[DSGT]

No kidding ( it must be done in an operating room setting )

But since there’s current going to those lights, I think there is a good chance it’s the bulbs that‘s the problem . Of course could be anything else along the circuit, but I’m hopeful the bulbs are it .

Will take a photo of the ones I just put in, but there’s no 6418 ( or 194 ) anywhere on them .

However, I just ordered these :

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[DSGT]

Just when I was hopeful this would be over when the Osram bulbs get here ( delivery is supposedly this Thursday ) , today when I started the car, in addition to the " check number plate lights " alert , a brand new alert also appeared : " check rear fog light " . So guessing it's some glitch in the wiring circuits which go back there.. .
However.. what rear fog light ?! These cars have fog lights in the tail assembly ? Where are they . or it ?

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

Yes, it is red...J

 

[timado404]

I will illustrate.

 

[DSGT]

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 ..)

 

[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.

 

[Catmanv2]

ok, I’m confused now .. so if the alert icon is on all the time, and the license plates lights are not working at any of the lights settings ( particularly when all other lights are on ) , what’s the other failure to see ?

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 ..)

Just when I was hopeful this would be over when the Osram bulbs get here ( delivery is supposedly this Thursday ) , today when I started the car, in addition to the " check number plate lights " alert , a brand new alert also appeared : " check rear fog light " . So guessing it's some glitch in the wiring circuits which go back there.. .
However.. what rear fog light ?! These cars have fog lights in the tail assembly ? Where are they . or it ?

Start making sense now?

C

 

[DSGT]

Start making sense now?
C

Yup.

 

[DSGT]

So then, any other easily accessible place where I can inspect the wires going back there ( other than the left trunk cubby ) or no such luck and I need to take it to a shop .. before the brake lights go out next .. 😐 ?

Re the trunk..there is a fastener on each side of the carpet panel ( photo below ) which has a slot on it that looks like it can be unscrewed with a fairly wide flat head screwdriver, while all other fasteners adjacent to it and all along the edges look to be pop-in tacks . Can it be as simple as unscrewing just two fasteners and then prying out the entire carpet lined panel ? . If that’s the case, does it expose the wiring which goes to all the tail lights, so at least I can inspect those for any fraying, or similar problems ? Or wiggle them just as I did with the small segment of the harness in the left trunk cubby, to see if anything happens ?

 

[Catmanv2]

Best guess the 'screw' is a quarter turn fastener. The others are fir trees.

Amazon.co.uk : Trim Removal Tool

www.amazon.co.uk

C

 

[DSGT]

Cool, thanks .

I have just recently bought a large plastic tools kit for another project - fixing the door / window sill‘s material damage - so I knew those tools may come in handy for something else one day ..

 

[DSGT]

Yup.

But it only did that because you jinxed it with your post 😛 🤪

Actually, I started the whole jinx thing when I mentioned that in the eight years of this car‘s life, it hasn’t had a single problem ..at which point Jason said that I’m going to piss off the car gods with those kid of statements .. . And now it seems some problems are staring to surface, so this must be the result of tempting fate . Maybe I’ll sacrifice a fish or a lobster or something ( can’t find mermaids ..) to a Neptune statue and see if that fixes the lights . 😛 .

 

[DSGT]

So just as a sanity check … there is no fuse which might be dedicated only to the license plate lights and the rear fog lights , correct ?

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

No, I don't think so..It is always best to check them all as you never know how stuff is wired...Get a test light and check all the fuses..Remember a M145 car has a fuse box next to the battery as well as the one under the dash..J

 

[DSGT]

No, I don't think so..It is always best to check them all as you never know how stuff is wired...Get a test light and check all the fuses..Remember a M145 car has a fuse box next to the battery as well as the one under the dash..J

👍. Thanks.

 

[DSGT]

The fuses in the battery compartment all checked out ok, and as for the fuses under the dash..the drama is posted on the recent ”fuse box location” thread

Maybe the owner’s manual has a fuse box diagram with a listing which shows what each fuse is for ..heading to the car now to take a look.. just trying to see if there is a fuse dedicated to the rear LP and fog lights . If the manual doesn’t have it I’ll revert to ask if anyone here has that information ( maybe from a workshop manual ? )

 

[DSGT]

So.. the manual’s fuse box info shows one fuse just for the rear fog lights ( in the under dash box ) but nothing specifically for the license plate lights, in either fuse locations . Weird.. I looked twice at every listing, they’re not mentioned even as part another cluster of lights listed under various fuses. And then we have yet another fuse box in the engine compartment ?! ( according to the manual ) So three places ?

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

Fuses are near components generally...Forget about the underhood box..Your issue is with the rear and passenger compartment fuse boxes..J

 

[DSGT]

Guessing in that case the license plates lights fuse would be among the ones next to the battery, and since they all checked out ok, the culprit is almost certainly somewhere in the electronic / wiring circuits . Dammit 😣. Rear fog light might be fuse related, but could also be wiring issues ..

 

[DSGT]

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