Any body have their license plate bulb housings installed backwards?

mdrudy · Sep 7, 2015

I mentioned it to my dealer and they said they wouldn't fix it because I had replaced the original bulbs with LED's. I intend to mention it again at my next service as I got pulled over and the cop said he could barely make out my license plate. (I also have a smoke covered license plate cover but I don't think it would have been an issue if the bulb housings faced inwards)

Buckles · Sep 7, 2015

Lose the tinted cover and you probably wouldn't have an issue.

Saker · Sep 7, 2015

^ Agreed.

IIRC, they are not in backwards. The bulbs don't face inward.
Others here thought the same thing, when they tried to unplug and swap, the wiring was not long enough. (design)
Some even lengthened the wiring so they could swap them around like you think they should be.
That may be you other option, but I would lose the plate cover....

BTW, I have LED's in mine and it is lit very well.

Buckles · Sep 8, 2015

Saker said:
^ Agreed.

IIRC, they are not in backwards. The bulbs don't face inward.
Others here thought the same thing, when they tried to unplug and swap, the wiring was not long enough. (design)
Some even lengthened the wiring so they could swap them around like you think they should be.
That may be you other option, but I would lose the plate cover....

BTW, I have LED's in mine and it is lit very well.

Correct. The bulbs point away from the plate. They are not installed backwards.

TK-422 · Sep 8, 2015

My LEDs are nice and bright.

tigger · Sep 8, 2015

I would be interested in seeing the bulbs you used. Those look more like a directional pattern as opposed to a spread pattern bulb.

mdrudy · Sep 8, 2015

They are the spread pattern type of bulb but may be of lower quality. They have leds all the way around the barrel and a couple on top if I recall correctly.

And it's interesting that the dealer basically said they would have fixed the issue had it not been for the aftermarket leds.

mcarey86 · Sep 8, 2015

what do your old bulbs look like?

rydr1 · Sep 8, 2015

It's always somebody else's fault...

Saker · Sep 8, 2015

mdrudy said:
They are the spread pattern type of bulb but may be of lower quality. They have leds all the way around the barrel and a couple on top if I recall correctly.

And it's interesting that the dealer basically said they would have fixed the issue had it not been for the aftermarket leds.

ok, So put some 194's in it and take it back.
LED's have nothing to do with them being installed the way they are installed, so that makes no sense.
Not saying the dealership rep didn't tell you this, but that reasoning is just :loco: !

Swarty · Sep 8, 2015

Yep!

mdrudy said:
I mentioned it to my dealer and they said they wouldn't fix it because I had replaced the original bulbs with LED's. I intend to mention it again at my next service as I got pulled over and the cop said he could barely make out my license plate. (I also have a smoke covered license plate cover but I don't think it would have been an issue if the bulb housings faced inwards)

Yeah, when I pulled mine out you can see that they are even labelled to be installed the other way. Left was on the right and right was on the left. Only way to fix was to disassemble the tail gate and I was unwilling to do so.

Saker · Sep 8, 2015

Easy Solution

Standby....photos coming!

jicko · Sep 8, 2015

Lose the cheap LED and put the original bulbs back in, problem solved.

Lose the tint cover, they are illegal anyways. But I think, even changing the light bulbs from the original factory ones to LEDs are "illegal" in some Vehicle Code.

Don't drive in a way that attracts cop's attentions, I doubt that they will try to stop you ONLY due to "insufficient rear license plate lighting", this is probably going to be a tact on to some other "reasons".

:thumb3:

mdrudy · Sep 8, 2015

Swarty said:
Yeah, when I pulled mine out you can see that they are even labelled to be installed the other way. Left was on the right and right was on the left. Only way to fix was to disassemble the tail gate and I was unwilling to do so.

Yeah, I thought I remembered them
being labeled left and right too and being in there backwards which, if indeed true, then it's pretty clear it was an obvious manufacturing mistake. And that's probably why the dealer indicated they would fix *but for* the aftermarket leds.

And Toyota is NEVER wrong. It's just the person that brings it up that is. Haha

mdrudy · Sep 8, 2015

jicko said:
Lose the cheap LED and put the original bulbs back in, problem solved.

Lose the tint cover, they are illegal anyways. But I think, even changing the light bulbs from the original factory ones to LEDs are "illegal" in some Vehicle Code.

Don't drive in a way that attracts cop's attentions, I doubt that they will try to stop you ONLY due to "insufficient rear license plate lighting", this is probably going to be a tact on to some other "reasons".

:thumb3:

It's not a matter of the cheap led...it's a matter of them being pointed ass backwards! See the pics.

And it was a late Sunday morning and I was driving perfectly fine --thanks for asking. In his defense, there was also mud on the plate from going over the Alpine Loop. And he actually mentioned that he enjoyed talking to motorists. I really think he was bored and lonely. Lastly, this has nothing to do with whether they are installed incorrectly or not.

And I'd be willing to bet that they are illegal in some states and legal in others. Again though, that's not the point.

Saker · Sep 8, 2015

Fixed...

[MENTION=119516]jicko[/MENTION],
I do believe some other auto manufacturers are installing LED's in their lic plate lights, can't be 100% sure...

mdrudy said:
Yeah, I thought I remembered them
being labeled left and right too and being in there backwards which, if indeed true, then it's pretty clear it was an obvious manufacturing mistake. And that's probably why the dealer indicated they would fix *but for* the aftermarket leds.

And Toyota is NEVER wrong. It's just the person that brings it up that is. Haha

You aren't wrong for bringing this up.

You inspired me to see if there was another solution other than what [MENTION=88975]Swarty[/MENTION] posted or cutting and lengthening wires!

I think Toyota must have made the harnesses just a bit short. I don't think they wanted to redo the harnesses or to go thru the trouble of installing the lights right in right & left in left orientation.
So they put them in as we find them!

So this is what I found...
I removed both fixtures, removed the electrical connections from the fixtures, swapped the fixtures to the "correct" side R=Right, L=Left.
(Keep them oriented correctly because the mounting holes are not centerd on the fixture!)
I had to pull the harness on the right side to have enough slack to remove the connectors from the fixture and to facilitate putting the fixture back into its place and bolt it up!

Hope this helps

jicko · Sep 8, 2015

Saker said:
[MENTION=119516]jicko[/MENTION],
I do believe some other auto manufacturers are installing LED's in their lic plate lights, can't be 100% sure...

[MENTION=103267]Saker[/MENTION] I am not saying that putting LED at license plate is bad or anything.... I am just saying that merely changing light bulbs from original factory configurations (the way how the vehicle was initially tested by DOT) is probably illegal somewhere in the massive, cryptic "vehicle code". I was just being sarcastic. We do that all the time, HIDs, LEDs, etc.. LOL

Saker · Sep 8, 2015

jicko said:
[MENTION=103267]Saker[/MENTION] I am not saying that putting LED at license plate is bad or anything.... I am just saying that merely changing light bulbs from original factory configurations (the way how the vehicle was initially tested by DOT) is probably illegal somewhere in the massive, cryptic "vehicle code". I was just being sarcastic. We do that all the time, HIDs, LEDs, etc.. LOL

My gosh...I really missed that one! :brick:

You are correct on the cryptic coding...... That's how they roll.

olice:

LOL

goughy · Sep 8, 2015

[MENTION=103267]Saker[/MENTION] So you didn't need to cut or splice any wiring?

By the way, the Owners Manual (p. 396) shows the bulbs facing outwards as they are installed at the factory.

Perhaps Toyota switched them at some point to reduce glare from the license plate in the backup camera, although it seems unlikely that would cause a problem.

Saker · Sep 8, 2015

goughy said:
[MENTION=103267]Saker[/MENTION] So you didn't need to cut or splice any wiring?

By the way, the Owners Manual (p. 396) shows the bulbs facing outwards as they are installed at the factory.

Perhaps Toyota switched them at some point to reduce glare from the license plate in the backup camera, although it seems unlikely that would cause a problem.

Didn't cut or spice.

Just checked with the garage door down....didn't appear to.
Will see at night under normal conditions...

Any body have their license plate bulb housings installed backwards?

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