Anyone ever change these? Both mine are out but I can't get to them. It looks like you have to pry the screws holding the bulb cover on with a flathead screwdriver and then use a philips to unscrew the plastic screws but it ain't workin for me. I'm basically chipping my paint and stripping the plastic screws. What a pain in the ass. Is nothing easy on our cars?
License Plate lights
- Thread starter adrift
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Slykin
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I just reached up through the inside of the trunk to do mine, I couldn't get the plastic covers off. You just have to grab the "socket" and twist/pull it out so you can change the bulb.
Untame-d
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I can't remember at all how to change them, but I remember them not looking too hard at all to change when I last checked, as I planned to put red LEDs in them.
duff daddy
Legend
you can take the housing off and do it on the exterior but its just as easy to pull the harness out of the housing and just change on the inside...
Untame-d
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adrift said:
Dats what she said.
greenscobie86
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joekd said:
Yup. Sometimes they also get "glued" to the trunk lid due to rust/heat/dirt buildup. It takes a little courage, but they usually come off with no sweat. If you break one, they can be had rather reasonably @ Late Model Resto last time I looked.
I haven't messed with it again today, but what exactly are you doing to get the fake screws out around the housing? I tried popping them up by putting the flathead under them and unscrewing but that didn't work. They just turn and turn and turn. Sounds to me like going in through the trunk will be easier, but its kind of hard to see what's happening. I'm just hoping the twist and pull method works 
Ok, here's the info with pics
The little screws are very fine threaded, the plastic inserts are so poor that they are more of a retainer then a screw
Your flathead idea probably would of worked, just make sure you are grabbing the screw itself and not the raised area on the bulb holder. This is how I do it with a set of diag cutters, just work it behind the screw then using a little force pull the screw right out.
To replace the screws just push them in, dont even bother with a screwdriver
The little screws are very fine threaded, the plastic inserts are so poor that they are more of a retainer then a screw
Your flathead idea probably would of worked, just make sure you are grabbing the screw itself and not the raised area on the bulb holder. This is how I do it with a set of diag cutters, just work it behind the screw then using a little force pull the screw right out.
To replace the screws just push them in, dont even bother with a screwdriver
So this ended up being stupid simple once I saw how joekd did it. When I initially was trying to pry these things off I was trying to do it at what looked like notches under the screws touching the bulb cover, but actually as seen in joekd's pictures the screw head is really thin and you just need to get under it with something. I used some sort of cutters similar to joekd's. Once I pulled them off there was some nasty looking corrosion up in the bulb cover and bulbs, and as greebscobie pointed out some of the area was melted and gluey looking due to heat. I tried taking pictures of what the crud looked like but they didn't come out too well:
This second picture is actually the end of what's supposed to be a clear bulb:
This is the end result after changing them which took about 4 minutes once I knew what I was doing:
This second picture is actually the end of what's supposed to be a clear bulb:
This is the end result after changing them which took about 4 minutes once I knew what I was doing:
