Cigarette lighter receptacle wasn't working. Excessive rust. Voltmeter showed it still conducting, but probably not good enough, so I decided to replace it.
When I opened the bottom center panel (the one that just pops off), I was greeted with a confusing array of cables I thought someone could give me a hand on. I already checked related electrical topics trying to understand.
Both: why are they not connected to anything?
The smaller one: Could connect to a cig lighter receptacle. No voltage detected from it when car running. Why no electricity? Is this normal?
The larger one: No idea what this is, and where it would have been before. What is its function?
The cig lighter receptacle was instead connected by two yellow cables, that luckily output correct voltage. However, weirdly, they were also connected to a switch that seems to have been installed aftermarket. Flicking the switch didn't produce any measurable changes.
I could include more info, such as a primitive wiring diagram of how this seems to be connected, but I doubt that would help.
TL;DR: What are those two cables in the first image?
Why does the receptacle have two connections, one of which is not occupied (the one that the smaller cable fits into)?
Why could there be a switch connected to the two conducting connections on the cig lighter, if it doesn't seem to impact output voltage?
I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks.