Sorry I missed the post -

If I remember correctly, the cigarette lighter housing will have 2 wires attached to it. One at the bottom center of the housing, the other on the side.

The one on the side is the 12v ground. The one at the bottom is the 12v+. The ground wire is just a spade connector - a pair of needle-nosed pliers should be able to slide it off the housing. The 12v+ connection is a female connection that slides onto a pin that projects from the bottom of the housing.

It is very likely that the leads are too short for you to pull the housing out far enough to disconnect them without removing the upper portion of the console wood frame. I just don't remember.

You cannot pull the ashtray housing out of the console (other than the insert that holds the ashes) without removing the console cover itself.

I think you'll probably have to pull the console out to R&R the wires on the lighter housing. I've dug and dug through AllData and there's NOTHING about how to work on this stupid little part!!!

Have you checked to see if you've got 12v+ on the button in the bottom of the cigarette lighter housing? You can do this with the housing in place, but the ignition switch does need to be at least in position 1. There's no point in going through all the trouble to pull the console covers out only to find that there's 12v already present in the lighter housing.

Frequently, the connections in the lighter housings corrode over time. Apparently cigarette ash is a major contributing factor here. You might try taping some 220 grit sandpaper to the tip of a pencil and trying to clean the contact at the bottom of the housing.

RE the glove box light. Did you confirm that your bulb is good? If fuse 15 is good then likely the source of the problem is the lighter housing itself.

Do you own a 12v volt-meter, or at least a 12v test light? If you don't - go get one - they're not that expensive and they'll save you a world of aggrivation. The test light is good because they usually come with a sharp point and that can be used to carefully probe through the insulation on wires to see if voltage is present. The tips on the probes of a volt-meter aren't usually that sharp.

bulb is good in glove box but doesnt light up. Im assuming that the lighter housing is bad? But that doesnt explain the glove box light not working?
So how would a shop or place replace the lighter housing and do you have any idea of how much it would run in labor?

I went through something similar to this glove box problem when I bought my 1995 S420. My problem stemed from the wire bulb lead wire not being connected to the main wiring loom. Check for 12v at the socket. Access is fairly simple, I did it in the parking lot of a local hardware store with limited tools. Remove the glove box and trace the wiring. A service tech may have just forgotten to reconnect it like in my case.

Regarding the lighter. I repaired my E320's lead wire to solve the same type of problem. Over the years the constant opening and closing of the ashtray fatiqued the wire at the lighter connector. I just re-terminated the existing connector to the wire.

Good luck.

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1995 E320 -171k-km
1995 S420 -333k-km

I visably checked the wires connected to the lighter and they looked like they were connected. The only other thing I can think of is that the lighter is bad the whole unit. I would change it but I cant figure out how to take the lighter out when those wires are connected to it? Its to tight of a lace to get my finger or a tool in there. So I dont know how to do it?

I'll try again. Look very carefully at the wire where it is joined to the connector. In mine, the copper wire portion was broken inside the insulation, just before the connector. Looked intact but wasn't. I think its a silicon based insulation to accommodate the heat from the cigar lighter, and with mine, the wire was secured to the connector with the insulation. In other words, even though it appeared to be intact, the copper wire had fatiqued within the insulation and was not making contact. Check the voltage at the female portion of the cigar lighter. If you don't own a voltmeter, get one of the 12v dc to 120v ac converts and see if that works when you plug it in. Remember, the car must be on to get power to the cigar lighters.

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1995 E320 -171k-km
1995 S420 -333k-km

I noticed a clunk/thump sound right before/as the window stops and then backs off. Sounds like I have a binding issue.

Thanks for the history/thread!

-Jim

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1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.