On my 500 mile drive home on Tuesday, my iPod battery died and found that there was no power in either cigarette lighter. The fuses are good. The lighter stays in the socket next to the ashtray but pops out immediately on the power outlet.
Not a big deal unless I forget to charge the iPod upon reaching my destination! I can get about 10 hours out of one charge.

 

Time to upgrade the stereo, I put in one that has a usb port for a flash drive. Tons of MP3's on it and hours of music. Love it!

 

I replaced the stereo a few years ago and am using it to play my iPod.

 

Dunno about the lighters being dead, but I installed a dual USB power supply that I snagged from eBay and it works great, and the iSimple Tranzit BLU HF bluetooth car kit gets the sounds from the phone to the FM radio just fine without having to fug the plucker up, too.

Have you done any troubleshooting of the power problem at all? Do you want to?

 

I dunno to what extent you have been inside of your dashboard,
But the 12v AUX plug you are referring to pretty much runs a fused constant hot.
the cigarette lighter is on the key switch aux just like the PWR windows (if equipped) and the stereo itself.

The lighter and 12v aux port are connected in the same way, GRN contact on the sides of the barrel, and a Brass barb post on the end in back (much like a Motorcycle type bullet connector)
On that note,
If it is just falling out like you describe, it could still be your iphone charger itself.
TRUST ME, when I say it will not be the first or last mobile device charger eaten by a 2nd Gen Ram.

AS IN--
I have had friends become afraid to plug in "i" anything in our truck because the last time they did you could smell or hear the charger going bad.

A buddy of mine has a Samsung Phone that uses the mini USB connector to charge, He needed a charge and grabbed our Charger line that I usually use for My Tab3 8.0 Note tablet....it worked when He plugged in but 10 minutes later his phone had at some point began to drain and was chirping to be plugged in.
I had not thought much of it and a day or two later I plugged in my tablet as Normal, and it charged AS NORMAL on the same assembly and port that went dead on his phone.
the same day I showed him the tablet was charging---So he disconnected it and plugged his phone into it------got nuttin!
Plugged HIS charger in from his vehicle, his phone charged and so did the tablet, but MY phone didn't like his charger and drained out on it.

I did end up replacing it when it got to the point that nothing would charge from it at all.
I found it odd though because the socket was providing power supply without a spike or other voltage deviation, the fuse in the charger was good, the contacts on the charger were all good, and the charger had correct power at the plug head contacts, yet no device would charge.
The RadioShack replacement one is still working good 2 years later

 

you don't state what year... on my 97 I had the same issue and it was an easy fix ... pull out your cup holder and ash tray and make sure the wires are plugged in on the backs of them... don't know why but BOTH of mine were unplugged.. plugged them back in and they work great and have had no problems.. thinking dash was worked on at some time and they didn't plug them in OR all the way back in and they fell back off

 

Load MP3's on a flash drive and you won't need the ipod or to charge it. Navigate threw the songs on the head unit. I can't understand why the ipods took off in the first place. Have to pay apple to download music, They take their cut and the artist gets the rest. Just a company controlled MP3 player is all it is. But yeah check the wires, You have to remove them any time you remove the dash panel.

 

My 99 cig lighter has never worked. Ever. I tried to tear into the dash to replace the unit and it is part of the inner subframe/underframe or something. Not accessible at ALL. And I already replaced my whole dash so I didn't just give up.

But my 12v has always worked and charged everything. Those of you suggesting putting in a different radio--great idea--if you want to get robbed. Had mine for just under two years and they took it all. So think real hard if you want to go through that for a whopping usb port. I'm back to CDs and the oem radio.

 

1996

Despite being a handyman for the last 23 years and working on house wiring, electrical troubleshooting has never been my forte...I know that it is time that I learn how to use a multi-meter. Back in the eighties, my '72 Roadrunner had many electrical issues (the first year of the electronic ignition?) but there was an auto electric shop in town so that seemed more convenient than learning it myself.

Earlier this year, I had no headlights/dash-lights but I did have parking and fog lights. An eighty year old friend, through trial and error, got them working. I am not even sure that he knows what the real issue was. Maybe the wires were inadvertently pulled off of both sockets at the time.

I tried two different chargers.

When the rain/sleet stops, I will reach under the dash and check if the wiring is disconnected.

 

I'm not home right, so I'm not sure but I believe that they are on 2 separate fused circuits.