Lighter socket replacement?

I think this is what you're looking for: POWER OUTLET for 2011 Chevrolet Cruze|25774623. You may want a new power outlet retainer at POWER OUTLET RETAINER for 2011 Chevrolet Cruze|15092039.

There are two of these in the Cruze with the same part working in both places. The front outlet and the outlet at the back of the center console.

To get to them, do the following:

• Take the inner front kick plates off. There is one on the left and right of the center console in the foot wells.
• Remove the trim around the gear shifter and then carefully remove the silver horseshoe trim from around the shifter and up to the infotainment system controls. When you remove this, be careful - there are six clips top, middle, and bottom of horseshoe. There is a wiring connection under the traction control button that you can remove easily.
• There are multiple screws holding the center console in place - I believe three in front and one in the rear on each side of the console. Remove these screws. To get to the rear screws you'll need to move the seats all the way forwards.
• Carefully lift the center console up and off the handbrake.
• Disconnect the power outlets from the power cable.
• Disconnect the single cable that connects to the center console glove box 3.5MM jack and USB port from underneath the passenger side kick plate.

At this point I'm not sure how to replace the actual outlet - please post instructions on how to do this.

More details on removing the center console and kick panels can be found at http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/161-...l-rostra-lumbar-support-stock-cloth-seat.html and http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/137-...bluetooth-a2dp-bluetooth-audio-streaming.html.

D'oh. Okay, so I can't post links or images until I have at least 3 posts. Okay, so that's weird. I removed my link, but the images uploaded anyway, but in reverse order.

The way that the images are arranged here:
pics 1 and 2: top view of the socket.
pics 3, 4, and 5: I've extracted the socket. Pic 5 has a side view of the socket, where you can see the rubber ring and the golden tip embedded.
pics 6, 7, and 8: The picture of the smartphone charger. Pic 8 is a comparison to a brand new charger (same brand).
pic 9: overhead view. Should have been the first picture uploaded.

ChevyGuy said:

You might want to look at the power port in the back of the arm rest (for the back seat folks). I think there're the same.

Click to expand...

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry it took so long. The part didn't actually come in until this week Tuesday, but I didn't have a chance to open the package. And well, it turns out that I'm a completely blind idiot! ChevyGuy, you were absolutely correct. I had actually forgotten that there's a power port in the back of the arm rest of the car since I am the only person in the car (in the driver position obviously). And upon inspection of both that back port and the piece that came in the mail, they are identical. I could have saved myself $20 (shipping is killer!) on an unneeded lighter socket and cap.

When I did plug in the new charger into the port though, there wasn't any power. And I discovered the reason why: one of the fuses blew. I had them out before, but didn't closely inspect them. Luckily, I was able to swap out the one for the back and put it in the front for now.

Lessons learned: wait a day or two for more replies before jumping the gun. But it's not too bad I suppose. I have a backup socket and cap, I now know I have a second power port in the back for the occasional other passengers that need to charge their devices, and have joined a nice community. I'm about to upload the pictures in case anyone else comes across needing to replace their own power socket.

Pictures added:

Previously, I mentioned that I had managed to extract the power socket, but was unable to remove a charging tip. What had actually happened was the tip had come off.

To extract the power socket, I had to get a T-shaped tool called a Doorman 56457 (about $13 + tax from Amazon) to remove it. In my searches throughout these forums, someone had mentioned you could probably use some other thin metal tools to pull it out. I had tried to do so before, but I was pulling from the wrong holes, thinking I had to target the holes toward the bottom. The holes that the T-tool grabs is actually right by the top. Getting the tool in was easy, pulling the socket wasn't too hard, but after disconnecting the socket from the power cord, it was rather difficult to rock the T-tool back out of the socket. It's okay to let the cable fall back into the hole. It's rather stiff and will more or less still shoot upward, just not straight. If you are worried about it, you can probably plug the hole with something or wrap some masking tape around the cable and attach it to the sides of the hole.

Okay, so socket removed. Presumably you went ahead and bought a replacement one. Obermd was super helpful and here is the post to order the replacement parts. Have it close by and ready for installation.

I couldn't quite reach the cable that connects to the power socket. It was stiff enough to stand up, but not straight enough to easily get a hold of.

I ended up using a very small pair of needle nose pliers to grab a hold of the cable and gently pull it up toward me until I could get my fingers around it. There's enough wiring for you to pull the whole piece out of the hole, but just barely. You will want to certainly block the hole so that the cable connector doesn't fall back in. I was able to use my finger to fit at the side, though I have to say it was a very tight fit.

Once the they're connected, it's a fairly simple task of pushing the piece back into the hole. Remember to maintain even pressure and push in the center. The top cap will prevent it from falling in even if you snap a clip.

With the power socket back in place, it's time to open up the fuse panel and put the fuses back in.
The cover has the listings so you know which fuse to pull from. It's in spots 6 and 7 for front and back power outlets, respectively.

I didn't realize it until I was testing it earlier today, but the fuse that I had for the front outlet went bad, which was why when I had the new charger in, it didn't power. I had assumed the back power outlet was actually for the inside of the armrest and forgotten there was a socket for the passengers in the back. I obviously don't spend enough time back there It has the dark black mark that you can see on the lower fuse.I decided to just swap the fuses and will order a new fuse to replace it. For now, I can use the front power outlet again.

Use some pliers to carefully re-insert the transistors in. Once you have it aligned, you can push them gently in with your fingers. You should probably wear gloves so you don't get into contact with the metal tips, but I was lazy.

Powerrrr! Success.

Following the instructions from @obermd, I swapped out my stock socket for this dual fast charger with a built-in voltmeter: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FXH5ZZK. I was tired of my original one charging very slowly and always working itself loose. If you haven't already done the Bluetooth A2DP upgrade, this is a perfect time to do it, because you'll be working in the same area. I'm writing this up for anyone who comes along later. You should be able to click the pictures to get a bigger view, but let me know if that doesn't work.

Please pay no attention to how dirty my car is! It's been a busy few months...

Before you start, make sure you pull the keys out of the ignition and open the driver door to make sure the center console isn't powered on!

As noted above, the first step is to pull the side kick panels from the center console, down in the footwells. There are no screws to remove in this step; just carefully slide a flathead screwdriver in the seam, get your fingers in there, and pull. Try to spread out your pulling force so you don't crease the plastic, and make sure you don't lose the little metal clips.

Next, you use your flathead again to carefully pry up the silver trim around the shifter. I found the best spot to start is on either lower curve, near the e-brake. Again, no screws to remove; just clips. Lift up on the bottom part and work your way up toward the climate controls.

My car had two electrical connectors on the bottom of this trim: one for traction control, and one for the LEDs that light up the shifter position. The traction control connector, which is on the passenger side, pulls out pretty easily. The LED connector on the driver side is overly complex, and it leads to another connector on the LED circuit board, so I just pulled the small white one from the circuit board because it was way easier. The white connector isn't as obvious until you pull the wires off a little hook they integrated to the underside of the trim.

Removing the shifter trim will expose three screws with a 7mm head on each side of the change tray. You don't technically have to pull your change tray in front of the shifter, but I found it easier to do that than fish all my change out. Pull the three screws in the picture, and the corresponding three on the passenger side.

You don't have to pull the screws above these ones, holding the radio control fascia in place. I did pull them because I wasn't sure, but it didn't end up playing any part in this project. I think these screws are actually longer than the others, so if you do pull them, make sure you keep track of which ones came out of which holes.

Next, pull the screws you exposed beneath the kick panels - one on each side. See pics.

Closer view below. It's the black one in the upper right of the pic.

Almost there! Now put your front seats all the way forward so you can access the last two screws on either side of the console storage bin/armrest. See pic for location.

Put your seats back again, and set the emergency brake. Now you can start to work the entire center console up around the e-brake. Before you can pull this up completely, there are three more connectors to pull. One is your lighter socket, which you should be able to reach from the front. The other two are on the passenger side, near the floor. One is the USB plug, which pulls off by lifting the metal clip. The other is the power to several components. You lift a lever on this clip to unplug it.

With these clips undone, you should be free to finish pulling the console. You'll probably have to fiddle with it a bit to get the right angle, because the front part hits the climate controls. It helps to spread the front "wings" a bit around the climate controls while you lift up and forward. A second pair of hands would be good here, but it is possible with just one person.

Now, you need to remove the original socket from its hole. I tried a screwdriver in every possible angle from both top and bottom, and finally I just pushed on the bottom hard enough to make the dumb thing pop out the top. I'm not sure there was anything affirmatively holding it in place besides friction. Your mileage may vary, but if you're not keeping the original socket, feel free to manhandle it a bit. Mine was no worse for the wear and could probably be reinstalled with no problem if I needed to. Below is what the socket looks like out of its hole.

If you're just installing another OEM socket, your installation is just the reverse of removal. Congrats! But if you're installing an aftermarket socket, read on.

The one I linked above came with round terminals like the kind you'd see on a chassis ground post. The connector for the OEM socket has different terminals, so I snipped off the round terminals on the new one and devised a new connection. I used butt connectors (frankly, the worst kind of connector out there) to convert the stranded wire for the new socket to a rigid terminal using 12-guage copper Romex, like you'd find in the walls of a house. (The other common size, 14 gauge, might be too thin to get good contact in the connector, but you can try if that's all you have.)

When you look at the grey connector for the original socket, you'll see it's T-shaped, but only two of the three holes in the connector have terminals in them. The bottom terminal (the "foot" of the T) is the black (+) wire. The other terminal in the grey connector is your red (-) wire. I tested this with my multimeter before attaching anything, but feel free to check yourself just to be sure. (I love how in residential electrical work, black is hot, but it's neutral in 12-volt systems. That's not confusing at all...)

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

Here's me testing the connector for polarity with my free Harbor Freight multimeter! Obviously, I had to reconnect the power connector on the passenger side to conduct this test.

With polarity sorted and your butt connectors tightly crimped and heat shrinked, you're ready to attach your new wires to your existing connector. REMEMBER TO MAKE SURE YOUR IGNITION IS OFF!

Once you're satisfied you have good connections, wrap the area tightly with electrical tape, being sure to take several turns around the wires before the butt connectors, up around the grey connector, and back down.

That pic shows the bottom of the new charge port already installed because I took the pic after the fact, but at this point, you should unscrew the retaining ring on the bottom of the new charge port. When you put it in the hole the original socket was in, it will feel too tight at first. I tried threading it in, but eventually just got annoyed and gave it a good smack. That popped it right in place with no damage. Now thread the retaining ring on the bottom to lock the new charger in place, and attach your spade terminals to the bottom of the charger.

Before you start to reassemble everything, you may want to wrap any excess wire up with a zip tie, but be sure to leave the fuse free in case you need to change it. I considered finding a way to make the fuse accessible from outside the console, but I was ready to be done. A panel-mount fuse holder might be a good addition here if someone is concerned about that.

You would be wise to test your new charger before reassembling everything, which means you'll need to attach the power connector once more. If everything works, you are go for reassembly. Enjoy your awesome new charger!

Holler if you have any questions.