Rear Plate Lights/License plate light short... WHY?

4445 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by TOM2008RTL, Feb 24, 2017

TOM2008RTL

Discussion Starter · Feb 20, 2017

I dropped a buddy off from work the other day and when he was getting his stuff out of the bed of the truck he told me that my right side license plate light was out. I went to the auto parts store and bought a pack of LED light bulbs to replace. Installed both light bulbs and still no light on the right side. I'm guessing I have a short somewhere now. Has any Ridgeline owner experienced this problem? Hoping someone out there can help me narrow down my search in finding the short. Thanks for taking the time to read and help if possible.

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ROBSRTL

· #2 · Feb 21, 2017

Re: Rear Plate Lights

Make sure your socket is not rusty. And way would you want to light the LP up any more then it is?.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

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ridged

· #3 · Feb 21, 2017

Re: Rear Plate Lights

Since one light is working, it should be easy to find a short, if there is one, since there is likely just a short wire connecting the two to each other.

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Carsmak

· #4 · Feb 22, 2017

Re: Rear Plate Lights

Double Check the Bulb which is out, check the Orientation, LED's have an issue when not oriented correctly.

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TOM2008RTL

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 23, 2017

License plate light short... WHY?

It was brought to my attention that the right side license plate light was/is out on my 2008 Ridgeline. So I replaced both plate lights with LED's. Right side light still doesn't work. I'm guessing I have a wiring short somewhere down the line. Not sure what could have caused the short. .Any incite on how to go about tracking down the short is appreciated. Thanks

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mnowaczyk

· #6 · Feb 24, 2017

Re: License plate light short... WHY?

Interesting. My right side is out too, but of course I haven't even attempted to Learn how to replace the bulb yet.

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Carsmak

· #7 · Feb 24, 2017

Duplicate Post : Threads Merged

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TOM2008RTL

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 24, 2017

Re: Rear Plate Lights

No rust in the socket. Ended up being the bulb orientation with it being and LED. Works now. I'm not to impressed with brighter lights on the plate either, but hoping I will never need to change those bulbs out anymore considering that LED's have a long life shell.

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TOM2008RTL

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 24, 2017

Re: Rear Plate Lights

Thanks for the great advice! You were absolutely correct with what the problem was. I reversed the orientation and the LED works now.

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TOM2008RTL

Discussion Starter · #10 · Feb 24, 2017

Re: License plate light short... WHY?

It's an easy job. Simply place your finger tips at the back edge of the bulb housing box. This edge will be closest to the license plate. Then pull the housing box toward you. It will slide about an 1/8". With the gap exposed, you can pivot/pull the box out from there. Once the box is out, give the bulb socket a 1/4 turn and pull the socket and bulb from the housing. Unplug the bulb and replace. If you are going to upgrade to LED's, test for the correct orientation before assembling back together. That was the problem I had. Good luck

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