Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives
Posted By: craig licence plate lights - 01/30/04 07:11 PM
Where could i find licence plate lights (not bulbs) for my car - other than a Ford dealership? (they want $76.53 each).
Both lights are so filled with corrosion it's sick. I need these bad. As far as i know they're a dealer only item.
Any suggestions other than a wreckers?
Posted By: BARTECH Re: licence plate lights - 01/30/04 07:24 PM


Ford wants how much for each of those?! That's sick!
Posted By: canamSVT Re: licence plate lights - 01/30/04 08:46 PM
Just a suggestion, but you could try Canadian Tire.
Posted By: mbb41_dup1 Re: licence plate lights - 01/30/04 08:57 PM
Any chance you can soak them in a chemical to get the salt and such out?
Posted By: horseydug_dup1 Re: licence plate lights - 01/30/04 09:24 PM
They're $41 US at www.fordpartsonline.com (plus shipping expense). GST/PST will of course also be payable on border crossing plus carrier's cod tax collection fee.

Definitely a get-at-wrecker item if you can't clean-up your existing ones.
Posted By: craig Re: licence plate lights - 01/31/04 11:26 PM
thanks for the suggestions guys! As far as soaking them in a chemical - they're too far gone for that. Canadian tire says they're a dealer item only (the first stop after i went to after the dealer). As far as fordpartsonline i don't need them anymore cause i checked out the classified ads last night and a guy on here is parting out his car. There now sold to me. Once again - this site has helped me out so much with things.
Posted By: SnafuFlux_dup1 Re: licence plate lights - 02/01/04 03:27 AM
Originally posted by craig:
Where could i find licence plate lights (not bulbs) for my car - other than a Ford dealership? (they want $76.53 each).
Both lights are so filled with corrosion it's sick. I need these bad. As far as i know they're a dealer only item.
Any suggestions other than a wreckers?





Been there done that. I went to a wrecker and bought them for 5 bux each.

works like new now

can it wait till spring/summer?
Posted By: lardy Re: licence plate lights - 02/04/04 10:02 PM
Same thing happened to me. Freaking unbelieveable prices for those little units.

With no local parts cars I came up with a different solution. Use a dremel tool with a soft sanding bit.

I just polished up all the contact points around the connectors on either side of the bulb. It worked like a charm. The lamps returned to full brightness again.

I figured that by the time they corroded again it would be someone else's problem. You could add some vaseline or other preservative to the contacts to prevent further corrosion if you wanted a longer term fix.
Posted By: lardy Re: licence plate lights - 02/04/04 10:04 PM
Originally posted by mbb41:
Any chance you can soak them in a chemical to get the salt and such out?




Probably a descaler type product. CLR may work, but I've never had luck with it. Soaking in vinegar may be the best soluion. Scrub with a small wire brush to get the majority of the crud off.
Posted By: craig Re: licence plate lights - 02/11/04 01:04 PM
well, the guy in the classifieds never got back to me after two more request, so i decided to take the advice of soaking them in cleaner. The auto recyclers also gave me a little attitude, telling me that he's not going to ruin a perfectly good "bumper", just to sell me licence plate lights. I told him that the lights were on the trunk, and he said he'd sell them them to me for $25.00 each. I refused. I ended up rechecking the condition of the lights, and noticed the orange wire on both terminals were completely off. No wonder they didn't work. Duh!
I sprayed them with wd40, scrubed them with a toothbrush, then soaked them in dishwater to clean all the corrosion off. Put new bulbs in, stripped the black and orange wires to reveal fresh wire, rewired, and boom, the lights work again. Half an hour total time. Thanks for all the advice guys.
Posted By: SnafuFlux_dup1 Re: licence plate lights - 02/11/04 01:20 PM
hey lucky you. I had rotted power wires pretty much all the way back. I had to get a new harness and wire from the wrecker
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