well, are they?

there must be 12v power as there're 2 lights above the license plate... but is there an ALWAYS HOT 12v wire inside there?

there has to be a ground wire. should be able to locate that.

is there a wire inside the hatch behind the license plate that is connected to the 3rd brake light?

somehow i doubt it... as i'd assume the brake light wiring runs through the headliner or up a rear pillar vs. down inside the hatch then up to the top.

planning to install an led license plate frame & need power, ground & brake wires. i assume the brake wire connection is to dim the plate frame or something whenever i touch the brakes. not sure.

but in thinking ahead, i may have difficulty in a hatchback car vs. installing in a sedan with easy access to tail light wiring on either side of a bumper mounted plate... then again, a lot of sedans have their plates mounted on the trunk itself. hrmmm

any help is very much appreciated! :beer: :)

take power from the lights about your plate. those should be 12v constant whenever you turn on your headlights..

ya, but are there any that're hot even when the headlights/car is off? that'd be ideal.

The only thing I can think of that would be hot at all times would be the cargo area light, I'm assuming you guys with the 3-door have one back there. I don't know if the switch switches +12V or ground. If it switches ground, you could probably tap into the positive near the bulb, if it switches +12v you could tap in near the switch. That's about all I can think of, short from running a wire back from the front.

Good luck getting it figured out, sounds like a fun project. :grin:

i dont see why you would want the plate light on all the time. it wouldnt matter in the day and the point of them was to use a t night.

hoosier is right i dont think you can find a hot wire in the back that would be dangerous and wouldnt leave the factory. if you want constant you will need to find something always on and patch into that. you couldnt run a wire front to back cuse you neeed a switch then

update:

i ended up buying an amp power cable wiring kit and running a wire from the battery all the way into the hatch.

it's clean, too. as in i removed/lifted all required panels in order to run it "factory hidden."

i ran the battery end into the engine bay via the large grommet and wire bundle near the clutch pedal. the length of it runs under the trim by the door, under the rear wall trim, under the driver's side hatch wall trim, then up behind the pillar trim into the hatch via the flex cable cover on the driver's side.

installation isn't complete yet. i'm hoping to get it done today - finally. the biggest pain in the **** is that i'm going to have to drill a small hole through the hatch. kinda wary of that... but whatever, it's behind the license plate and will be siliconed for weather & rust proofing.

DONT DRILL A HOLE!!! make the wire come out of the license plate light socket thingy that way you have no worries about rust

too late, drilled it - AND - i'm not worried about rust. if i used the light holes i'd have to have exposed wires above the plate on the outside of the car = looks bad.

at first i tried to drill out the plastic square thing that the plate screws into, but there wasn't enough room - so:

i drilled the hole in a small indented alcove area that looked as shiny on the paint side as the day it rolled out of the factory - no dirt or water gets there. then i rubbed some black silicone around the exposed sheet metal due to drilling and stuck a plastic grommet in the hole, sealing it around the edges with silicone on the inside. from the outside, behind the plate in the little alcove, it looks like a factory hole designed for the wires to pass through.

it's installed and works great. i just have to epoxy a couple broken trim clips back in place before re-installing the last few bits of trim.

well at least it looks like its supposed to be there. i swear some peoples children just drill a hole any where to make something work

One of my service advisors told me a great story about when he was a mechanic. Some guy came in with his son's car because it had no braking, well it turns out that when the kid and his friend were wiring the subs they drilled a hole in the firewall and subsequently through the back of the brake booster too. Don’t ya just love kids?

i'm 25... i'll admit to doing stupid things, but not THAT stupid. :D

Don't worry, I'm only 20.

im 19 and im smart enough to know you dont drill any where you want through the fire wall. i wonder how he stopped the car once he found out he had no brakes???

I was wondering that also.


Im 20 but I have not grown up. :innocent:

to early to grow up as i see it. the end of the world is coming or so they say. so what is the point in being mature and working to live and living to work? id rather run around the streets all night and make it to work every day 5 min late every day

I imagine he used the emergency brake as it is a mechanical linkage not hydraulic.



I agree wholeheartedly, I merely mean that one should think before they act, not give in to society.

This post has been edited by noobliterator: Mar 29 2008, 11:17 AM