1998 Cavalier, auto/2200 - cigarette lighter keeps blowing sometimes immediately, sometimes after several minutes of use, once even as I was putting in a new fuse. Is this a known issue with j-bodies or any other GM vehicle?

I generally use it for a portable air compressor, sometimes for misc other things. Socket has full correct voltage. Ground has full continuity, minimal resistance. There is no short between the two, and I can find no shorts anywhere in the wiring. The fuse slot in the fusebox also has correct readings. I'm using a blue 15 amp mini-bus fuse, as the fuse box cover clearly indicates.

there must be somehting loose. its not a common problem

horn is also connected to cig fuse so check that.



My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again

sometimes the horn shorts out due to water or the cig lighter itself is the short

Popped another fuse today and tested the wiring without moving the car to minimize the chance of moving an intermittent connection, and the wiring still all checks out fine. Voltage and ground are still normal...

No wires seem to be loose at the socket or fuse box; and no, the horn has its own 15 amp fuse.

if thats the case i would replce the lighter. good luck

Sorry but as long as the wiring 100% good on that end, which it is, nobody will ever convince me that the lighter socket itself is the issue. How the hell could it be? It serves as nothing more than a simple pair of positive and ground terminals!

As far as the lighter element, it's simply a resistance heater coil as long as it's not shorted (it's not), but that's irrelevant as well because I never use it anyway...