potentially affect the other. Inaddition, they don’t have the same power rating. A cigarette lighter draw somewhere from 20 to 25 amps. A parking lot light(s) draws no where neAr that. And since the fuse is the limiting factor I’m surprised the bulb(s) of the parking lot light hasn’t burnt out yet. Ferrari doesn’t some crazy thing with their electrical circuitry but I don’t believe their electrical nerds were that stupid. Are you certain this is the case. What size is the fuse?


Circuit about is typical of modern cars cigarette lighter wiring. My 1999 is wired this way if I remember correctly. I don’t smoke or use the it for other functions. I read members on here trickle charge their car via the cigarette lighter. I assume either they leave the key ON or their 355 is older samples.

 

People do dumb things to their train, plane and automobiles. But when they do it a 355, it’s personal. And the mental abuse is worst than being with a crazy girl . STOP if electricity is not your business, get a second, third even a forth opinion before you go rigging things up. The internet maybe a good source for everything but it’s always the correct source. OK rant over.

 

(EDIT: Disregard... work in progress)

 

Not sure I follow your diagram. What is R-1?

The F355 cigarette lighter/parking light fuse is only 10A on early cars. However, after a little investigation, I found that my '98 car cigarette lighter actually runs off the 15A fuse for turn/reversing lights and window/mirror heat and electric mirrors. The fuse is powered by one of the standard ignition-controlled relays.

The lighter power wire is green on my late model car, so I suspect it is spliced into the wiring for the switches for heated rear window/mirrors and electric mirror motor switches. Window heat may have similar current draw to the lighter and perhaps the other devices aren't expected to be used at the same time as the cigarette lighter.

I've put this wiring in my 5.2 diagram... although I don't know when the changes were made.

5.2 Mirrors/Doorlocks/Window & Mirror Heat/Cigarette Lighter

 

Cigarette lighters draw 5-6 Amp.

 

I find this baffling. A cigarette lighter is a straight resistive load that requires around 150 watts to get it to glow. Given the car manufacture date, less than 15 amps, I find hard to believe. Even more baffling, the same fuse feeds other electronic devices? You got me riddled Batman and I’m the joker.

 

I guess modern cars have way too many electronic components to (externally) fuse them all. I don't see a problem as long as the device doesn't make the battery voltage drop or the fuse is not big enough to supply these devices. A device will draw as much current as it needs.

I think you'd be surprised how many devices are on the AC System fuse. As well as a dozen airconditioning components, there are also the following components:

Speedo sensor internals
Oil temperature indications
Numerous instrument panel warning lights (seat belt, suspension, airbag, battery, oil temperature, brake, suspension, low fuel)
Suspension vertical acceleration sensor
Suspension computer internals
Spider roof control components.

In some cases, you can diagnose problems by looking at what is not working on the car. Windscreen wipers and brake lights not working? It's a power problem (or serious short).

 

Whenever two or more electrical devices get fed from the same fuse, the size of the fuse has to accommodate both loads at max operating current or the fuse will blow. Even so, This is problematic because when only a single device operates, the device is exposed to full power available limited only by the fuse. The device lifespan will likely cut short.


A few samples why you never put two independently operated electrical devices on the same fuse. Suppose your coil and the cigarette light are on the same fuse. One day you out driving. Your wife decided she needs to fix her hair. She’s pulls out a portable 12v hair blower from her purse and plug it i to the cigarette lighter socket. She turns it on and instantly your car engine shuts off. Why? The same fuse powering the coil blown. Another sample, suppose you just installed a 1000 watts sound system in your car via the fans fuse. You cruising along bumping your favorite tune, Down Under by Men At Work. Temperature gauge moves up slowly. The electric cooling fans kick in and the music stops. Temp. gauge goes to the red zone. Engine overheats. These are samples why you don’t share a fuse with multiple devices. Chances are, Nonessential function of one will impede important function of another.