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!!

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)

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!

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

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,

__________________
1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)

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,

__________________
1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)

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.