Supergaz

Active Member
Aug 11, 2013
25
0
evening all

can anyone help me please, i have a 2011 exeo st - one number plate light (passenger side) which has stopped working - i have tried new bulbs and still not working ??? any help would be appreciated thanks
 
That usually states a break in the connection, if it's not the bulb could it be the plug that goes into the unit?


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I have the exact same issue. Driver side number plate light not working with the bulb warning in the dash. It did blow the bulb which I replaced but the new bulb does not work. Swapped the hole holder over to the passenger side and it works. Got my multi meter out and I get 12v on the passenger side connector which works but only 10v at best on the driver side so I don't have a break in the cable as otherwise it would be zero. Anybody else having the same issue with a drop in voltage? Any ideas what has caused this?
 
i have checked mine today with a meter and its showing around 9 volts - however the message on the dash keeps coming and going - am i better to tap into the power side of the working lamp and connect to the non working wire or should i check the earths first - can anyone tell me if they know where they are many thanks
 
I had another look at mine today too. Managed to clean the connectors of the plug with a screwdriver for better contact and put a meter back on it while the engine was running. Got 12.4 volts now so better than before. I thought I was winning until I plugged the bulb holder back in and it failed to light.... Jacked the car up enough to have a good look at the cable from underneath. Cable is in good condition and disappears up towards the passenger side rear boot window behind the cubby box. I too would love to know where the earth point is so I can sort this out. Would splicing a 3rd cable into the current negative and running this to a new earth point work?


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well after coming out of work tonight i now have no number plate lights - can anyone guide me in the right direction - is it wiring or something else ?? any advice is appreciated thanks
 
Not too sure about the Audi diagnosis as the Audi plates were mounted on the boot lid and probably the wiring fed back near the hinges. My Exeo wiring for the number plates disappears up behind the cubby box (passenger side). I just cant locate the earth point.

Definitely worth getting your head under the rear bumper to check the wiring condition. It is visible with a torch. Mine was wrapped in a black shrink wrap and looked in good condition but for some reason does not work.


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It sounds simple enough I agree. I have 12v at the connector plug which is great. I also have 12v in the lamp holder terminals with the bulb removed. The lamp holder has no corrosion at all yet will fail to light the bulb. Have tried 3 different bulbs and no light.

I haven't checked the resistance in the bulb so will try that tonight.

I'm close to fitting a 12v battery in the spare wheel well solely to light the number plate lamp and use a trickle charger powered from the 12v socket in the boot to keep the battery charged! Ha


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Did anyone actually get to the bottom of this? My ST has just done the same thing - offside number plate bulb not working. It started as an intermittent fault, only when the weather was wet, and now it's a solid failure.

I took the rear trim panel out on the N/S where the loom comes through and there is 0 Ohms resistance on the single 12v feed to the N/S bulb connector, but 400k Ohms to the O/S connector.

The loom can be disconnected just behind the N/S light cluster but the loom also does the parking sensors and seems to be ~150 euros to replace the loom.

I can see the loom behind the bumper and it's all neatly tucked in place.

Did anyone try fixing the loom or did people just work out how to run a cable between the bulb holders (without letting too much more water in to the loom)? It looks like it's a bumper off job get the loom out - did anyone DIY that?
 
Just spent the afternoon removing rear trim and bumper to get to the wiring. The positive feed to the number plate lights was very corroded either side of the joint where the feed splits to feed the two bulbs - the joint fell apart in my hands - removed about 2-3 inches of wiring before I found something worth crimping to - wouldn't have been long before the remaining connection failed. Took about an afternoon to do.
 
Just spent the afternoon removing rear trim and bumper to get to the wiring. The positive feed to the number plate lights was very corroded either side of the joint where the feed splits to feed the two bulbs - the joint fell apart in my hands - removed about 2-3 inches of wiring before I found something worth crimping to - wouldn't have been long before the remaining connection failed. Took about an afternoon to do.

Think i will have to do this. I too am having this issue. :(

Was it quite straightforward to remove the rear bumper/trim? I presume the fasteners are in the wheel arch, under the bumper etc. Is all the wiring in the bumper itself?

Thank you.
 
I had to remove the trim from both sides of the boot area to be able to access the screws that hold the leading edge of the bumper on.

IIRC it was harder to align all the clips when reassembling the trim than it was removing the bumper.
 
I had to remove the trim from both sides of the boot area to be able to access the screws that hold the leading edge of the bumper on.

IIRC it was harder to align all the clips when reassembling the trim than it was removing the bumper.

Thank you, this sounds like fun :blink:. I will give it a go on my next day off with semi-decent weather.
 
Reviving an old thread as I have the same problem.

ajuniper - was the corroded joint you mentioned behind the bumper or within the passenger compartment? Just trying to limit the amount of work needed to locate the issue.

Cheers,
Rich
 
i had the same issue, even replaced both holders for LED ones, no joy,
then i was working on getting the reversing sensors working and found the first connector plug inside the nearside rear quarter panel. I was able to get the lights working directly from the connector so deduced the was a break somewhere between the plug and the light.
easy enough to investigate (mines an ST) - pry open the plastic trim (there are a few spring clips that need to pull out, and you should see the connector (clipped to the body just below the light cluster).
I cut the plug off, ran replacement wires from the plug to the light holders and reconnected the plugs either end.
the other option is to replace the loom for both the parking sensors and the numberplate light. (http://www.oemepc.com/seat/part_sin...category/972040/part_id/1420911/lang/e#sec_32 )
 
Hi all I know this thread is old but have encountered the same problem as you all and have been in the process of fixing the issue. I have taken a couple of photos of the process to help future problems . And as mentioned above you do need to strip most of the boot material out and take the bumper off to get to the wireing harness . The number plate lights run off a grey/brown wire incorporated within the harness which also run the reverse sensor. Well with mine 2 grey wires drop down via a factory solder connection to 1 grey. Same with brown. It's crap tbh. That's probably where your issues will be . Photos attached guys . Hope this helps anyone in future.
 

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The bass box needs to come out to get to 4 bolts needed to take bumper off. There are also 4 clips either side with a white cap on to get out for bumper removal. 4x torque screws in each wheel arch need removing too. The black box in the photo is where the plug for the wire harness is located ( behind the left side cubby box) which runs through a rubber type gromet to outside of car . Cut some of the dodgy wires back and re soldered and she's working again . And while iym here there's a video on YouTube of audi A4 B6/7 bumper removal