I notice in both of my HHRs that the cigarette lighter outlet or whatever they want to call it is tighter than other cars.Which I am assuming causes some of these issues.

 

I wonder what your dealership dude has been smokin.

In my '06 LS the both of the 'power sockets' have a plastic insulation disk in the bottom of them so you can not get a cigarette lighter to work in them.

Since I smoke and wanted a lighter to actually work I removed the one in the front dash and put one that does what I want it to, in place of the original.

My wife wanted to know what was wrong with the socket in the first place and why I needed to change it anyway. So I showed my wife how cleverly they had put the insulation in the bottom of the original socket. She asked “Well if you have to be able to make contact for the lighter to work how come you can charge the cell phone with it”

It was a good question and the answer is simple enough. The plug for most things you can charge in a cigarette lighter socket all have insulation around a little button in the center of the end that is usually spring loaded. A lot of them have a fuse inside to replace when you do something to cause it to fail and a spring strip or something on the side.

The little button can make contact in the center of the insulation and the contact on the side of the plug will make contact on the inside of the socket so the circuit is complete.

 

How have you been, bigjacksauto? Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to share what you have experienced with your HHR vehicles.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

My 2010 came with the cigarette lighter in front and that little pop-top ashtray in the cup holder.
Kind of odd,because I special ordered my car new and I know I did not order the "smokers pkg. option". In fact, it's not even on the window sticker.
Must have something to do with year and options. Who knows.

 

Mine had a lighter in it when I bought it, though I could find no burn marks and the car did not smell of smoke when I got it. The lighter has been in the glove box since the second day after I bought it. It will normally have a dual USB plug in it for charging my GPS, cell phone (or two), tablet computer, etc.The one in the back is normally used for charging a netbook or laptop on long trips.

 

The manual says 11.5 amp draw.
The machine doesnt blow fuses in other cars so its not the machine.
How do you replace the back socket in the console. I know you have to remove waterfall to replace the front one.
Chevymgr told me that but he didnt say how to remove the back one in the console.\

 

This is the tool we use:



1. Remove the auxiliary power outlet fuse from the fuse block.

2. Remove the receptacle:

2.1 Look into the receptacle. There are two 3 mm (0.11 in) tab windows 12 mm (0.47 in) from the front of the receptacle. The J 42059 Cigar Lighter Socket Remover pushes the plastic latches from these tab windows and the receptacle can be pulled straight out.

2.2 Place one side of the “T” portion of the J 42059 Cigar Lighter Socket Remover into the tab window. The J 42059 Cigar Lighter Socket Remover will not fit straight into the receptacle. Angle the J 42059 Cigar Lighter Socket Remover slightly for insertion into the receptacle.

2.3 Insert the other side of the “T” into the opposite tab window.

You must move the J 42059 Cigar Lighter Socket Remover handle toward horizontal to engage the other tab window.

2.4 Use the J 42059 Cigar Lighter Socket Remover to pull the receptacle straight out.

 

I've used a cheap pair of long nose snap ring pliers also. Make sure power is removed....fuse for example.

 

so what ur saying is Ive got to push in 2 plastic tabs that the arrows are pointing to and pull out the socket at the same time.
So the front and the back sockets come out differently.

 

No they come out the same, but I knew you didn't have the tool so I told you removing the waterfall will be the easiest for you.