Number plate light wiring

[PhilElan71]

Desperately need help.

not ashamed to admit that I am really not the best at wiring so need some help - hope this doesn’t sound dumb.

I have a 71 elan plus 2 and trying to wire up the number plate lights.

been told I put black from number plate light to black of the loom and same with the red. However when I do this I blow a fuse and obviously have no number plate lights. How the hell do I wire them up? Do I need an inline fuse so I don’t blow the fuse in the fuse box? Keep blowing the 15 amp fuse in the glovebox 

really appreciate any help 

[Escape]

The advice you got is correct: the number plate lamps get a feed from a red wire (as do the tail lamps) and have a black wire for ground. It looks like there is a short in the number plate lights, so you need to check that first. Could be a chafed or trapped wire or something in the bulb holders.

[PhilElan71]

Ok perfect thank you 

will remove the bumper and check the lamp holders to make sure I’ve not trapped anything or have anything shorting.

appreciate your help than you so much

[Escape]

You can probably check most of the cable run without removing the bumper. Always do the easy things first. 😉  If you have a digital multimeter, you can check the lampside of the circuit as well. Typically the resistance will be a couple of Ohm, if it's close to 0, you know there is a short somewhere.

[PhilElan71]

I did replace a earth cable I think so possible that the wires poked out and shorted on the lamp unit 

will check tho thank you

[PhilElan71]

On 25/09/2023 at 09:48, Escape said:

You can probably check most of the cable run without removing the bumper. Always do the easy things first. 😉  If you have a digital multimeter, you can check the lampside of the circuit as well. Typically the resistance will be a couple of Ohm, if it's close to 0, you know there is a short somewhere.

 

Thank you for your helpful reply.

Removed number plate lights and checked the cables and cleaned contacts also checked individually before fitting and both worked so installed again and worked for a bit now they are tripping fuses again wondering if I need to fit a online fuse from light to main wiring on the loom but no idea why it keeps tripping fuses tho….. any suggestions?

[Escape]

An inline fuse wont help matters, merely mask the problem. If looking at the wiring has helped for a bit, maybe take another look.

Are you sure it's the number plate lights causing the fuse to trip? And not prolonged running with all the lights on?

[PhilElan71]

Definitely the no plate lights causing the issue never had a fuse blow before I tried to wire them up

the no plate lights are original so assuming the cable that powers is getting fragile or has maybe perished over time so will try new cable or new lights