I got pulled over by a rookie cop lastnight because my license plate lights r out. The @#$hole gives me a ticket for my radio being to loud . Where is the fuse for the license plate lights I think i blew because changed those bulbs 2 months ago.

 

im not sure off the top of my head.. did you look at your fuse boxes?

 

i checked the fuse boxes there no clear indication of license plate bulbs

 

But did you actually check any fuses? First step in electrical diagnosis, check ALL of the fuses

Just because the name isn't intuitive, doesn't mean it doesn't control the system you're looking at.

Cop bashing is a , as is evading the profanity filter.

Do all of your parking lights work? If so, the fuse for that circuit is fine. Have you tested for power, or otherwise checked to see if the bulbs are just blown?

 

I am not sure of this but if there is no clear fuse for license plate bulbs then maybe they are on the same circuit as your brake lights?...

 

how dare a cop do his job and enforce the law

 

Seriously

 

changed bulbs twice they wouldnt work, as far as the cop bashing he was a jerk so it is wut it is plus he lied because he didnt hear my radio until he was behind me not all cops r jerks but some r. since im not gonna get any help plz no more responses. thanx for the non help.

 

Of course you won't get help, if you refuse to help us help you (and act like a douche).

We ask questions, you don't respond. Who's not being helpful?

'No more responses'? If you leave this thread up, people will post (especially since you want people not to). If you really don't want us to help you, then delete the damn thread.

Cliffs: If you want help, then you need to actually answer questions that have been asked of you, not whine about a LEO doing his job.

 

We don't know both sides of the story here. Everyone has ran into a good cop, and everyone has ran into a bad cop. However keeping the radio up when a cop is right behind you isn't the smartest thing. He was doing his job, give him a break. you already admitted the radio was loud, hence the "he didnt hear it until he was behind me" and if the attitude we're receiving here is the attitude you gave the cop, no wonder he gave you a tick..

Now onto your problem, check all your fuses? assuming the bulbs work fine since you said you changed them. If none of the fuses are blown check the wiring for your lights. I have a short a while ago because one of the wires leading to my brake lights were exposed and kept hitting metal causing a short. Check all of them, possibly somewhere along the lines you something accidental ripped or reveiled a line?

 

Check fuses 1, 10, and 13. They are all 10A fuses. According to the FSM power is supplied different ways to all the taillights according to whether the ignition switch is Off, On, or on Accessory.

It is all controlled through the Smart Entrance Control Unit and the Tail lamp relay.

Here's the rub though. The same connection powers all the marker lamps and the parking lamps in the headlights. If these are working then I would say the fuses and main connections are probably okay.

That would point to a break in the wire between the fusible link and the license plate lights or a bad ground. Sheets EL-69 and 70 in the FSM show the wiring for the license plate lights.

Good luck.

 

sounds like help to me...

 

Ok this helps a bit, I blew a taillight fuse a couple months back and fixed the problem and replaced the fuse under the hood near the battery. All lights have been fine since except my driver side parking light and license plate light remain out??? Anyone know the fuse# for them?

 

do cops expect us to do a walk around "pre-trip" inspection everytime we take out our cars?

 

got pulled over for the same thing. Sure this cop came off as less than nice but it's all how YOU, the driver, are towards the officer. Maybe you were more of a (blank) than the officer really was. God forbid an officer from doing his job.

I myself respect people of the law. A simple free fountain drink and superb hospitality to officers that I provide at my job keeps the freaks out of my work (that'd be Quiktrip for any that know about it.)

Oh, and I didn't get a ticket.

 

Courtesy and respect are two dying traits. I read more and more stories about “The Man” putting “people” down. Yet if those people followed the regulations and guidelines there would be no conflict. If one chooses to disregard these rules and regulations why are you allowed to complain about them? It like people that complain about being pulled over for dark tint. You know its illegal, “you” put it on anyway and then complain when you are pulled over? *shrug*

A simple walk around the car would have alleviated the OP’s traffic stop. Takes about 20 seconds to check out all your lights. Pro-active versus Re-active.

 

This isn't necessarily true. My friend and I got stopped, and the deputy was completely unprofessional with us. He pulled my friend out of the car and frisked him for no reason. But left me, the driver sitting there. Then threatened to kick our asses several times. And we hadn't done anything to him. We just sat there and kept our mouths shut. I wasn't looking for trouble, but apparently the guy that stopped us was.

Conveniently, in the police video, the first six minutes of audio when this took place is missing.

I'm not saying all cops are bad. It's just the general police population in Nashville that I've dealt with has issues with harassing people and being completely disrespectful.

 

Read my post above. If the markers and any of your front parking lights are working then it's probably not the fuse. But I did list the 3 fuses above to check.

More than likely it's a break (or 2 in your case) at the fusible link location.

Or bad grounds.

The pages in the FSM I mention above will help you troubleshoot.

 

Thank you Sir, will check out the FSM i assume something was broke or was damage when the break light wire shorted

 

Well, while I understand your point I cannot agree with it 100%. The thing is there's quite a number of people who just love the rest to follow instructions they make without thinking/questioning. For example, why speed limit on hwys here is 100 km/h when everyone drives at least 110-120? Everyone knows the answer - it's money making machine, nothing to do with safety. Few years ago local Toronto cops union tried to convince city to give them a raise by wearing baseball caps at work, reducing hours, etc. Nothing worked for months. Then they simply announced that they would stop writing traffic tickets. City begged for mercy in one week !!! The local paper anounced with regret that city lost some big money in that week like it was production loss. What is interesting to note is that nobody was driving faster than usual and there were no accidents on top of average numbers. This last fact went completely unnoticed and was never mentioned in media. Nowdays media is trying to BS public to REDUCE speed limits in the area even further for the same old reason - public safety. They even made hundreds of road signs to be installed already. So I wouldn't be so quick to accept whatever I'm told for the face value. OTOH, despite all its shortcomings the current system is all we've got, alternatives proved to be much worse.

 

WHAT??! You can get a ticket for licence plate lights out??? Ridiculous absolutely crazy!! How is that a requirement when there are lots of cars out there, esspecially older ones that dont even have those lights???

Edit: Is this something where we have different laws in canada than usa?

 

Probably. It's moreso a law for the reason that cops want to be able to know you actually have a license on the vehicle and that it isn't being driven around unregistered in the dark. As well as to be able to read the license plate if you got stopped. If the lights were out and you managed to get away, they wouldn't know who you were.

As far as older cars not having them, I've seen a lot of 30's-40's roadsters around Nashville that have aftermarket bulbs mounted in order to keep the license plate lit.

 

point taken

 

problem solved cop is still a jerk

 

So what was the problem, and yeah cops can be A*holes

 

What was it and did my advice help??

And I just noticed we are pretty close by. If you ever need some help give me a shout.

And what town were you pulled over in??. Certain ones will pull you over for just about annything.

 

Cops don't.
The law certainly does, though.

Pull out your drivers manual and take a look.
Common sense stuff.

 

I dont kno wut the problem was I just tried 2 sets of bulbs and for some reason only certain would work in the license plate, but they worked in my corner lights. I was ridin through westville near deptford.

 

Ya but I mean, its not law to put aftermarket bulbs on a classic car, right?

 

Me?

Haha, but seriously, guys... quit picking on the thread OP, I mean how many of us actually does a walk around our car with all the lights, and signals on, every time we go to the store or every time we go to work or school?

I mean not only is it inconvenient, but you are going to need to bring a buddy along to check your brake lights, and backup lights and all that yaddy yaddah. A cops job is to inform us, then we take that information and fix our problem, I mean if he gave you a ticket for your burned out license plate light right away then it is wrong, in my opinion.

Like one time I had a tail light burned out and I did not know at all, until one day I was pulled over (without a blasting radio) and he just said "do you know one of your tail lights are out?" then I just said "Oh, really? Sorry I had no idea" then he responded "Make sure to get that fixed as soon as possible, have a nice day." And on my way hope I stopped by Schucks and got a few bulbs and changed it. No ticket or fine

And about those license plate lights, I think they are illegal in Washington I saw a license plate cover with lights in them in a auto store a while back and it said that it was only for off road use.

 

i do...for safety purposes

 

Thats gay, check the fuse then check the bulbs. good luck

 

You're posting info that was written 40 times already in this thread to boost your post count.. At least volunteer some helpful info..
Just sayin.

 

Has anyone found out the cure to this problem? I am having a similar problem, all my lights go on except for the license plate bulbs. I just changed the bulbs, and still doesn't work. Any suggestions?

 

lol got pulled over for license plate lights being out at Maxus 09 right as I was pulling into the hotel parking lot. He only gave me a warning though thank god. Like the others said, check ALL fuses. Definitely a wiring issue.

 

I got the same ticket on my old vehicle. So I replaced it with a larger bulb and could see the light on the road while driving. No chance of getting pulled over again.

 

Currently have that problem - looking here for solutions. About 3 months ago I noticed my '01Max's license plate lights were both out. All other lights were working, so I knew it wasn't a fuse or switches because those are ganged up with other lights that were working. But, with the light switch on, tapping them (upward from underneath) brought them back on again (so I knew it wasn't the bulbs). They stayed on for a while, then one went out - tapping it brought it back on.

Finally determined that it was closing/slamming the trunk that was causing them to go off and stay off (the impact force of closing the trunk is opposite in direction to tapping the lights from underneath) so, I realized that something was loose - but what?

(And yes, I forgot to check them every time and yes, a cop pulled me over for not having them on, so I asked to get out and look. The cop said ok, so I got out, walked to the rear, tapped the lights to bring them on again, cursed at the lights - not the cop, and she let it go without even a warning ticket. Two points: be nice guys, it doesn't cost anything and it will increase the probability of your getting off - but no guarantees, and second, you don't have to do a walk-around to check your lights, if every time you catch your reflection in a big store window - front or rear, exercise all your lights to be sure they are all working. Get in the habit and an occasional check will avoid nasty surprises.)

So, now, one of them has gone out and no amount of tapping will bring it back on. What's with that? Whatever's loose is still loose and, apparently, one has burned out. I'll tear it apart today and - hopefully, find out what's wrong. Probably the same thing is wrong with yours. These models have a lot of miles and time on them by now and electo-mechanical junctions are bound to get loose or corroded.

 

...change the bulb.....?

 

bulbs were out change them

 

@ luv & cmd --- As I said, that's where I was heading.

And that worked. They're bold on, solid.

But, it was not clear that it was the bulbs from the symptoms I described - tapping brought them back on etc.

And, unfortunately, that doesn't solve sox's problem as he says that he just changed bulbs - so he'll have to check the wiring and harnesses.

TY and good luck.