'05 Sedan License Plate Light

Hi there,
just got a '05 Legacy 2.5i Sedan as a winter car. Must say, it was a great choice...especially during the 3 snowstorms that hit Montreal within the last 3 weeks.
Unfortunately, one of the license plate lights went out blew and I need to replace bulb. Handbook recommeds to take the car to the dealer and have it replaced there.....a bulb...!? Is there anybody out there that can give me a hint how to get to the damn socket to exchange the bulb? Can't take off light covers from outside and I just don't want to rip off the entire inner trunk cover if it's not necessary? Thanks.

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77300

Post #11

Thanks a lot for the quick response. I'll try right away.

Originally Posted by Wintersub

Hi there,
just got a '05 Legacy 2.5i Sedan as a winter car. Must say, it was a great choice...especially during the 3 snowstorms that hit Montreal within the last 3 weeks.
Unfortunately, one of the license plate lights went out blew and I need to replace bulb. Handbook recommeds to take the car to the dealer and have it replaced there.....a bulb...!? Is there anybody out there that can give me a hint how to get to the damn socket to exchange the bulb? Can't take off light covers from outside and I just don't want to rip off the entire inner trunk cover if it's not necessary? Thanks.

oh cool.... you are the first guy that i know ( in this forum ) that living in Montreal....
i live montreal too....maybe we could meet sometime...but unfortunly my LGT stall for winter...anways nice to meet you

Okay, I just did this a few hours ago. Like the OP I didn't want to rip the liner off and tried going the outside route.

Halfway through I decided I didn't like unscrewing and removing the panel behind the license plate and gave up. It didn't want to come off and I wasn't willing to apply any force.

Today however I decided I will try removing the lining. All in all it took 15 minutes to do, and nothing broke. The ribbed pop-its need some finesse. Get a wide flathead in there (I have a plastic spudger for this kind of thing) and twist. Use the leverage to back out the pop-it. The liner is rather delicate, so be gentle.

I took the two pop-its closest to the latch off, and the two rubber stops (same technique as pop-its). Look under the door and you'll see a glow in the dark escape lever. You can peak through the liner and see where the tabs are for the panel that tucks the liner around this lever.

Once you have enough arm room, get in there. Follow the cable and you'll feel it plugged in. Twist it to remove it, you can't just yank it out.

Once you have it out, plug in the new bulb and check that it lights up. Now do everything in reverse. Done.

Instead of creating a new thread I'm going to add to this older existing thread.

After 75k both of my license plate bulbs have finally burned out. Thought I would post some pictures of the change out process since I didn't see any in the existing threads. I accessed the bulbs by removing the trunk liner. The entire process took maybe 20 minutes.

I mistakenly installed 194 type bulbs instead of 168. While identical in appearance, the 194 has a lower lumen output but a higher rated life than the 168. I wanted to go LED, but couldn't justify $10 per bulb + shipping.

Hope the pics help for anyone wanting to change out bulbs.

Good first post, JT. Welcome!

You can actually reach your hand inside from the side between the pop its, feel for the bulb base, twist 'n turn, and pull it out without removing anything.

As a result, it takes 1 min to remove, and 3 min to put back in (since you're doing it blind)

I'm a long time lurker. I have gained a ton of knowledge from these forums over the years and wanted to contribute a little something in return.

I took off the license plate and removed the 2 screws behind the plate. Then I removed the plastic panel by popping the fasteners. Then I popped out the panel with the lights in it and removed them with no contortions.

Originally Posted by Javatango

Instead of creating a new thread I'm going to add to this older existing thread.

After 75k both of my license plate bulbs have finally burned out. Thought I would post some pictures of the change out process since I didn't see any in the existing threads. I accessed the bulbs by removing the trunk liner. The entire process took maybe 20 minutes.

I mistakenly installed 194 type bulbs instead of 168. While identical in appearance, the 194 has a lower lumen output but a higher rated life than the 168. I wanted to go LED, but couldn't justify $10 per bulb + shipping.

Hope the pics help for anyone wanting to change out bulbs.

Just did this today, to simplify for everyone, you do not need to take out the whole panel, just remove the two plastic pop-its/clips on the side, pull down the panel and reach your hand in there. Twist to get the bulb socket out and carefully pull out the old bulb. Put in your new bulb/led and reverse the steps. Get LEDs as they are cheap nowadays.

Hey guys I know this is an older thread but figured it was close to the same subject. I have a 2015 Legacy and the light cover that protects the license plate light came off somehow. I didn't notice until the bulb was so corroded that it stopped working.

Anyway, I ordered a replacement cover, but now I have no way to put it in without removing the plastic panel that covers the whole thing. There are no videos or instructions anywhere that I could find that explains how to do that.

There are 4 screws being held on by nuts that are already unscrewed. Additionally there are 4 gray tabs that look like they are holding it in place as well, but I tapped one with a hammer to loosen it and it broke so I am afraid to try the other 3.

I tried uploading two photos but they did not upload correctly.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Aaron