I thought I would share this so others might learn from my stupidity! I suspected some kind of fuel tank leak or rusted fuel lines on my 2002 Honda Accord, because I began getting a strong fuel smell, terrible mileage, and an EVAP code CEL. I had replaced the fuel pump a few weeks prior, and that should've been my first clue, but instead of starting there, I assumed the new fuel pump was not the problem and spent a grueling day in the heat dropping the entire rear subframe in order to inspect the tank and associated plumbing. I found the tank and fuel lines in perfect condition.

Perplexed, I reinstalled everything, only for the fuel smell and EVAP code to immediately return. Finally thinking about the recently installed fuel pump, I took a look at the old pump and discovered the old gasket still stuck to it. Then I looked inside the box the new pump came in, and there was a new gasket, still sealed in a plastic bag! I popped off the access panel in the trunk, and sure enough, my new fuel pump was installed without a gasket! There were quarter-inch gaps all the way around, explaining the smell, EVAP code, and bad mileage. I can't begin to imagine how I neglected something so basic, but luckily from that point it was a five-minute fix. And I've never forgotten a gasket since!

Justin in North Carolina

Automotive cigarette lighters are one of the few things that have not changed much since the 1950s. I made sure my kids grew up surrounded by old cars equipped with almost as many cigarette lighters as seats and glove-box-sized ash trays. Younger people who were not so lucky may only know the empty sockets in modern cars labeled "12 volt power outlet." They have no idea that the socket's odd tubular shape was intentionally made the size of a cigar.

It turns out that everybody may have something to learn. An old car's cigarette lighter socket can also be used as a 12 volt power outlet, but a lot of the newer "12 volt power outlet" sockets do not have the clips inside needed to hold a cigarette lighter and maintain the electrical connection while it heats up. You will not be able to light your stogy or start a campfire if you insert a cigarette lighter (found under "Interior" in the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab of the RockAuto.com catalog) into one of those newer sockets that does not have the clips inside. That helps explain why car interiors and owners manuals are not festooned with warnings about the risk of fire if a cigarette lighter is inserted into a socket located at the bottom of a console box filled with old receipts and other flammable material.

Newer car owners manuals may not mention "cigarette lighters" at all, but some of the "12 volt power outlets" easily accessible to the driver may still have the clips inside needed to retain a cigarette lighter as it heats up. Peering into sockets with a flashlight may be the quickest way to tell. The cigarette lighter clips may very slightly between makes and model years. The cigarette lighter from my 1979 Chrysler 300 (Cordoba) heats up in the socket on the dash of my 2014 Dodge Challenger, but the 2014 clips only tenuously hold the 1979 cigarette lighter in place.

2014 Dodge Challenger 12 volt sockets without (left) and with (right) cigarette lighter clips & USB Adapter (bottom)

Odds are good that cigarette lighters/12 volt power outlets will continue to outlast a lot of the latest new technology. An eight-track tape player that plugged into the cigarette lighter would have been easier/cheaper to discard than one mounted in a hole in the dash. I rented a new Toyota Tacoma that as far as I could tell, only had the newer USB-C connectors. Luckily, the truck still had a cigarette lighter socket that we could plug an inexpensive USB-A (now the old-fashioned type of USB) adapter into to charge our phones.

Using a cigarette lighter/12 volt power outlet is often a smart way to charge devices even if the vehicle has the correct type of USB (or other type of) port. Vehicle computers cannot communicate with a device plugged into the cigarette lighter. Guests riding in the vehicle can happily charge their phones without any distracting messages popping up on the infotainment screen. A worn-out USB adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter is also always much cheaper to replace than an original equipment (OE), built-in USB port. A built-in USB port that only provides power rather than both power and data is still relatively expensive.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.