Date:         Wed, 6 Feb 2002 23:45:03 -0500
Reply-To:     Greg Marshall <earthboy@ROGERS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Greg Marshall <earthboy@ROGERS.COM>
Subject:      Re: license plate lights
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I  just fixed my license plate lights this past summer...They hadn't worked for
the 3 years I'd had the van!

The black plastic housing things slide out towards the back of the van.  They
are held in by a little plastic springy kind of arrangement that buts up
against a lip on the body.  to pull them out, put your hands on the side edges
of the black plastic thingy, and push down, while pulling out.  You'll probably
find that the bulbs are fine, but the connections are corroded to bits.
They're not well sealed at all.  Go out and get some new connectors and crimp
them on.  Make sure you strip back a sufficient amount of wire too.   Even the
wires to my connectors were corroded a centimetre or so back under the
insulation.  You shouldn't have to lengthen the wires.  Once you get them all
rewired, spray some distributor sealer or other protector on them.  The
distributor cap/plug sealer I have is some kind of clear spray on mystery
liquid that's supposed to be used to spray on distributor kaps to seal them
from moisture.  I find it works great for keeping moisture out of electrical
connections, especially the infamous faulty grounds I have fixed so many of.
Anyhow, hope that you figure it out in the morning.  If it's cold, you may want
to warm the plastic housings up with a hair drier so they don't snap.

Good Luck!

Greg, 82 Westy

developtrust wrote:

> I need to reapair my license plate lights as one of them does not light up.
> I can't find a reference of how to get the holder out of the body. I tookt
> he lens off and discovered the bulb is just loose and needs more tension
> from that little clip in the center. However, it is very difficult to get
> the screws back in (bad angle.)
>
> Is there a way to get that black plastic housing out?
>
> William Polowniak
> 1989 Vanagon GL
> 1988 Mercedes 300 SE