1987 260E

Appreciate suggestions for tracing repair:

Ran an air compressor off of the cigarete lighter. It overheated. The lighter and radio are out, and the fuse is blown.

Changing fuse... It immediately blows.

Where should I look for a burned wire? How do i get access behind the ash tray? I pulled off the wood panel around the tray to discover that it was stapled on from behind and wasn't supposed to be removed this way.

Thanks, in advance!

I can't help you out much, though I feel your pain!

Well look in the DIY section (up at the top), go to the W124 Radio removal section (where they put in a new stereo). That should give pretty clear directions on how to properly take off the ashtray and get access to the wires back there.
Good luck!! :) :) :) :)

You've melted the leads to the cigarette lighter (due to overheating, and now the burnt insulation has exposed the wiring. The ground wire is probably fine, but the hot wire is exposed and in contact with something else metallic, causing the fuse to immediately trip upon replacement.

You will have to remove the head unit to get to the harness, and then disconnect the cigarette lighter connection altogether. If the fuse doesn't blow this time, then check the connection first, then start tracing from there.

Good luck!

Take the ashtray part out of the ashtray itself and remove the 2 phillips head screws you see underneath. This will give you access at the back of the ashtray and simplifies removing the radio.
The radio and lighter share the same wire that goes to the fuse box; the wire to the radio comes from the wire in the lighter plug.

greetingz,

Still no luck with lighter
 

Pulled the ash tray, and wires are not burned, apparently. Any further suggestion to trace the short?

many Thanks.

Have you checked the wire for a shorted circuit with a multi-meter (or an ohm-meter or something like that).
Just check whether the pin in the connector (probably with black/yellow/green or blue/black wire) is connected to ground.

greetingz,

Resolved
 

There is a small fusible link on the back of the lighter. It fried.

Bypassed it by removing a mica washer, and it's all good as new. Won't be using compressors off the cigarette lighter again.