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Found out why my license plate lights don't work.

14K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  OrangeSVTguy 
#1 ·
Got pulled over the other night for no plate lights and some other stuff(no tickets tho lol).

Well here's the reason. One of the bulbs was missing while the other was "floating" in there. Both were corroded to shit and the plastic broken that holds the contacts. I've never changed these before so I have no idea how long they have been out.

Anyone else have this problem? I'm thinking of putting a weatherproof LED strip under there for illumination.


 
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#2 ·
My sisters zts had this problem too. Let me know with what you come up with & i may have to try it on hers. She's only got 1 license plate light, the bulb & protective cover are both missing for whatever reason. Damn used cars
 
#3 ·
The same thing is going to happen. I've used better bulbs and replaced the whole lense and bulb holder. It must be the the moulding piece that allows water in there. I did mine two years ago and they look like crap already. I think we have to start above the area to stop the water. I've been meaning to come up with something, but I always forget until the bulbs crap out or lenses turn green.
 
#7 ·
The same thing is going to happen. ... I've been meaning to come up with something, but I always forget until the bulbs crap out or lenses turn green.
yeah, me too. Oh well, you can try putting some grease on the contacts to prevent future corrosion. That might be helpful, but I'd be sure that the grease I used was heat resistant. LEDs might be helpful in that regard also.
 
#10 ·
Mine went a few years ago, the metal clips crumbles in my hand. I did the LED strip, but because of the weather the outer coating kept cracking and letting moisture in and killing the lights. Then I tried these bolt lights:


DO not bother with these, they don't put out enough light to satisfy most cops, they are intended for the much smaller motorcycle plates. Now I have this:



Only issue I found was it put a lot of light straight back at cars behind you, so I taped the part I needed light to come thru and painted everything else black. Works pretty good and the cops leave me alone now.
 
#12 ·
Tracing down where the water leaks in & fills 'em up will stop the recurrence of the problem,on my Sedan it was coming in through the CHMSL (brake light).

Tightening up the mounting worked for a while (hose washers under the plastic clips that mount it) - But eventually I had to seal it up with black RTV..

Don't know where the hatches leak, but that's the cause of all the corrosion....

Once they fill with water, it doesn't take long....

Luck!
 
#13 ·
Well I bought new light bulbs, epoxied the metal clips back on with a little extra and cleaned the lens and they are now good as new. Well not as clear as new but they looks great now. No more cops should have a chance to pull me over now lol.
 
#14 ·
I had the same problem on my SVT. The water comes in where the rubber weather proofing from the hatch trim mates up with the hatch itself.

I replaced my lens and bulbs only to have them go to crap about 12 months later.

So I dug a little deeper and removed the hatch trim and totally resealed it with new weatherstripping and I have had zero problems ever since.

Seems to be quite a common occurance, definitely an oversight by Ford.
 
#15 ·
If your license plate lights are burnt out and you have a clean looking car, the cops will pull you over but probably won't give you a hard time.

If your license plate lights are burnt out and you have a ratty looking car, the cops will put you over thinking you're a drug dealer out making some 'deliveries'.
 
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