how to remove the light bulbs on the license plate holder

[Paraglider]

I'm trying to figure out why the bulbs aren't lighting up. They appear good (have their filament) and so I'm trying to test at the receptacle if electricity is getting to the bulbs. How do you remove the bulbs--push on them and turn or ? I don't want to brake them by doing something stupid to get them off.
Thanks.

 

[emac]

I cant recall but I think they push and turn. If yours is like my 77 the bulbs ground through the license plate holder. You may want to try and ground the bulb receptacle to see if that works.

 

[Paraglider]

I cant recall but I think they push and turn. If yours is like my 77 the bulbs ground through the license plate holder. You may want to try and ground the bulb receptacle to see if that works.

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to electricity, so when you say they ground thru the license plate holder, do you mean in the receptacle, there's a hot and ground wire and the ground is only connected to the license plate holder rather than running back to the battery?

I tried pushing some on the bulb but didn't want to keep pushing harder in case that's not the way it works. Maybe I'll see if someone else responds on that before I try it again. Thanks.

 

[emac]

You have a hot wire going to the bulb. The ground is the license plate holder to the body. There is only one wire.

Take a test light, attach the clip to a good ground and probe the wire going to the licence plate light. If you have power going to the bulb, then the problem is the bulb, receptacle, or ground.

Or take a wire and touch it to the side of the receptacle and put it to a good ground. If the light lights up then you have a ground issue.

Make sense? If the bulbs arent moving then you may have corrosion/rust and that may be your issue. Spray them with WD40 and keep working them. Chances are the bulbs will break and you will have to work the base out. Bulbs are available at auto parts stores.

 

[Paraglider]

You have a hot wire going to the bulb. The ground is the license plate holder to the body. There is only one wire.

Take a test light, attach the clip to a good ground and probe the wire going to the licence plate light. If you have power going to the bulb, then the problem is the bulb, receptacle, or ground.

Or take a wire and touch it to the side of the receptacle and put it to a good ground. If the light lights up then you have a ground issue.

Make sense? If the bulbs arent moving then you may have corrosion/rust and that may be your issue. Spray them with WD40 and keep working them. Chances are the bulbs will break and you will have to work the base out. Bulbs are available at auto parts stores.

Thanks, that's helpful. Just one more question. When you say "good ground," do you mean any metal on the truck, itself, or do you mean a ground wire that I know is grounded to the battery?

 

[edwjmcgrath]

The problem with license plate lights in particular is that the ground in that location sucks. The plate light holder is mounted to the rear door which is "grounded" to the rest of the body through the hinge pins that are usually covered in grease. If you want to see that this is your problem, take a jumper cable and jump from a good spot on the body to a good spot on the rear door or license plate mount and see if the problem goes away. What I did was to run a real ground wire from the license plate holder back out the hole where the light wire comes and connected that to a bolt on the frame. Problem solved for good.

 

[emac]

Any bare metal. This is a picture of my rear door. You can see the door ground, that runs to a bolt on the fender. That grounds the rear license plate lights.

 

[Paraglider]

Any bare metal. This is a picture of my rear door. You can see the door ground, that runs to a bolt on the fender. That grounds the rear license plate lights.





View attachment 1368512

Thanks to both of you and for the vivid photo. So it sounds like you both did basically the same thing--grounded the license plate holder directly to the metal on the frame (edwjm...) or directly from the door that is touching the frame directly (not going thru greasy door pins) to the fender (emac). Did I get that straight?

 

[roscoFJ73]

I'm trying to figure out why the bulbs aren't lighting up. They appear good (have their filament) and so I'm trying to test at the receptacle if electricity is getting to the bulbs. How do you remove the bulbs--push on them and turn or ? I don't want to brake them by doing something stupid to get them off.
Thanks.

How much do they cost? If I cant push and turn them ,I spray wd40 or something in there.If that doesn't help ,I take to them with the long nose pliers and mangle them like a mad dentist.

 

[emac]

Thanks to both of you and for the vivid photo. So it sounds like you both did basically the same thing--grounded the license plate holder directly to the metal on the frame (edwjm...) or directly from the door that is touching the frame directly (not going thru greasy door pins) to the fender (emac). Did I get that straight?

My picture is the way it was done at the factory. If you were to follow the ground wire it goes to a bolt on top of the fender along with a ground wire for the side marker. If it is a ground issue, you need to make sure the license plate holder is making good contact with the door also.

 

[Paraglider]

How much do they cost? If I cant push and turn them ,I spray wd40 or something in there.If that doesn't help ,I take to them with the long nose pliers and mangle them like a mad dentist.

That's what I'll do. WD-40 first, pliers next and work my way up to dynamite.

 

[fj40yow]

i'm sure you have got it out buy now but...
i just did mine... as,emac said....you push up and turn counter clock wise.
if anyone else stumbles across this thread.

 

[Paraglider]

i'm sure you have got it out buy now but...
i just did mine... as,emac said....you push up and turn counter clock wise.
if anyone else stumbles across this thread.

 

[Paraglider]

You'll laugh when I tell you I was trying to get them out of their ase. I didn't realize the base is part of the light bulb itself. Live and learn.