Rear License Plate Light Not Working

[90Suburban]

Hi All,

I have a 1990 Suburban 1500. I noticed about a month ago that the license plate light in the rear bumper does not work. I changed the bulb and it still didnt work. I replaced the hole light unit and it still doesnt work. Does anyone know what other options I have to get this thing working again?! Thank you.

 

[British Slave]

Either a bad ground or a bad connection in the harness. Do your tail lights work?

 

[90Suburban]

Either a bad ground or a bad connection in the harness. Do your tail lights work?

Tail lights work fine. Maybe a fuse? Does anyone know where the ground is for that light? Thanks!!

 

[K85 Octane]

LMAO. My DD and my blazer are missing plate lights. One just needs bulbs but, meh.

You got to get dirty and chase the wires down, end of story. They will splice in at some point with your running lights, more than likely right at the bumper.

 

[90Suburban]

LMAO. My DD and my blazer are missing plate lights. One just needs bulbs but, meh.

You got to get dirty and chase the wires down, end of story. They will splice in at some point with your running lights, more than likely right at the bumper.

Well Cali cops are dicks and I don't want to give them any other excuse to pull me over.

I guess I will be getting dirty this weekend!!!

 

[British Slave]

Tail lights work fine. Maybe a fuse? Does anyone know where the ground is for that light? Thanks!!

The issue is somewhere at the rear of the truck. The tail lights and plate lights are on the same circuit.

 

[90Suburban]

The issue is somewhere at the rear of the truck. The tail lights and plate lights are on the same circuit.

Hmmm. That does make sense. I bet a wire is rotten through and not working right.

 

[K85 Octane]

Well Cali cops are dicks and I don't want to give them any other excuse to pull me over.

I guess I will be getting dirty this weekend!!!

preachin' to the choir getting pulled over 3 times in 8 months for nothing but tinted windows....yeah, they're dicks. But again, I recommend getting dirty with the wires in the back. You only have 4 "light" wires going to the back. R-blinker, L-blinker, reverse, and running. So it's a easy ground or bad wire that's the culprit

 

[90Suburban]

preachin' to the choir getting pulled over 3 times in 8 months for nothing but tinted windows....yeah, they're dicks. But again, I recommend getting dirty with the wires in the back. You only have 4 "light" wires going to the back. R-blinker, L-blinker, reverse, and running. So it's a easy ground or bad wire that's the culprit

Nice! Thanks for the info.... I will let you know how it goes.

 

[90Suburban]

So I spent sometime going through the rear harness....what a freaking mess!! Someone wrapped all the wires in electrical tape, so now its all melted and decayed, there are also a bunch of wires that just end or are taped together. I followed the line that connects to the license plate light and it splices into another wire. I cleaned everything up and respliced everything, the light still did not work. The ground look fine. The rear lights work, turn signals, and back up lights work great. It is just the license plate light. I am thinking that sense its such a rats nest back there that I should just rewiire everything in the back. I want to wire in trailer connectors also for when and if I need to tow something.

 

[K85 Octane]

Sometimes it's a lot more satisfying to rip everything out and start over.
make sure your bulb socket isn't corroded also

Tell me you have a multimeter or something to test wires with, right? Makes all that stuff much easier, you can double check your splices and make damn sure continuity continues through the wire

 

[pblaze725]

My $ is on bad the little ground wire.

 

[90Suburban]

Sometimes it's a lot more satisfying to rip everything out and start over.
make sure your bulb socket isn't corroded also

Tell me you have a multimeter or something to test wires with, right? Makes all that stuff much easier, you can double check your splices and make damn sure continuity continues through the wire

I do have a multimeter, but I didnt bother using it. The license plate light was a side project this weekend in between letting my bedliner dry I applied to some of the body parts.

 

[90Suburban]

My $ is on bad the little ground wire.

It probably is something small like that, but my god the wiring is a mess back there.

 

[British Slave]

It probably is something small like that, but my god the wiring is a mess back there.

I hear ya. A lot of vehicles have really screwed up tail lights from people splicing in trailer lights. There should be a plug in connector on the plate light that may be corroded. It's usually about a foot from the light.