Checking if License Plate Lights are Working: A Step-by-Step Guide

Before we begin, it's essential to understand that there are two possible reasons why license plate lights may not be working. The first possibility is that both light bulbs are burnt out, which is a common issue in many vehicles. However, what's less expected is that the problem lies not with the bulbs themselves but rather with a lack of power reaching these specific lights. In this article, we will explore how to check if your license plate lights are working and identify the root cause of the issue.

Using an Ohm Meter to Check for Power

To determine whether the issue lies with the light bulbs or the electrical system, we need to use an ohm meter. An ohm meter is a device that measures resistance in an electrical circuit, allowing us to detect any continuity issues. We will begin by taking out the light bulb from the license plate and examining it. To our surprise, both light bulbs are black and appear burnt out. However, we should note that this is not always the case, as some bulbs may look clear even when they're no longer functional.

Using an Ohm Meter to Test Continuity

Now that we've confirmed that the bulbs are indeed burnt out, it's time to use the ohm meter to test for continuity in the electrical circuit. We will place the ohm meter in the sockets and observe its readings. When there is a complete circuit, the ohm meter will display a different number. In this case, we're using an ohm meter set to 20 volts, which should be higher than our battery's voltage of 12 volts. To test for continuity, we'll complete the circuit by touching two metal points together and observe the reading on the ohm meter.

The Importance of Metal Grounds

As we touch the two metal points together, we're essentially creating a complete electrical circuit. If the ohm meter displays a different number, it means that there is power flowing through the system. However, in this case, the reading remains the same, indicating that there's no continuity in the circuit. It seems that our assumption about a lack of power to these lights was incorrect.

Identifying the Cause and Replacing Bulbs

In some cases, when we use an ohm meter to test for continuity, it may not display a different number, even though we've completed the circuit by touching two metal points together. This can happen if there's a fault in one of the connections or a short circuit somewhere else in the system. In any case, we know that our bulbs are burnt out and require replacement.

Using an Ohm Meter to Check for Power: A Practical Guide

For those who want to check whether their light bulbs are working and have power flowing through them, here's what you need to do. First, place your car in park and turn on the headlights or daytime running lights. This will help you locate the metal connections that connect the bulb to the electrical system. Next, take an ohm meter set to 12 volts (or higher if possible) and place it in the socket. Complete the circuit by touching two metal points together and observe the reading on the ohm meter.

Checking for Power with Daytime Running Lights

If you want to check whether your daytime running lights are working, simply turn them on and use an ohm meter set to 12 volts (or higher if possible) in the socket. The reading should be close to the battery voltage, indicating that there's power flowing through the system. This will give you confidence that your bulbs are receiving the necessary electricity to function properly.

Conclusion

In this article, we've explored how to check if license plate lights are working and identify the root cause of the issue. By using an ohm meter to test for continuity and observing its readings, we can determine whether the problem lies with the light bulbs or the electrical system. If our assumption about a lack of power to these lights was incorrect, it's likely that there's a fault in one of the connections or a short circuit somewhere else in the system. In any case, replacing burnt-out bulbs is usually the solution to this problem.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe're going to quickly learn how to check to see if a light bulb for the license plate is working or not as you can see right now these light bulbs are not working I have the tail lights on but the light bulbs for the license plates are out there are two possibilities of why these license plate lights are not on um one possibility is that they're both burnt out and it's kind of weird that they'd both go out but you never know and the other possibility is that there's no power getting to these two lights so what I'm going to do to check it is use an OHM meter which is one of these a voltmeter ohm meter and uh I'm going to go take the light bulb out and make sure that both light bulbs are still good and if they are both still good then I'm going to take the voltmeter and stick it in the sockets and see if we have a current going through here so we're going to go behind the bumper here and get to the light so here's one so here's the license plate here's the light so what you do is you just you twist it and you pull it out okay and I can actually see that this bulb is burnt out cuz it's black but we will test it with the ohm meter so you can see how it works so I pulled both light bulbs out and you can see they're both black you should be able to see through these they're supposed to be clear so they're obviously shot but you can't always tell that they're shot just by looking at them sometimes they're clear and they're still not good and and you can't even tell cuz the filament looks like it's attached so we're going to use this voltmeter to see if these are shot which we already know they're shot but I'm going to show you how to do it so you take the voltmeter and you put it to try to find continuity so a complete circuit so this number will change when there's a complete circuit so I'm going to complete the circuit by touching these two together see how the number changes that means there's a complete circuit so what I want to do is stick you can see the numbers here I want to stick see how close I could get there's a metal ground here on this side there's a metal ground here on that side right there and that should complete the circuit and it doesn't so now to make sure that's good good so these bulbs are shot time to get new bulbs so just for you guys who want to who have light bulbs that do work and you want to see if you have power put the car into the um put the lights onto your headlights we're going to switch the lights on you could even put the daytime running lights on you can see there's one on each piece of metal that connects the bulb and then what you're going to do is here's the voltmeter and you have it set to 12 volts or 20 volts depends what your voltmeter has 20 volts is the next next biggest up so you want a number bigger than your battery which is 12 volts and you look and you can see there's a constant 11 .23 volts going through our system so we know that there is power to this so it's our light bulbswe're going to quickly learn how to check to see if a light bulb for the license plate is working or not as you can see right now these light bulbs are not working I have the tail lights on but the light bulbs for the license plates are out there are two possibilities of why these license plate lights are not on um one possibility is that they're both burnt out and it's kind of weird that they'd both go out but you never know and the other possibility is that there's no power getting to these two lights so what I'm going to do to check it is use an OHM meter which is one of these a voltmeter ohm meter and uh I'm going to go take the light bulb out and make sure that both light bulbs are still good and if they are both still good then I'm going to take the voltmeter and stick it in the sockets and see if we have a current going through here so we're going to go behind the bumper here and get to the light so here's one so here's the license plate here's the light so what you do is you just you twist it and you pull it out okay and I can actually see that this bulb is burnt out cuz it's black but we will test it with the ohm meter so you can see how it works so I pulled both light bulbs out and you can see they're both black you should be able to see through these they're supposed to be clear so they're obviously shot but you can't always tell that they're shot just by looking at them sometimes they're clear and they're still not good and and you can't even tell cuz the filament looks like it's attached so we're going to use this voltmeter to see if these are shot which we already know they're shot but I'm going to show you how to do it so you take the voltmeter and you put it to try to find continuity so a complete circuit so this number will change when there's a complete circuit so I'm going to complete the circuit by touching these two together see how the number changes that means there's a complete circuit so what I want to do is stick you can see the numbers here I want to stick see how close I could get there's a metal ground here on this side there's a metal ground here on that side right there and that should complete the circuit and it doesn't so now to make sure that's good good so these bulbs are shot time to get new bulbs so just for you guys who want to who have light bulbs that do work and you want to see if you have power put the car into the um put the lights onto your headlights we're going to switch the lights on you could even put the daytime running lights on you can see there's one on each piece of metal that connects the bulb and then what you're going to do is here's the voltmeter and you have it set to 12 volts or 20 volts depends what your voltmeter has 20 volts is the next next biggest up so you want a number bigger than your battery which is 12 volts and you look and you can see there's a constant 11 .23 volts going through our system so we know that there is power to this so it's our light bulbs\n"