How dumb is this? License plate lights

[E.B. Cornburner]

Sometimes a little cost savings just floors me in where it takes place in a vehicle.

The other day, I burnt out a license plate light, and upon inspection, I saw that the lens was cracked allowing moisture into it. No biggie, just replace the whole thing with a new one. Ordered up a new one from Ford (~$20) and installed it. I notice when installing it that the bulb is angled towards the middle of the vehicle, obviously to shine most the light on the license plate. Makes sense.

Now, I go to the other (driver's side) lens, and notice it's angled the same way...Away from the license plate. So, I immediately conclude that someone must have replaced it at one time and installed the wrong side. Since I'm so retentive about stuff like this, I knew it was going to bother me till I got it corrected. I called Ford this morning and asked them for the lens for the driver's side, and to much surprise, he said that it's the same one! They list one part number, and it just says "two required". That's just beyond dumb! So the right side shines towards the plate, and the left side shines away from it! Absolutely retarded!

I have quite a bit of trust in the accuracy of my Ford dealership's parts department, but if someone wants to go and check theirs to verify this, it would be nice. You can see how the bulbs are angled in the lenses without taking anything apart.

 

[TinwoodyII]

Mike: I just checked, with the license plate lights on, and for what it's worth, on my 05 XLT both bulbs are angled toward the plate.
Bill W

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

That's wierd. But it's the way it ought to be. I'll do some more checking at Ford and see what's going on.

 

[anti*commander]

can you just flip it? on my 99 there are two scres on either side, and u just rotate it to shine away or towards the plate

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

can you just flip it? on my 99 there are two scres on either side, and u just rotate it to shine away or towards the plate

Tried that, but it's got a bit of a wedge shape to it, and if it's flipped, the screws don't line up with the holes quite right.

 

[Charlie]

That's weird, I wonder what the problem is. I have had my fair share of trying to convince the parts guy that the part I am looking for actually does exist.

What I did one time, was go home, go to the ford site part lookup, found the part I wanted, and brought down the number for the guy. He didn't seem to happy to have been proven wrong.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Well, I called Ford parts department again today, and this time I got to talk to the manager, and when I explained this to him, he too seemed a bit surprised, so he checked too, and found that they're the same from '02 on up to the current model year. And, it gives them one part number, "two required", in their listing.

If someone is willing to do a little more investigating on this, any help would be appreciated. Perhaps a part number differentiating left and right sides? That would be the most helpful.

I'll do some more work on my own too and see what I can get done.

 

[techieman33]

They're the same on my moms 03, both pointing the same direction, both with the numbers on the covers. The only think I can think of is that with the frosted covers it really doesn't matter how the bulb is oriented, it's not exactly a focused beam.

 

[ghoster]

both of mine point towards the plate..and i have the same exact truck as you..so i'll try to see if theres diff. part #s on them

 

[nasty_north]

its backwards!

 

[Joe Dirt]

I hope it's been figured out by now... 3 years without lights is a long time. Especially since Cornburner's Ex has been gone for well over 2 years.