Two questions and one solution . . .

[tekenaar]

Solution first, then questions.

During the tuning of my '69 sprint Kadett, I noticed that my OP idiot light no longer came on with the ignition key in the "on/run" position before starting the engine. OP sender "WK" contact was still correctly grounded with engine not running and I knew the bulb to be good from swap with "alternator" idiot light.

Instrument panel 12V source was also OK because everything else functioned properly. Problem had to be somewhere in the grounding lead from the OP sender. This lead is one continuous wire from the OP sender connection to the circular grey rubber, multi-pin connector at the back of the instrument panel.

Removed instrument panel from dash to test connection for continuity to ground and when I pulled it off the back of the instrument panel, I noticed a little bit of brass showing at the OP sender wire at the back of the plug . . . not supposed to be!!

I had been very careful not to remove this plug by pulling on the wires previously precisely to avoid this type of problem. Looking a bit closer at the contact side of the plug, I saw that the circular connector was pushed back into the plug not allowing contact with its pin at the back of the instrument panel circuit board.

Pushed the contact forward in the plug with a pair of needle-nose pliers. It appears the OP sender wire is a bit shorter in the wiring loom than the rest of the wires and was probably the reason for its backing out of the plug and no longer able to make contact with the instrument panel pin.

So, if you remove the Kadett's instrument panel for any reason, check to see that you can see all the connectors in the face of the plug that mounts over the instrument panel pins when you put the panel back in! I can't imagine that this wiring loom is any different in any Kadett model, so save yourself the aggravation of having to remove it again and just check it beforehand.

First Kadett specific question . . . the cigarette lighter/holder is much longer/deeper than any of the other models, which is a real problem with most plug-in chargers for external devices such as portable nav-systems, cell phones, CD-players, etc. The plugs for these devices cannot be pushed in far enough to make contact with the central 12V contact.

Has anyone here installed another model's cigarette lighter assembly - shorter, so I know it will work? How is the CL holder with the electrical contacts retained in the hole in the dash where it mounts?

Second Kadett specific question . . . I know my Kadett is supposed to have an ignition key steering wheel lock, but it's been non-functional since I bought the car . . . I'd like to fix it properly. Has anyone removed the lock cylinder which is supposed to operate the ignition switch [it does] and steering lock [it doesn't]? Can anyone detail how the key lock cylinder physically interfaces with both devices? Exploded view would be nice . . . I've looked, but couldn't find!

[deaner]

I hope this helps it looks sort of typical.

[tomking]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Solution first, then questions. During the tuning of my '69 sprint Kadett, I noticed that my OP idiot light no longer came on . . . First Kadett specific question . . . the cigarette lighter/holder is much longer/deeper than any of the other models, . . . Has anyone here installed another model's cigarette lighter assembly . . . ? Second Kadett specific question . . . I know my Kadett is supposed to have an ignition key steering wheel lock, but it's been non-functional since I bought the car . . . I'd like to fix it properly. Has anyone removed the lock cylinder which is supposed to operate the ignition switch [it does] and steering lock [it doesn't]? Can any detail how the key lock cylinder physically interfaces with both devices? Exploded view would be nice . . . I've looked, but couldn't find!

Otto I will remove one or both of my 69 kadett ignition locks tomorrow to see if I can answer your question about locking the wheel. I will let you know what I find and maybe send some pics. I have had them apart but don't recall now just how it worked.

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by tekenaar First Kadett specific question . . . the cigarette lighter/holder is much longer/deeper than any of the other models, which is a real problem with most plug-in chargers for external devices such as portable nav-systems, cell phones, CD-players, etc. The plugs for these devices cannot be pushed in far enough to make contact with the central 12V contact. Has anyone here installed another model's cigarette lighter assembly - shorter, so I know it will work? How is the CL holder with the electrical contacts retained in the hole in the dash where it mounts?

Otto;
If the set up is held in like the other models, there's a large, thin metal "nut" that holds the lighter assembly in, under tension from a large spring. This "nut" is removed by turning it a 1/4 turn

[kevinfier]

Otto,

My fix was to use a splitter w/ 1 male end and 2 female ends. The male end fits into the deep socket, and the female ends are more normal depth.

HTH,
Kevin

[trlmr]

I put a modern style lighter socket in when I redid the dash. I thought most people did. They consist of an inner and an outer part. The inner part is inserted from the dash side and the outer comes from behind the dash. they screw together and the dash is sandwiched between the two parts holding everything in place. the outer part usually has a ground lug built on it with the positive lug on the end of the inner. If you go get one it is very easy to figure out.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by deaner I hope this helps it looks sort of typical.

. . . yes, but I've already looked at those and what I really need is what's inside of part #55 that mechanically locks the steering shaft when the ignition key is turned to locked position (0). If Tom takes some pics of a disassembled unit, I can figure it out from there and see if there are missing or mal-adjusted/formed parts that go inside it on mine. Keeping my fingers crossed. Just want to have an idea beforehand of what it should be!

[tomking]

Otto, I sent you an email with 6 pictures of the steering column parts. If your lock doesnt operate I would guess that the lock bolt is not there, or the rack gear that operates the lock bolt is not there, or the tab that operates the rack gear is not there or something internal to the lock cylinder is broken, missing. Since you are so good at photo shopping perhaps you can add whatever captions and instructions are needed to make things plain to all and post them here. I dont know how to do anything but add captions unfortunately.

[oldopelguy]

Otto, I swap the cig-lighter out in my Kadetts as a matter of routine. In the 4-door I actually swapped the whole lever assembly out because the car didn't initially come with any lighter at all.

I don't remember there being any tricks to the swap, but I'll see if I still have a modifed one out of the car I can snap off a couple pictures of for you.

[markandson]

Be careful if you decide to use a GT lighter socket. The one in my GT is causing me the same kind of problem, but for a different reason. The socket in my GT is too big in diameter compared to the modern ones so the plug from my radar detector (yes it is running good enough to need this item) is so loose it will not stay in place. Years ago I remember having a plastic sleeve that came with one of the devices I purchased to cure this problem. The sleeve had two slots in it for the ground springs so fit through and it made the plug fit the larger hole.

[CDN OpelNut]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Has anyone here installed another model's cigarette lighter assembly - shorter, so I know it will work? How is the CL holder with the electrical contacts retained in the hole in the dash where it mounts?

Here's the generic Radio Shack 12V socket I put in my GT. It's got one-way clips on it so once I shaved the panel to the proper thickness, it just clipped in.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by tekenaar [B][U] . . . First Kadett specific question . . . the cigarette lighter/holder is much longer/deeper than any of the other models, which is a real problem with most plug-in chargers for external devices such as portable nav-systems, cell phones, CD-players, etc. The plugs for these devices cannot be pushed in far enough to make contact with the central 12V contact. Has anyone here installed another model's cigarette lighter assembly - shorter, so I know it will work? How is the CL holder with the electrical contacts retained in the hole in the dash where it mounts? . . .

Thanks to all who replied to this question . . . was in the process of posting my eight paragraph solution to this quandry when Billyboy's IE decided to hiccup and everything unrecoverably disappeared. Will not now spend more time trying to reconstruct my dialogue again, so I'll just post pics of my solution specifically for using my Nav charging cable in the Kadett while still allowing easily restorable use in other shallow lighter sockets . . .

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by cdn opelnut Originally Posted by oldopelguy Originally Posted by kevinfier Originally Posted by tekenaar . . . first kadett specific question . . . The cigarette lighter/holder is much longer/deeper than any of the other models, which is a real problem with most plug-in chargers for external devices such as portable nav-systems, cell phones, cd-players, etc. The plugs for these devices cannot be pushed in far enough to make contact with the central 12v contact. Has anyone here installed another model's cigarette lighter assembly - shorter, so i know it will work? How is the cl holder with the electrical contacts retained in the hole in the dash where it mounts? . . . otto, my fix was to use a splitter w/ 1 male end and 2 female ends. The male end fits into the deep socket, and the female ends are more normal depth. Hth, kevin otto, i swap the cig-lighter out in my kadetts as a matter of routine. In the 4-door i actually swapped the whole lever assembly out because the car didn't initially come with any lighter at all. I don't remember there being any tricks to the swap, but i'll see if i still have a modifed one out of the car i can snap off a couple pictures of for you. here's the generic radio shack 12v socket i put in my gt. It's got one-way clips on it so once i shaved the panel to the proper thickness, it just clipped in.

. . . considering that I was not quite satisfied with my own solution in the previous post, I decided to take another look at the problem by refining the parameters for my solution.

First, my refined parameters . . . simply stated, I want to use my existing lighter socket to power two external devices on long trips - my portable GPS Nav system and my Radar/Laser Detector/Jammer!

I had already purchased a Radio Shack "splitter" suggested by Kevin and used it on a several trips prior to posting this thread. My RS unit has a slender male plug, sufficiently long to use without modification in my Kadett, with two female plugs attached by short wires. Frankly, in actual use I was never quite satisfied with the two "dongles" hanging from the dash directly in from of the gear shift lever . . . not very elegant, even for just occasional use!

I seriously considered swapping out my existing, "too deep" cigar lighter for any model's later shallower one as suggested by Stephen, but that was negated by the lighter's mounting method and depth of the plastic heater control panel where it mounts. The lighter is retained by a nut at the rear which tightens directly against the back of the plastic heater control panel. The shorter, modern lighters simply won't mount deep enough to retain them in that panel.

The generic RS 12V socket that CDN OpelNut used in his GT works very nicely . . . in a GT!, and probably most other models too, as they have much shallower mounting requirements than my Kadett does.

OK, so back to my original problem and my "final solution" . . . now that sounds a bit ominous, doesn't it, fellow "history buffs"?! Though both the "dongles splitter" and my previous post's solution function fine, they still left something to be desired.

Instead of modifying multiple devices' power cords for Kadett use, I purchased a self-contained dual splitter and modified it for specific use in my Kadett, the only car with this problem! Now I can use any external device, UNMODIFIED, in my Kadett too. Why didn't I think of this sooner!

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by tomking Otto, I sent you an email with 6 pictures of the steering column parts. If your lock doesnt operate I would guess that the lock bolt is not there, or the rack gear that operates the lock bolt is not there, or the tab that operates the rack gear is not there or something internal to the lock cylinder is broken, missing. Since you are so good at photo shopping perhaps you can add whatever captions and instructions are needed to make things plain to all and post them here. I dont know how to do anything but add captions unfortunately.

Thanks for those pics, Tom . . . resolved my lighter problem, so now it's on to this one. Looks like at least the steering column will have to be dropped to get access to everything inside, even just to take a look. I'll let you know what I find.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Originally Posted by tomking Otto, I sent you an email with 6 pictures of the steering column parts. If your lock doesnt operate I would guess that the lock bolt is not there, or the rack gear that operates the lock bolt is not there, or the tab that operates the rack gear is not there or something internal to the lock cylinder is broken, missing. Since you are so good at photo shopping perhaps you can add whatever captions and instructions are needed to make things plain to all and post them here. I dont know how to do anything but add captions unfortunately. Thanks for those pics, Tom . . . resolved my lighter problem, so now it's on to this one. Looks like at least the steering column will have to be dropped to get access to everything inside, even just to take a look. I'll let you know what I find.

. . . Gene PMed me and sent me a complete spare to look at, which I received today and will disassemble for a closer look. Thanks, Gene, exactly what I needed and without having to take the car down just for a look-see! I'll post discoveries and results here when completed . . .