Licence plate lights not turning on...

Jackios · 09-05-2008

I have problem with my licence plate lights not turning on. I bought a set of LEDs for my plate but when I went to change the bulbs, I noticed that neither stock bulbs were working. LEDs did not turn on... tried it on my friends civic and it's working fine. Had a feeling it was either the socket or the fuse. I had a look at my manual and checked the fuse for the licence plate light, the closes fuse I got to was the Small Light fuse located at #2 and the fuse wasn't blown. Sockets were fine. Anyone come across this problem or have any suggestions please reply! It's a pain to bring my car to Honda and have them do service on it and pay $50 an hour. lol! Thanks in advance!

05 Civic Si Sedan (CAN)

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CraigW · 09-05-2008

Are your taillights located in the trunk section working ?? (assuming you have those on your model)

You could have a broken wire in the harness that flexes with the opening/closing of the trunk.

I had the wire break at a crimp terminal that had 3 wires leading to 1 wire going into trunk lid loom powering licence plate and inner tail lights bulbs.

The wire color should be RED/YEL.

Jackios · 09-09-2008

Thanks CraigW for your reply. Yes my taillights are working. I tried getting into the wires and found the red/yellow wire but haven't seen any breaks. A buddy of mine is going to have a look at it some time this week and I'll let you know what he comes up with.

HonCiv02 · 09-09-2008

it sounds like a fuse or wiring problem; have you checked all the possible fuses that it could be?

CraigW · 09-09-2008

If the taillights are working the fuse is o.k., If the inner taillights (on the trunk) are working the RED/YEL wire going to the trunks lamps is o.k.

Jackios · 09-10-2008

Looks like the inner tail lights (ones on the trunk) weren't turning on.

Checked every possible fuse the license plate lights would be under and they were all working fine. No problem with the ground.

Quoting what you were saying CraigW: "You could have a broken wire in the harness that flexes with the opening/closing of the trunk."

That is exactly where the problem was. Seems like this is a common problem from what my buddy told me (car technician). The opening and closing of the trunk puts stress on the wires causing it to snap.

Took a couple pictures after it was fixed:
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...9-10_19-51.jpg
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...9-10_19-52.jpg

Thanks all to who replied. Hope this helps.

CraigW · 09-11-2008

My 05 broke near the crimp junction that has 2-3 wires going into the single wire that goes to the lamps.

I first noticed it when unlocking the car.

Thanks for posting the diagnosis !!