Ashtrays mystery

[Klent]

Hi all,

I've just bought the van, and I've dismounted the panels of my van, in order to clean and repair some stuff.
When I dismount the ashtray I find them with a 3 feet iron string.
As the string wasn't attached to anything and just rolled on itself, I wonder what is its purpose.

I thought at first it was to automatically close the ashtray, but why not put a spring instead of 3 feet string ?

Then I have 2 questions :
1- What is the purpose of the string ?
2- Where is it supposed to be attached ?

11168

Hope you can help me with that :)

Have a nice day !

[SoORYotas]

K,

It is actually a fiber optic cable that provides a dim glow to the ashtray at night when you have the lights on. Not sure but I believe it feeds from the back of the guage cluster.

SoORYotas

[Klent]

Hi SoORYotas,

Thank you for the explanation. Well, as it is cut and rolled, I guess it is not usable anymore.

Best
Klent