Replacing Winston's Cigarette Lighter: The Horror

[timichango]

Installing a west marine 12v socket in place of the stock lighter socket was one of the first things I did back in 2012 when we bought the van, along with a stereo upgrade.

Couldn't figure out how to pull the non-working stock one, so wound up basically mashing it down with some vise-grips until it was able to fit through.

Never looked back.
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Vroomhilde-San: Our 1991 Silver Vanagon Westy automatic + Subie EJ25

[jimf909]

[ChrisandGabrielle]

Our 91 has had a loose plug forever. I wrapped a rubber band around it several times mostly behind the green ring and it tightened right up and the gps plug is tight now. Cost: 1 bunch of broccoli for a good rubber band.

[mbj]

GoWesty has a How-To video on YouTube now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RqXjXs7w0o

[unclebrad]

[PAdom]

I used a pair of o-ring pliers to push in the plastic pins, lighter came out in 1 minute.

http://www.avalonheadshop.com/products/kannastor.htm
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85 Westy-EJ2.2 Powered

[syncrodoka]

They have them, search for marinco on their website.
You can find them on ebay for less with the same search

[kuleinc]

[timichango]

Just wanted to give a +1 on the west marine style 12v socket. Mounts up easily, and it's robust. Threaded-ring-type mounting ring on the back is nice because it's easy to snug up if the socket loosens off down the road. I slathered the threads on mine with silicone caulking to help stave off any loosening-off.

I never saw this thread when I was struggling with removing the stock socket, and in the end I broke it to pieces with some pliers and chucked it in the bin with a spiteful grin. The nefarious thing really got on my nerves.
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Vroomhilde-San: Our 1991 Silver Vanagon Westy automatic + Subie EJ25

[Robw_z]

It has been awhile but I'm almost positive you just plug it into the factory connector. I just went outside and felt behind the dash with my hand and it feels like the factory connector with no splicing involved. The Eurovan I pulled it from was a 93 or 94.

-Rob

[syncroid]

[Robw_z]

Pretty sure it's already mentioned in this thread somewhere, but I put on a Eurovan lighter socket I got from the junkyard and am very happy with it. Same external appearance as the Vanagon unit, except black instead of chrome trim. Same green light ring which is nice. It is deeper than the Vanagon unit and it holds much better.

-Rob

[kuleinc]

Sorry to renew an old thread, but I wanted to put my 2 cents in about the new lighted gowesty cig lighter...

I JUST installed my new lighted gowesty cig lighter. This thread was instrumental in me getting the old one out. I am not super happy with the new unit, mostly because it is TOO much like the original german one. It is too shallow, and while it is more snug than the 20 odd year old one I just removed, it still can turn around in its hole and wobbles a bit. I purchased one from small car a while back, if I can find it in my pile of projects for the vanagon I will report back here if its any better. It does have a different retaining method than some plastic tabs, so as long as it fits next to my westy A/C controls it should be fine...
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia with 1.8T

[jbnova]

I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that I just used a flat screwdriver to pry the tabs from their holes. Looking at the picture of the GoWesty unit (assuming your talking about the illuminated lighter), it might be slightly different.

Do you even need to separate the green sleeve from the socket unit? Can you just slide the whole thing in and connect the plugs from the back?

On the original unit, the green sleeve also has raised tabs going outward that hold it into the dash. Is that how the GoWesty unit works?

For my installation, I used a FLAPS version that had a slightly smaller diameter, so I needed to cut all of the green sleeve off except for the lip, which I then used as a washer. It is now held in place with a screw on sleeve (which came with the FLAPS socket) that connects from behind. There is also a metal washer (NOT SHOWN IN THE PICTURE BELOW), that came with the kit and goes between the screw-on sleeve and the backside of the dash.

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1986 Westfalia Weekender
2wd; Bostig RG3
GoWesty (H&R) 1.5" Lift Springs + 0.5" pad in rear.
Bilstein Shocks
16" Mefros, Cooper Discoverer AT3 (215-70-16)

[berkeleyjack]

Any advice on how to get the green plastic ring off the metal cylinder? What tool did you guys use?

My socket from GoWesty was snapped together when I got it, and I can't seem to get get the pieces apart.
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All-grain homebrewer with a 1990 Vanagon Carat.

[jbnova]

I just did this other day. I replaced the original cigarette lighter with a $5 12v socket from FLAPS. Based on information from this thread, I was able to better understand how the whole thing goes together.

My technique was to drop the glove box. Reach up behind the lighter assembly. Grabbed hold of the brown plug and easily pulled it right off the back. I then grabbed the black piece that was still attached to the back of the green receptacle, gripped it tight with my fingers, and gave a side-to-side tug. Ripped that sucker right off! It was then a piece of cake to push the lighter assembly out the hole.

My new unit is a slightly smaller diameter, so I used the Dremel to cut the illuminating lip off the green plastic assembly (could just use a hacksaw), and used that as a washer.

I snipped off the power wire and grounds. Connected them up to the new assembly, and was good to go. Using that green plastic lip as a washer keeps it looking pretty stock. Only difference is now I have a 12v-accessory plastic cap on the front instead of a cigarette lighter.
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1986 Westfalia Weekender
2wd; Bostig RG3
GoWesty (H&R) 1.5" Lift Springs + 0.5" pad in rear.
Bilstein Shocks
16" Mefros, Cooper Discoverer AT3 (215-70-16)

[70coupyel]

I was playing with my cig lighter the other day. I bought a new VW one a while back ago. The new one is a 3 prong.(top) The one in my van is a 2 prong.(bottom)

This older one need a "hot" wire going to the light.
The newer one does not need this seperate wire as the light gets it's power from the 3rd prong in the connector.
I do not know when VW switched to the 3 prong. Mine is a 83 1/2.
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[kamzcab86]

Just wanted to add that yesterday I finally replaced the lighter with a 12V socket. At first, it wasn't going too well. I finally got the wire plug off and realized after several attempts that there was no way I was getting that stupid bulb holder off from the back. Now what?

[Corwyn]

I bought this one at a West Marine for $20.00. Black; it has a shoulder ring on the outside of the dash and a screw-on retaining ring on the inside. Clean and simple.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/woeimages/electrical/mar-12vrc.jpg
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'90 White Westy ("Whirlpool")
FAS Gen V 2.0
The Annual Baja Rally
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604813&highlight=baja

"If anything's" gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there"
~ Captain Ron ~

[DAIZEE]

I have removed 3 VW OEM cigarette lighters (3 different vehicles). They are a pita! Just converted all to 12V outlets for various uses. The original design of the original cig lighter IMHO was stupid. The lighter was soooo small and ended up being flush with the dash! Must have been the same designer who designed that stupid connecting rod between the pedal and the accelerator at the front ggggrrrrrrr