I've had my car for about a year now, was my grandfathers, he gave it to me it use once I got my license.

Now the cigarette lighter doesn't work at all, which is a bit annoying if I want to charge my cellphone or laptop. I looked around everywhere but didn't find a fuse that specifically said it was for the cigarette lighter, since I assumed it must be a problem with the fuse.

I have a Ford Laser Tracer 1.6, think it's a 98 model, might not be right about that though. Does anyone know how I might fix this problem?

Also lately I've noticed that when I open up my boot in the morning, my expensive amplifier is sitting with a layer of water on it!! I'm guessing water vapour is getting inside the boot and then condensing on the amplifiers nice chrome surface.

How would I go about resealing the boot? The seals are pretty old and I'm guessing that they should be replaced. Also water seems to get in via the plastic coverings of the tail lights, rear indicators etc.. So was thinking of sealing that up with some silicon or something like that.

Will this work? Is there anything else I should to make my boot seal better?

Any help much appreciated!

Have the window rubbers looked at by PG-Glass, they will be able to advise you if they need replacing.

Never had issues with them.

Take the taillights off, clean them up and clean the metal that they bolt onto with meths.

Now, check the rubber seals that line the back of the tail lights. They might be old and cracked. Look at replacing them.

Now onto the cigarette lighter... You will need to get the drivers manual and check the fuse lay-out in there. The cigarette lighter usually shares the circuit other components, like internal lights or something like that.

You might try removing the cigarette lighter cradle and checking the connector at the back.

It might also be worthwhile to take the car into an auto-electrician to have things checked out.

Hope the suggestions help.

Window rubbers? For the boot? My car is a sedan, so no windows in the boot If that's what you were thinking.

Thanks for all the help, well try do all the sealing and cleaning etc sometime soon since I've still got a little while of holidays.

I'd prefer to do the cigarette lighter myself since it shouldn't be too hard if I can actually find the fuse, or find what else is causing the problem.

Will get out my trusty multimeter tomorrow and get this done finally!

Like rurounikenshin said, be sure to check the connection at the back of the lighter aswell.

Odds are that the water vapour comes through the taillights rather than the boot rubber.

Thanks, ya will do that.

Just the rubber boot seals are pretty stuffed up from years of driving around with bicycles in the boot. That's why I thought they could also be causing the problem.

Most probbly just it's just getting through the tail lights though. Which is enough effort to fix.

A sedan huh?

My badd!

What I did with my Honda's taillights (cause I had a water leak problem with the seals) was obviously, replace the seals.

I then took my hot glue gun and a grouting tool (dunno what else to call it, the thing you use to apply water proofing around the bath with) and glued the open space between the tail light cluster and the body closed.

I then poured some water in the run channel to see if water came through.

Infact, maybe try that. Open the boot and then pour the contents of the jug into the water run channel, watch to see if the water enters from the tail lights or maybe a break in the rubber itself (it should have a rubber that goes around the boot, it seals the boot when the lid is closed.)

Another thing to check for is a rust under this rubber seal. Just lift it off and have a look. My Honda's rubber was trapping water under the rubber and keeping the rust a secret.

Was able to sort it out easily enough though.

And?

Haven't tried yet

Will let you know when I actually try to fix it.