Rear License Plate Bulb Voltage

[Blockis]

This might be a dumb question, but what is the expected voltage across the rear license plate light contacts?

My battery reads as 12.3v, but the license plate light contacts read at 1.5v - is this good? Should it be 1.5v?

Both bulbs went out on me and wondering if something weird is happening (ie; wires corroded or broke), but need a sanity check first before I start checking the wiring harness.

Contacts look clean.

[a4audi4fun]

I would expect 12V but your electrical contacts don't look those for a festoon bulb; maybe a previous owner replaced them with LEDs.

[Mister J]

Should be 12v as far as I know but the canbus system may stop sending voltage if it detects no feedback voltage (bulb out warning) while the key is on.

These contacts are the same as mine. The festoon holder is built together with the lens. Long contact arms stick out from the holder/lens to press against these flat contacts.

Sent from my IN2025 using Tapatalk

[Theiceman]

this rings a bell what mr. J is saying. with the bulb removed it reads really low but with a good bulb its 12 volts. i ran into the same thibg with my sons B7. we ended up putting LED in without the resistor and yup ,, constant bulb out warning... but its all we could find. original units were crazy expensive and housing was melting and cracking anyway.

[HerNameIsBeast]

this rings a bell what mr. J is saying. with the bulb removed it reads really low but with a good bulb its 12 volts. i ran into the same thibg with my sons B7. we ended up putting LED in without the resistor and yup ,, constant bulb out warning... but its all we could find. original units were crazy expensive and housing was melting and cracking anyway.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-LED-Li...-127632-2357-0

These work extremely well. No errors or anything. Super bright too.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Audizine mobile app

[Blockis]

Awesome, thanks for the information! I got new bulbs+housing off ebay from overseas, maybe it's just the actual prong things aren't matching up well, or the new bulb is already shot.

[HerNameIsBeast]

Awesome, thanks for the information! I got new bulbs+housing off ebay from overseas, maybe it's just the actual prong things aren't matching up well, or the new bulb is already shot.

It took me a while to get them to sit just right. There was some corrosion on the contacts so I had to clean and bend prongs on the lights. Does it work when you are moving it around? Mine was always on and off at first until I sat it perfectly.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Audizine mobile app

[Theiceman]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-LED-Li...-127632-2357-0

These work extremely well. No errors or anything. Super bright too.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Audizine mobile app

Thanks for the tip , if it gets here will be a good stocking stuffer for my son.

[Jeevan]

2Packs License Plate Light LED Lamps Replacement for Audi A3 A4 A6 A8 S6 Q7 RS4 RS6 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZCPGFRC...ing=UTF8&psc=1

Using these error free LEDs of Amazon for d last 1 year. Didn't blow out yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine