Changing license place light

The secret tool is called a standard screw driver. The dealer will always trick you into thinking they have special tools. Just get that screw driver in there, don't be afraid of damaging anything and just pry it off. You may get some light scratches on the inside paint that never sees the light of day.

 

If you are referring to the black plastic cover on the hatch interior, that is held on with 11 blue plastic clips. All you have to do is use your fingers to pull on one corner of the cover so that some of the clips start to release. As they release you can continue pulling on the cover until all clips release. No tools are needed here.

Should you decide to use a screwdriver as a pry lever, you might want to tape the blade to reduce the chance of scratching the paint on the hatch interior.

The mechanic will have a tool used for removing interior trim that has a very wide blade, to minimize damage to painted areas.

 

Gonna order some new license plate LED lights and give the replacement DIY a shot

Any idea where I can purchase these 'right angle' LEDs?...Thanks

 

A plastic snow scraper works pretty well, and is less likely to damage the inside paint. Use the scraper to pry off the two outer corners, and then you can pull the rest of it off by hand. It sounds like something is breaking when the clips release, but apparently they are meant to be abused like that.

Once you have it off, replace both bulbs even if only one is burned out. Save the trouble of another pry-off.

 

Darrell: Great stuff - worked like a charm. What is the tool - or substitute - you used to pull out the clips from the hatch so they can be re-installed, or buy new ones, for the hatch cover? Thanks!

 

*Bump*
Where can I find leds for taglight??

 

Note that once you have the black plastic cover off, you can easily unsnap the cable from each bulb holder. This then makes it easier to get a small pair of pliers on the bulb holder if you need a bit of extra help in twisting the thing (counterclockwise about a quarter turn) to remove it.

 

This thread has been very helpful for such a mundane task. Once you get the black plastic cover off, you WILL NEED a pair of pliers to pull the bulb out. Don't waste 10-15 minutes (or in my case 20) trying to pull out the bulb with just your fingers. It's in there and will only come out with a pair of pliers. Thank you all for adding to the thread and making me feel less useless as a person for not being able to figure this out on my own.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys! I just replaced my license plate lights in under 10 minutes. YES!!

I found pulling off the plastic cover by hand worked great and luckily I did not break any blue clips. I pulled directly away from the cover as much as I could and started with the corners and then the middle. It fell off in to the trunk compartment so finish conscientious drivers may want to put a blanket down over the bumper and in to the trunk. There was no way around using needle nose pliers to remove the light holders and reinstall them. I turned on my parking lights after getting the light holders out so that when I put the LED lights in I could verify that they worked and turn them around easily if the polarity was wrong. They both worked and so I started reassembly with them on to aid in alignment. This turned out to be the most tricky part of the whole job until I let the wiring memory show me where the light holders naturally wanted to be and then a little turn to the left and then right and they were in. The cover lined right up and I snapped all the blue clips in with a moderate pound of the fist. I closed the hatch, verified working lights and turned the parking lights off.

 

Thanks to all of your remarks, two of us got it off, the sockets out and the bulbs replaced in about 10 minutes. Make sure you turn the lights on before replacing the back panel to make sure they are working. Fifty bucks to do that at the dealer makes the labor about $45 for a 5 minute job for them. $45 for 0.1 hours is about $450 an hour. A bit excessive, no? Next we learn to change the cabin air filter, that is another $50.

 

I tried using a latex glove on my hand to twist it out but my husband ended up using the other glove to gain traction with a pair of pliers. So much easier. He said it's better if you get as close to the base of the thing as possible and to be careful to not warp the end that faces you.

 

Ummm...we're talking about car parts here, right? I think I got lost in your prose somewhere along the way...

 

I used a sort of cake serving implement to help me pry off the lower corner. The upper corner where it joins the back window I was able to pull it down a bit by hand, but couldn't get anything to pop (and was afraid of breaking the clips) so I used the little bit of a gap to slide the implement along towards the bottom, towards the "latch", and then got that one to pop and repeated it on the other side (so the lower left and right corners), and then it gave me enough of a gap along the whole bottom edge to just pull down and the clips popped off. None broke. I wasn't strong enough to twist the bulbs out so I gently used pliers, no real pinching pressure just enough to twist counter clockwise. It only twisted about 1/8 of a turn to come free. After that it was easy, replaced bulb, twisted back in myself without pliers until it clicked, and then popped the assembly back on.

 

I used a blow dryer on the assembly for.20 seconds. After that it was fairly easy to remove the bulb by hand