tayslexus

hey guys, so the license plate lights went off suddenly both of them. Since they both gone at the same time, I assume it's a fuse. You guys know where it is located? or if it's not the fuse, what could it be?

Thanks a lot.

Sodium

Yeah sounds like a blown fuse. Check pages 442-450 of the manual for fuse box locations and other info. I attached a copy of the manual in case you don't have it

tayslexus

Thanks a ton. But in the manual says the fuse connecting the license plate lights is also connecting the tail light and the rear side light which both work perfectly. Could it be a wiring thing or the chance of both leds go bad seems unusual.

Sodium

Glad to help!

You could remove the trunk lid trim and check the wires, but unless there's a lot of water infiltration I doubt that they're the problem. It could also be the ribbon cable on the left side of the trunk (the one with the braided plastic cover) – make sure it's not loose, since that cable supplies all the power to the trunk lid (also carries the data from the backup cam)

tayslexus

I just came back from the dealer. They did a quick check and said I have to come back because the LEDs never die, it's one of the stupid wires. It might also be the whole unit.

Sodium

Well hopefully it is just a stupid wire, I'm sure the unit isn't cheap! Did they actually identify the bad wire, or is it one of those "well the LEDs never go bad, so it has to be a wire", process of elimination diagnoses?

tayslexus

hahaha yes that's exactly how they said it without checking the wires. Actually the whole unit is not expensive, it costs around $90 plus tax but probably the labour is way higher. Anyway, the lights are now on :/ This car is so weird, the same happened 3 weeks ago when I got my car back from the dealer after a maint. the AFS was blinking for a week or so and then went off.

Sodium

Yeah electrical problems are the most annoying kind of problem! Hmm well since the lights came back on, sounds a bit like there's a loose connector. Haha did your wife slam the trunk before the lights went out? And I would be surprised if replacing the unit is more than 15-20 minutes of labor. But good that everything is working again!

tayslexus

hahah I'm still not married and I'm always the one closing the trunk because I don't want people to slam it on the self-closing latch. The lights went off again, they go on and off randomly so I'm just gonna take it to the dealer and tell them that. I doubt is more than a loose connector like you said.

Sodium

Yeah same here. Only my girlfriend is authorized to close the trunk, and I had to coach her up on the procedure several times before I was comfortable with her doing it (she got kinda annoyed after hearing "close the trunk until it touches the latch, then push the lid down to engage the latch" three or four times).

And taking the lining off the trunk lid is fairly easy, so unless it's covered by a warranty or something, you could probably save yourself a trip to the dealer and check it yourself

tayslexus

So I did as you said, I checked the wires on my own but since i don't have knowledge on how to find out which wire is not working or connection, I had no luck just playing around with them. I came from the dealer today and they told me that the wires have corrosion on them so they're not able to deliver power to the lights. They ordered the part from California. It'll cost me around $280 CAD tax in with labour. I guess is not bad for an electrical problem and I think the corrosion occurred due to the car being parked outside in the winter from the previous owner.

Gs3500

Do you know Which area? If so it could be a easy fix. U can always sand off the corrosion and use electrical contact cleaner.