83 FJ60 license plate wiring

[BlackCat]

Anybody have the schematic diagram for the license plate light wiring? Or more specifically how it’s grounded. My lights work but if I push on the tailgate the light output changes and I’d assume it’s on the ground side.

 

[3_puppies]

IIRCC it is grounded thru the hinges
easiest route is to add a ground wire from the tailgate to the frame or main part of the body.

the license plate light only has a + wire going to it

 

[SteveH]

I had to run a separate ground wire from the light fixture itself to the tailgate. I had intermittent license plate lights. This made no sense, but it was the only way I could get the lights to consistently work.

 

[CruiserTrash]

There's a ground on the far back of the truck, underneath. You'll have to lay on the ground and look underneath the bottom of the tailgate to spot it.

Those light are grounded through the body metal directly, through the bulb holders that were spot welded to the trim piece that holds the light s(and then through the screws into the body). But that area around the spot weld tends to corrode so the ground is lost. A lot of times the bulbs holders are just flopping around in there because the rust is so bad. You could solder an extra wire to the bulb holder and run that to the ground point I mentioned, but you'll still have the holders loose inside the trim piece.

 

[Samppahj]

Here you can see the grounding point mentioned above. It is behind the wire loom near the rubber where license plate light positive dives into the body. Those thicker white/black wires are grounded under that screw.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Here you can see the grounding point mentioned above. It is behind the wire loom near the rubber where license plate light positive dives into the body. Those thicker white/black wires are grounded under that screw.

Thank you for posting that! Whether or not OP uses that as a grounding location for the license plate lights, that’s a good one to know about (and clean).