I just bought the vehicle mentioned in the subject line and noticed that the license plate light on the hatch doesn't come on with the head lights. However, it does come on when you open the hatch.

I figured one of the filaments in the bulb was burned out and got a replacement that looked similar. It looked like your usual run of the mill 168 or 194 bulb, so I tried a 194 and still no license plate light with the headlights on. Tried the 168 and same thing.

Then I noticed that with the headlights on, these bulbs do actually light up, but it's so subtle that you really have to squint to see the slight glow of the filament.

So... is there a special bulb that is supposed to go in there, or do I have a wiring problem?

TIA!

 

FYI plate light bulbs are only single filament bulbs. Anyways, it sounds like you may have a poor ground or corroded electrical contacts causing high electrical resistance. That is why you can see the bulb light up but not very bright. I'd start there.
-Jamie

 

I got it all fixed up. I tore the hatch door paneling off and followed the wiring back into the cab. It turned out that half the wires inside the boot between the hatch and the cab were broken, and the other half were missing chunks of insulation/coating.

I spliced in new wires and everything works back there now. The license plate light, wiper and squirter, defrost, and power locks. Good as new.

 

Glad we could help!!!