Honda Civic Cigarette Lighter Not Working: How to Fix It

The cigarette lighter in your Honda Civic is also known as the 12v socket. Since it is a socket, you can plug-in items such as your cellphone charger or your regular cigarette lighter inverter.

Although cigarette lighter issues aren’t common among Honda Civic owners, there are times when it fails to work. In this article, you’d learn the most likely causes of a faulty cigarette lighter and what you can do on your own to fix it.

Honda Civic Cigarette Lighter Not Working: Possible Reasons

There are several reasons why the cigarette lighter may stop functioning. We have outlined some of them in this section:

Foreign bodies or obstructions within the socket

This is one of the most common reasons why the 12v socket will stop working. It is more common with vertically-installed sockets rather than horizontally-installed ones. Because of the position of the socket, small items get to fall inside the socket.

Such non-conductive obstructions will prevent a cigarette lighter inverter or charger from making proper contact. On the other hand, if the objects are conductive, they may cause the circuit to blow.

Blown socket

This is another very common cause of the problem. Sometimes, your cigarette lighter socket isn’t working because it is blown. It could be that the associated fuse is blown. In some other cases, it could be a wiring problem.

Bad components

Sometimes, it is not the socket, its fuse, wiring, or even foreign bodies. It is simply a case of bad components. By components, we mean bad cigarette lighter inverters or bad cellphone chargers.

If any of the electronic components that you plug in are bad, it could seem like the socket is not working. An easy way to detect this is to plug in another electronic component. If it works, then it means the previous component was bad.

Honda Civic Cigarette Lighter Not Working: Fixing the problem

The easiest way to solve the problem is to check the 12v socket issue by issue. This way, you can easily rule out potential problems that aren’t the cause of the lights not working. Here are some things you can do to fix a cigarette lighter in your car that isn’t working:

Inspect the socket for foreign objects

When you plug several components into the socket and none of them works, here’s what you should do. The first thing you should do is to look inside the socket to see if there are any foreign bodies. This is even more important if the socket is positioned vertically.

You can inspect the socket by beaming a flashlight into the socket tunnel. When a coin or another conductive item falls inside the socket, it may result in a short circuit. This, in turn, blows the fuse.

If you find any foreign objects inside the socket, take them out. Be more careful if you notice that the item is conductive. After taking out the item, check the socket again by plugging in an electrical component. If it works, then your problem must have been the foreign item.

Check the socket for power

What if you look into the socket tunnel and don’t find any foreign objects? The next thing to do is to check if the socket has the power or not. An easy way to do this is to get another cigarette lighter and plug it in. Leave it for a while to see if it will heat up and pop out. If it does, then you are sure that the socket is working. If the lighter doesn’t heat up or pop out, you need to check the fuse.

Fix the fuse

When there is no foreign object in the socket tunnel, you likely have a blown fuse. The fuse is an important part of the electrical circuit controlling the cigarette lighter socket. It helps to protect the socket from damage resulting from electrical surges. In the process, the fuse may get blown.

Your job, in this case, is to locate the associated fuse and check if it is bad. You can find it by going through the fuse box map. Once you find the fuse, first check if it is in place. If it isn’t, take it out and fix it back in properly then check the socket.

If the socket is still not working, you should check the fuse to be sure that it is still in good condition. An easy way to do this is to observe the fuse wire. If it has cut, then you need a new fuse.

Usually, a 12v socket needs a fuse of 10A or 15A. They aren’t costly and very easy to replace. Find one and plug it in. Check your cigarette socket now to see if it is working or not.

Check for wiring issues

If there is no power supplied to the socket after fixing the fuse, it could be a wiring problem. The problem here is that you may not be capable of tracing the wiring by yourself. We suggest that you reach out to your mechanic to help you out in this case.

The wiring of the socket could be broken at some point. It could also be a case of peeled wires that are touching some metal parts of the chassis. Your mechanic will help fix this easily.

Replace the socket

If you have tried everything out and the socket is still not working, then it may need a replacement. The socket could be worn out from wear and tear. It could also be a result of corrosion.

You should run a quick visual evaluation of the socket to check for corrosion. If it is corrosion, cleaning the surface could solve the problem. However, when you do this and it doesn’t work, your next point of call is replacing the socket. Again, you will need the help of your mechanic to do this easily.