Cigarette Lighter Pushed Into Dash....

[Sweet Lou]

my cigarette lighter at the bolltom of the dash is sort of loose. whenever I plug my cell phone charger in, them pull it out, the whole unit comes out with the charger. I opened it up and from behind, it looks like there is an aluminum sleeve that holds the unit in place but there's nothing securing it to dash, like a threaded nut or anything. I can't figure it out!!

 

[bobflood]

my cigarette lighter at the bolltom of the dash is sort of loose. whenever I plug my cell phone charger in, them pull it out, the whole unit comes out with the charger. I opened it up and from behind, it looks like there is an aluminum sleeve that holds the unit in place but there's nothing securing it to dash, like a threaded nut or anything. I can't figure it out!!

On many of them, the sleeve itself is threaded on the bottom near the wires and screws up to hod the lighter in.

 

[reabdet21]

Lighter pushed into the dash.

For my 96 Explorer, it was easy to access the lighter. There are 2 screws near the bottom of the panel bezel. Remove the screws, pry out the bottom and then work each side loose from internal fasteners that are near the top. Pull the bezel out a little and you can remove the electrical connections from the lighter socket. The outer shell of the lighter can be unscrewed from the inner part.

The plastic bezel is always enlarged and allows the lighter to be pushed in. What I did was to machine a couple of thin bushing that will fit between the two parts of the lighter on each side of the bezel.

The dimensions of the bushings in front was 7/8 hole in center and 1.05" outside diameter. The back bushing needs the 7/8 hole in the center but the outside can be large enough to prevent the lighter from being pulled forward through the bezel. I made the front bushing out of some black anodized aluminum I had lying around. It helps when you have a cnc mill in your garage. If anyone wants me to make some bushings, let me know. I have them on ecrater.com fostermachine@aol.com. They are priced at the cost to make them. $5.95

Since writing this post, I have provided over 100 of these washers to permanently fix the problem. Happy to be helpful to solve a problem.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Another fix idea here.... 39 cents

This response is for an old post, but surely an increasingly frequent issue:

My cigarette lighter pushed through the dash bezel. It is not the lighter that breaks, but instead the plastic bezel degrades slightly. The deterioration is probably caused over time by slight heat from the lighter.

The lighter itself unscrews, and fastens into the tapered, recessed bezel.

My bezel had some of the plastic ridge remaining but apparently but enough. I did not want to just reconnect the lighter, as it would inevitably push through again.

SOLUTION:

Go to hardware store and get black rubber O-ring. As hardware store had a wide selection, I was able to find an O-ring that fit snugly over the male part of the lighter, and had about 50% more material than the previous ridge. It allowed the lighter to reattach very securely, and seemed like the tapered recess trapped the material very securely.

I do not think the rubber will have significantly more difficulty than the plastic in dealing with heat. The plastic lasted almost twenty years. The taper really seems to work to trap the 0-ring!

Seems like a great solution for 39 cents. Hope it lasts twenty more years!!!

Mr. Alligator

 

[koda2000]

I fixed mine by epoxying a large metal ring to the back of my bezel. I don't smoke, I just use the cig lighter as a charging port. Your solution sounds even simpler. Good idea.

Here's one for you... If your dash vents tend to always fall down, putting a small piece of self-stick female Velcro in the center of the top keeps them in place.

 

[Crewcabz]

3/4 inch 100 psi (the cheap stuff, not schedule 40 pipe) PVC is the right I.D. & the O.D. was enough to lodge the lighter back in. I cut about a 3/16" ring, slid it over the male side and stuffed it in the hole. Threaded the hot lead and female side on.. TA-DA! So far so good. Used the original lighter too.

 

[Crewcabz]

3/4 inch 100 psi (the cheap stuff, not schedule 40 pipe) PVC is the right I.D. & the O.D. was enough to lodge the lighter back in. I cut about a 3/16" ring, slid it over the male side and stuffed it in the hole. Threaded the hot lead and female side on.. TA-DA! So far so good. Used the original lighter too.

 

[imkimmipi]

Lighter pushed into the dash.

For my 96 Explorer, it was easy to access the lighter. There are 2 screws near the bottom of the panel bezel. Remove the screws, pry out the bottom and then work each side loose from internal fasteners that are near the top. Pull the bezel out a little and you can remove the electrical connections from the lighter socket. The outer shell of the lighter can be unscrewed from the inner part.

The plastic bezel is always enlarged and allows the lighter to be pushed in. What I did was to machine a couple of thin bushing that will fit between the two parts of the lighter on each side of the bezel.

The dimensions of the bushings in front was 7/8 hole in center and 1.05" outside diameter. The back bushing needs the 7/8 hole in the center but the outside can be large enough to prevent the lighter from being pulled forward through the bezel. I made the front bushing out of some black anodized aluminum I had lying around. It helps when you have a cnc mill in your garage. If anyone wants me to make some bushings, let me know. I have them on ecrater.com fostermachine@aol.com. They are priced at the cost to make them. $5.95

Since writing this post, I have provided over 100 of these washers to permanently fix the problem. Happy to be helpful to solve a problem.

Pictures?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Pictures?

The post you are quoting is 10 years old and the member hasn’t been online since 2018.

 

[Mbrooks420]

To see how the bezel is removed you can watch a radio install. It’ll remove all that stuff in the first step.