[ck111484]

So ever since I've owned my Escape my cigarette lighter plugs have never worked.

I took a look at the fuse today and lo and behold, there's no fuse for it where there should be. I figured, simple, I'll pop in a fuse and be done with it.

But I discovered that it won't accept a fuse; normally when you insert a fuse the two prongs go into little metal sliits, but on this fuse and several others, there are no metal slits to slide into, the fuse just sits there and does nothing.

Any ideas? Can you add those slits to a fuse slot? Do I need to get a new fuse box?

Here's the best picture I could muster:

It's not that easy to see but at least 4 or 5 fuse slots do not have these metal slits to accept a fuse.

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[ck111484]

It is that pale yellow 20a fuse in the fifth row down, fourth from the left (or second to the end, second from the right). All the others that have no fuse are either not used in your case (trailer tow, heated mirrors, parking aid) or don't have power to them and are listed in the owners manual as not used.

I would be curious about that cut hot wire running with that added ground across the fuses, and I assume you also posted to reddit and want to run a wire from the engine compartment to the power outlet, which is inches away from the passenger fuse box?

Exactly, I'm trying to get my lighter plugs to work, which they never have in the year I've had it.

I don't remember what I was trying, but yeah, that extra wire was an old attempt to get the lighter plugs to work.

Yesterday, armed with a multimeter, I tapped into a hot wire and installed a ground wire, connected them to to the spades on the cigarette lighter plug, and still, no power, ignition on or off, switched the wires, double checked with the multimeter, etc. Then I went to double check the fuse and found that a fuse could not be inserted, there are no slits where the prongs on the fuse go.

How could a fuse box on a car that has that feature just not have a usable fuse slot? And what can I do about it?

And regardless, even without a fuse, shouldn't a plug with power and ground to it work?