I noticed that my son's car did not have any license plate light, and did some research last night. The wiring seem simple enough, it's just my thickheadedness that leaves me stumped.

The rear hatch has been off the car at an independent garage, stripped, rust repaired, painted and reinstalled – meaning that the wiring may or may not be like original. All I can say is that the wiring through the hinges should be okay, as both the wiper and demister work.

- Demister and plate lights seem to get their power from one common source, the cable coming through the left side hinge.
- This cable ends in two connectors, one that hooks up the demister and one that connects the plate lights.
- The only other wire from the light harness is the ground wire, connected to ground near the inside door handle.

- If I apply power from a separate power supply to the two connectors on the wire from the hinges, the lights will light up. So the lamps and their harness are okay.
- If I turn on the demister (power supply removed), I get power to the connectors, but no light.
- The plate lights are dark even when the headlamps are turned on.

I cannot for the life of me understand how this is supposed to work. It seems to me that the demister and lights are wired together, but one works and the other one does not.

I'd be very grateful if someone took the time to explain how the wiring is supposed to be.

Thanks,
Erling.
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