# Cigarette Lighter AND Radio not working [2008 X-Trail T31]



## ruralforester (Apr 20, 2017)

Hi all,

in my X-Trail the cigarette lighter and radio are both not working. All threads I can find only have one of them as isolated issues. The shop said that they checked the fuses and all is good there - and that we have to change the complete radio, because some "central circuit board" went bad.

Apprently it might be possible to get that centrail circuit board somehow separately, but they can't organize the parts.

Is it true that the cigarette lighter is powered through the center console / radio? Before trying to get that part myself, I'd like to know, if this is even a probable possibility, or if there is an obvious issues that these guys missed. Do you know any "special" fuses or wires that could have gone bad?

Thank you!


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Sounds fishy to me. Are you sure radio head unit is dead? If so I would recommend you get an aftermarket 2din unit and avoid the expense of a new one from the dealer. You could get a fair bit fancier screen unit with bluetooth and Nav for a fair bit less money. 
My fishy comment is because both your cigarette/ power source and radio unit would be powered when you turn the ignition key to acc , and a quick look at the service manual in my 06 shows they share a relay. This should be inside the cabin at the back of the fuse box, assuming Nissan didn't reinvent the wheel so to speak.
Have a peak at this around page 70, and page 7 shows the power circuit for it on an 06 X trail.
https://ownersmanuals2.com/nissan/x...pply-ground-circuit-elements-section-pg-38612.

But from the above, if there was a problem with the accessory relay, I would think it would mimic what you describe. I am no expert though so you might be best served by getting a second opinion. Much cheaper though to try and replace the relay, and of course there is the question of why it may have gone bad that you might want to look into. Good luck. Let us know what you find out.

At the very least you can ask your mechanic if he checked the relay as well as the fuses...


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## ruralforester (Apr 20, 2017)

Thank you for the hint. I don't really think these guys were actually looking into it very deeply (but I have to get the car serviced and fixed at this place - that's a whole different story...)
So I'll have them check the accessory relay and report back!


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## MikeHJ (Mar 7, 2017)

I replaced my '06 radio with an aftermarket head unit. On the '06 at least, the power to the lighter (driver's dash compartment) does not come from the radio. Although they both could come from the same source.

I don't have the manual in front of me, but I think the accessories and radio have separate fuses in the under dash fuse box as well, although they come from the same relay in the back.

The OEM head unit does not have a separate fuse on the unit that I can see (although the aftermarket does).

Bust out the multi-meter and check for power across the fuses, then work backwards. I'm guessing, but if the relay powering the ignition-on accessories is bad, then wouldn't more accessories be off as well?


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

''then wouldn't more accessories be off as well?'' 

Good idea. Looking at the diagram for ours-- acc position provides power to radio and 2 cigarette power sockets, and I think the power side mirrors as well. If I am reading it right. Maybe see if those are not working. Again I am guessing its the same as on the T30 version while ruralforester owns a T31.


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## tonyvancity (Jan 2, 2017)

i replaced my stock am/fm-cd stereo unit in my 06 Xtrail early this year. Nothing was wrong with the stock unit, it just was limited to what it could do. I kept the stock speakers as they sound good enough to my ears (and im not a teenager with money to burn...). So i bought a decent JVC am/fm/cd player with bluetooth from Canadian Tire . It cost me another $100 to have installed ( im useless at car electronics, otherwise i would of installed myself), and did not need no modifications or stereo ''sleeve pocket''...was a perfect direct fit in place of the big square hole left behind from the stock nissan unit removal. I really like the sound, the fact i can pair it easily to blue tooth/my iphone6, i can hook up my mini mp3 player with the auxilary jack in the front or use the front usb port to charge my iphone and other crap. Plus it was rated a very good buy by a lot of online car stereo review sites. My cost was $169, but it can be $20-40 cheaper if not discontinued. JVC KW-R920BTS 2-DIN Stereo | Canadian Tire JVC KW-R920BTS 2-DIN Stereo....https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageHandler/trim/620/378/products/2014/3/105/g105KWR910B-F.jpg


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## MikeHJ (Mar 7, 2017)

ruralforester said:


> Hi all,
> 
> in my X-Trail the cigarette lighter and radio are both not working. All threads I can find only have one of them as isolated issues. The shop said that they checked the fuses and all is good there - and that we have to change the complete radio, because some "central circuit board" went bad.


I"m thinking "central circuit board" is code for "we don't really know"


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## ruralforester (Apr 20, 2017)

quadraria10 said:


> ''then wouldn't more accessories be off as well?''


Everything else is working. In most threads I found, the mirrors are also not working, but I just checked and they are working fine. Same for everything else. It's really just the power outlet and the (stock) radio.
I'll have them once again check the fuses, then the relay and then let them work their way backwards with the multimeter. I'd love to do that myself, but don't have my multimeter available at the moment - if they can't figure it out, I'll probably organize one and check myself.



MikeHJ said:


> I"m thinking "central circuit board" is code for "we don't really know"


Sadly this is my suspicion, too.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Sounds like you have a plan, and at least you won't be ripped off. Wish I knew of a good source for the factory service manual for your model. That would probably help. I dont have time to check out this link to see if its good, but it is for a T31 version.
Nissan X-Trail T31 model (2007-present) service manual


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## MikeHJ (Mar 7, 2017)

I can't imagine the interior accessory wiring is very different between the T30 and the T31.

I looked at the wiring schematic for the T30 and the switched (ignition in ACC) radio power comes from before the relay and runs thru Fuse #4 (10A). The switched power for the lighters and the power mirrors comes from the relay and goes thru Fuse 18 (10A) for one lighter, Fuse 23 (15A) for the other lighter and Fuse 20(10A) for the mirrors. If the mirrors work, then I'd think that means the relay is fine.

The unswitched power for the radio comes thru Fuse 32 (15A) in the engine compartment, the unswitched power for the lighter comes thru Fuse 17 (15A) in the engine compartment. 

As I mentioned before, my stock radio does not seem to have a fuse in the radio, but my aftermarket radio does, so that's a 3rd possibility for radio power.

Personally, I'd start by pulling and checking the fuses....you don't need to pay a mechanic to do that


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## ruralforester (Apr 20, 2017)

It took a while, but now we have identified the issues. Initially they were saying that the two issues are connected, but they turned out to be not (as expected).
The cigarette lighter was not working because the fuse was blown. Replaced it and now it's working again.
The radio is not working, because the circuit board is fried. After I complained about their vague initial diagnosis, the guy we brought it to actually disassembled the whole radio to check what exactly is broken. So replacing the board or stock radio is not really economical here, I'm about to buy a new basic aftermarket radio unit (incl. mounting adaptor) to replace it.
Thanks to everyone for the input - it helped me a lot to tell the guys in the shop what to check for and saved us some headache!


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Glad its working for you and the forum was a bit of help. Of course I am wondering what fried the fuse and what fried the radio? Guess a power surge of some type. Its possible you have a problem with a power wire behind your dash that is causing a short. A fuse is used for protection they don't just blow on their own. I have never had one blow and my X trail is an older model than yours. Hopefully it won't happen but I have to wonder if this might occur again and take your new radio out. Which actual fuse was replaced?


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## MikeHJ (Mar 7, 2017)

quadraria10 said:


> Glad its working for you and the forum was a bit of help. Of course I am wondering what fried the fuse and what fried the radio? Guess a power surge of some type. Its possible you have a problem with a power wire behind your dash that is causing a short. A fuse is used for protection they don't just blow on their own. I have never had one blow and my X trail is an older model than yours. Hopefully it won't happen but I have to wonder if this might occur again and take your new radio out. Which actual fuse was replaced?


I was thinking the same thing.

When I put in my aftermarket radio, I wired a plug-in harness and installed the new radio with just some electrical tape covering the harness splices. I just wanted to make sure I had everything correct before I soldered the splices and put heat shrink over each one. I managed to blow the fuse in the radio with a short over a small exposed portion of one splice. It really doesn't take much.

The fact that you have a blown fuse for a different circuit and a fried radio makes me think you had a short somewhere. It could be as little as a skinned wire. I'd make sure that your new radio is protected by a separate in-line fuse near the radio at a minimum.


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