License plate LED bulb replacement in 2018 2019 Leafs - how do you do it?

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gibacca

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Messages
17
I wanted to replace the clearly incandescent license plate light bulbs in the 2019 SL Plus, but I cannot find a procedure to do that anywhere. It was easy in the prior year models, now the light enclosures don't seem to be easily removable. I contemplated either removing the plastic piece just above the lights (on the outside), but did not force it as I was afraid of cracking something. Same for the inside panel - it seems it has to be wholly removed to access the license plate lights, but again, there is no obvious way to do this.

Has anybody managed to do this and can share a procedure for doing it? Thanks
 
Hi Mate,

I just made the modification last night...

You cannot change the light from the outside only by removing the plastic glass from the light enclosures, you will have to remvoe ALL four (4) inside panels as they all go into each other.

Here are the steps:
- Remove the 3 plastic screw from the "main" panel (Super easy)
- Remove the handle from the main panel (Easy)
- Remove the panel right behind the third brake light (Easy)
- Remove each side panel (Easy)
- Remove the main panel (Medium, There is a picture to identify the location of the clips.)
- Install new light and enjoy

!!! WARNING: Test before reassembly for polarity !!!

Sorry for my bad English, I am French Canadian ;)

 
Thanks for posting a procedure, much appreciated. Have not visited the forum for some time, looks like a month at least. This is the last mod I was waiting on to perform, will do so shortly. I really do not understand why these instructions are not in the owner's manual, I would think this is something a lot of people would need to do even to change non-working bulbs.These lights are always on for the 45s after turning the car off, and really they are on always pretty much when driving, they need to be LEDified.
 
Hello MALEAF1. I just purchased the SL Plus over the 4th of July weekend to tackle daily DC area rush hour commute. It is one of the worst in the US.

I am also looking to change all bulbs to LED. It's great that the SL Plus has LED headlights already. So far I have replaced the easy ones, the cabin and trunk lights.

Looking at one of the pics you posted, must you really remove the upper plastic covers since all is needed is access to the lower part of the hatch door? I don't want to open anything more than I need to since I am not as handy as others on this site.
 
RGNissan23 said:
Hello MALEAF1. I just purchased the SL Plus over the 4th of July weekend to tackle daily DC area rush hour commute. It is one of the worst in the US.

I am also looking to change all bulbs to LED. It's great that the SL Plus has LED headlights already. So far I have replaced the easy ones, the cabin and trunk lights.

Looking at one of the pics you posted, must you really remove the upper plastic covers since all is needed is access to the lower part of the hatch door? I don't want to open anything more than I need to since I am not as handy as others on this site.

I don't understand... Why would anyone take apart a new, working vehicle, just to change some bulbs??? Wait until they burn out, and THEN change them... Darn, its not like you will be transforming the car to that much better??

I think that Kids just like to play with their toys....
 
Powersurge, yes it is a matter of preference. A lot of people prefer LED lights. Just because you're indifferent about them does not mean everyone has to be like you. LED lights are more energy efficient than halogen lights and you can see much better with them. Please send your judgement somewhere else.
 
RGNissan23 said:
Hello MALEAF1. I just purchased the SL Plus over the 4th of July weekend to tackle daily DC area rush hour commute. It is one of the worst in the US.

I am also looking to change all bulbs to LED. It's great that the SL Plus has LED headlights already. So far I have replaced the easy ones, the cabin and trunk lights.

Looking at one of the pics you posted, must you really remove the upper plastic covers since all is needed is access to the lower part of the hatch door? I don't want to open anything more than I need to since I am not as handy as others on this site.

Yes, all the panels must be removed (they overlap), but it's not that difficult. I did this just a couple of days ago and it took me 5-10 minutes. The biggest thing to watch out for is not bending the big panel too much, as it can tear or crack. Also, make sure to insert the holders closest to the window first on the big panel, otherwise it's impossible to align them and insert them.
 
gibacca said:
RGNissan23 said:
Hello MALEAF1. I just purchased the SL Plus over the 4th of July weekend to tackle daily DC area rush hour commute. It is one of the worst in the US.

I am also looking to change all bulbs to LED. It's great that the SL Plus has LED headlights already. So far I have replaced the easy ones, the cabin and trunk lights.

Looking at one of the pics you posted, must you really remove the upper plastic covers since all is needed is access to the lower part of the hatch door? I don't want to open anything more than I need to since I am not as handy as others on this site.

Yes, all the panels must be removed (they overlap), but it's not that difficult. I did this just a couple of days ago and it took me 5-10 minutes. The biggest thing to watch out for is not bending the big panel too much, as it can tear or crack. Also, make sure to insert the holders closest to the window first on the big panel, otherwise it's impossible to align them and insert them.

Does anybody have a recommendation for LED's use use? I have a 2019 40KW LS that I would like to move to all LED.
 
MALEAF1 said:
Hi Mate,

I just made the modification last night...

You cannot change the light from the outside only by removing the plastic glass from the light enclosures, you will have to remvoe ALL four (4) inside panels as they all go into each other.

Here are the steps:
- Remove the 3 plastic screw from the "main" panel (Super easy)
- Remove the handle from the main panel (Easy)
- Remove the panel right behind the third brake light (Easy)
- Remove each side panel (Easy)
- Remove the main panel (Medium, There is a picture to identify the location of the clips.)
- Install new light and enjoy

!!! WARNING: Test before reassembly for polarity !!!

Sorry for my bad English, I am French Canadian ;)


Worked perfectly! Took just 10 minutes. Thanks a lot :)
 
2 reasons I can think of. Who really wants the police man to pull you over for a burned out plate light?
Leds look cool.

Don't forget the Silicon grease on the contacts.
 
Oilpan4 said:
Who really wants the police man to pull you over for a burned out plate light?
I had a Camry with a license plate bulb that was out, which caused it to fail the MA state inspection. When I later went to sell the car, the event showed on the Carfax report as "Failed inspection for safety reasons"! Thankfully I knew the buyer so they believed me it was not a serious problem.
 
jlv said:
Oilpan4 said:
Who really wants the police man to pull you over for a burned out plate light?
I had a Camry with a license plate bulb that was out, which caused it to fail the MA state inspection. When I later went to sell the car, the event showed on the Carfax report as "Failed inspection for safety reasons"! Thankfully I knew the buyer so they believed me it was not a serious problem.
Safety inspections on the east coast were stupid like that.
New Mexico doesn't have them but we kind of need them because I have found people just don't take care of their cars.
Like when it snows here we got people who drive 20mph on the highway in a half inch of snow, not because they don't know how to drive in it but because they are riding on a set bald tires.
 
To the OP, thank you again for this awesome tutorial. Having just completed it I will add one more tip:
When you go to reinstall the large panel, push the round plastic clips in the large panel to the top/end of their retainers.
They slide out of position when pulling off and will not align correctly if you don't.
 
nissanleafy said:
Do you mind sharing what kind of LED bulb you used?

Thanks!
I bought the Sylvania 168/194/2825 LED (super bright daylight version), you can get them at any auto store and they come in many colors such as yellow, white, red, daylight, etc.

I didn't want to have to replace my old school incandescent bulbs in the future anytime, so I went ahead and changed out mine. Now the license plate lights are bright enough to be always on backup lights. :lol:
See how the bulbs even lights up the ground down below. Best part, the same bulbs work in the Rear Trunk Light, so you can make your trunk area super bright as well.
Since I was changing all the bulbs, I also changed my reverse lights to super bright LED (also Sylvania). Now when I go in reverse, it's like having another set of headlights pointed backwards. :lol: :lol:

uG0l73l.jpg
 
Thanks so much @MALEAF1 for the step by step. I just did this and installed the 4000K color Philips x-treme ultinon W5w / 194 wedge LED bulbs that I have used on various cars since 2014. Nice color upgrade and not too bright
 
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