[timado404]

Hoen

 

[timado404]

Great, thank you sir ! That saves me a bunch of searching ..
And when I fired it up to drive off to work , the alert light came on again, but with a difference ..for a brief moment ( no more than two seconds ) at the top of the screen it read : “ check plate lights “ , and then it vanished just as quickly as it appeared, and only the alert icon stayed on. I call that the Brigadoon syndrome ( those of you old enough will get the reference )
Ordering them now ..

You're most welcome. Last time I placed an order for a pair of bulbs, they sent about 10 extra bulbs.

 

[timado404]

WTF ! ( and by that I don't mean Wow That's Fantastic 😛)
Started the car this morning, no alert icon on the screen, drove 15 minutes to work, no alert icon appearing , parked it , shut off the engine, still nothing.. turned on the key just to the all systems on , went to look at the plate lights and they were ON ! Switched the lights dial to the various modes, just like I did the other day when the plate had no lights, and it all works . Fired up the engine, did the whole routine all over, and the lights are on. Again, WTF ?!

Lucky the lights I ordered were only $ 20 ( ok, $ 27 with shipping ..) so I'll keep them until the next time when they REALLY burn out, and not just a bizarre Maserati electronic gremlin like it seems to have been this time..

Could be a lil oxidation/corrosion between the bulbs and the contact/electrical surfaces. Usually just removing the bulb to break contact and re-installing is sufficient. Apply a lil dielectric grease to the bulb/contact surfaces if you want to prevent a future occurrence.

 

[timado404]

9




Yes those lights , but I’m not talking about the bulbs..it’s the plastic cover that should practically fall in your hands when you remove the two screws which hold it in place . I even watched a video this morning on that , and the moment the guy unscrewed those , the cover came right off , changing the light bulb ( I hear a joke coming here , at my expense ..) is a piece of cake . I just don’t understand why those covers are so solidly frozen in place that they won’t budge . I tried to wiggle them , but it seems short of getting a knife blade in there to pry them off they’re not moving at all. I’m going to have another cup of strong coffee this morning and get back at it ..

Probably just really stuck on there because it hasn't been removed in a while. Gentle prying should help it pop off.

 

[timado404]

I still find it incredible that neither one of the covers will budge. Inexplicable . ( lol, no the PO didn’t glue anything , I talked to him yesterday ..he’s a very good friend of mine ). My hesitation to sticking a knife blade in there to pry them away is not about scratching the paint next to the seals ( I can protect that with some cardboard ) as much as it is damaging the seals or cracking that plastic cover ..and then I have to order new ones and wait for them ..not that we’re about to see any rain around here where moisture can get into the lights / contacts and cause even more problems.. Eh, I’ll wait for the new lights to arrive and then use a hammer an chisel 🤪. This has to take the spot for the most bizarre trouble with what has to be the simplest thing to do on this car ..two friggin’ screws are the only thing holding that thing in place ! 🙄😠

Add some of these to your collection, perfect for jobs like this.

GTP530A-org

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jusntyme.com

 

[timado404]

Ok, now I’m not a happy camper : ordered the lights ( from Hoen ) on August 18. I still have not received them, and although I did get a confirmation with an order number ( from 2checkout, the payment source they use ) there was no follow re the shipping .. no tracking number or even a mention it’s being sent . So I emailed them an inquiry, to which there hasn’t been a response for five days . Today I called the number they list for customer support ( called a few times. ). It gets a fast busy signal right away , indicative of a non working or discontinued number . Not that I care about $ 27 but it’s the principle of the matter , something seems off here ..

Yeah, they used to be way better than that.... If you don't get them soon, I'll send you a few, Dan.

 

[timado404]

That would be awesome, very kind of you !! 😊 Let me see what I can do in the next couple of days and if still no response from them I’ll send you a DM .

Cool Beans.

 

[timado404]

And I'm going to ask a question which will make me sound dumb..(er) 😛, but when I replaced the bulbs I did so by holding the glass part with my fingers , and now just noticed the instructions on the package indicates never to do that when you handle the bulbs, always wear gloves or use some other instrument to hold them ( supposedly the oils from the hands, even for the few seconds you touch the glass can impact the function of the bulb and render it to a dud ) . Sounds crazy to me, but can it be true ??

I've had bulbs prematurely burn out because of this, left a noticeable burned fingerprint on the bulb too.

 

[timado404]

I handle bulbs like that all the time with dirty hands or gloves...The finger thing really applies to halogen or xexon bulbs as they get so hot..J

Yeah it was my Xenon headlamp that bit the dust.

 

[timado404]

How many Volts and Watts are our OE bulbs ? Also, anyone know what the OE brand was for those bulbs ?

Osram 12V 5W, I think...

 

[timado404]

I will illustrate.

 

[timado404]

Thanks sir ! Very clear now..

Ugh, even more reason to suspect the wire harness, the chances of both bulbs going out ( actually all four if you count the plate ones ) seem pretty slim.
So, in addition to the wires visible inside the left hand trunk cubby, is there any other place to which I can get and inspect myself, without disassembling a whole bunch of stuff ( I'm talking about just peeling back some carpet and unscrewing maybe a cover with 4-6 screws or twist knobs.. any more than that, I'd have to leave to a professional ..or a very good amateur electrically-inclined mechanic ..)

You're very welcome. You never know who might look at this and learn something. And "J" was all over it, too.

 

[timado404]

So, an import from the fuse box location thread because this is relevant on this issue :
I used a fuse tester ( the one which lights up when you touch either of the two points at the top of the fuse ) and here’s the head scratcher : of all the fuses in the driver compartment only 13 tested ok ( light on ) , but 18 fuses did not !! And the entire second row from the left is “out” . WTH, if that was the case half of my car’s functions should not be working !!
( all the fuses next to the battery tested ok )

the red x marks are the fuses which did not test ok . I’ll have to check the manual diagram later this afternoon to see what those fuses are for, but seems impossible to me all of them would be designed for non applicable functions and just plugged in there ..makes no sense
View attachment 146921

Was the car/key on or off?

 

[timado404]

Key was off ( out entirely ) . Are you asking because some fuses only test if the key is on, while others test even without a key ? That would certainly explain why more than half did not light up the pen. So I'll test all again with the key in and on at the second position ( MAR ) I presume ?

Exactly why I asked.
Was wondering if you might be trying to "ohm out" the fuse, itself. Test across one side of the fuse to the other side of the fuse to make sure the circuit is closed, fuse is good. Then you don't need to energize/power up the car.

 

[timado404]

You can't ohm out the fuses with the battery connected as some fuse maybe battery power...This is turning into a saga...Start the car and grab a test light...If a fuse has power on one side it should have power on the other side...J

Well yes, true...I should have stated doing this to the ones on his chart with the X's. This is getting long winded. 😝