Hi folks....

My wife's 2006 Sonata seems to eat light bulbs.....

Taillights seem to need replaced all the time.....at least Ican get to those easily.

Her licesne plate lights (both of them ) are not working either.....cant seemto figure out how to get to the bulbs...I have the trunk deck lid trim off and see the back of the one plate lamp unit but cant seem to get further than that.

I consider myself pretty handy around the garage but this car is starting todrive me nuts with the little things!

ANyone have the trick for the plate lamps? And does anyone else go thru a lot of tail light bulbs?

Thanks folks!

 

I had a license plate light burn out on my 06 Sonata. The bulb was just bad. I replaced both while I was at it with some GE long life 168 bulbs. Just remove the trunk lining (pull all the plastic clips out), you will need to unscrew the one screw where the handle is on the inside of the trunk and then the two on the emergency trunk release. Then you'll be able to see where the bulbs go. It is tight to get to them (especially if you have fat fingers). Disconnect the wiring harness and then turn the socket clockwise to undo them. The bulbs just snap in. It's been a couple months now and no further problems.

 

I think something is going on with your electrical system. My Sonata is now 28 months old and not one bulb got burned, knock on wood.... It's worth checking the system.

 

That is actually thedifficult way to change the license plate bulbs. I just used a small flat screwdriver from the outside and slid it under the end of the lamp housing. If you push it straight in it pushes the clip back that holds the housing in place and you can then pull it out. Then it's a simple matter of twisting out the bulb holders and replacing the bulbs. Push them back in until they snap into place and you're done. The whole process should take only 2 or 3 minutes.

 

I just had to replace the license plate bulb. I followed all the steps in the posting by member sonata06glsv6, except one step. Where it says turn the socket clockwise, if you are looking at it from the side where you are trying t turn it, it is actually counter-clockwise and not clockwise. It is really hard to turn this socket, the rest is pretty straightforward as posted.

 

I just pop the lamp housing out while standing there with trunk lid open, turn socket, replace bulb, and pop lamp back onto the hole.

I have both of them done before you get trunk panel loose..

 

sbr7, appreciate your comments and it's great to have a forum like this, because the manual does not have anything about changing the license plate bulb. I tried to get a flat head screwdriver between the plastic and metal to push the spring clip in but it was really hard and I thought if my screwdriver slipsI would bust something. Even after I got the trunk panel loose, I tried to push the spring clip and it would not budge. I've never opened a panel before, so it was learning experience and I got the job done without collateral damage, so I'm content. Thanks

 

I was happy to find this forum while experiencing the same frustration reported above.

A couple of observations from my own experience:

1) At first I didn't realize that the plastic handle for closing the trunk lid was secured by a screw, and then didn't understand that if I tried, I could actually peer over and see it. After I figured that out, removing the screw was a simple matter.

2) You don't need to remove the wiring harness before unscrewing the bulb holder. In fact, I tried to do that first, and only succeeded in breaking off a tiny white plastic tab, which luckily didn't affect the electrical supply (at least not yet).

3) There is actually a larger hole on the passenger's side than there is on the driver's side, making it easier to replace the passenger's side bulb than the one on the driver's side, once you remove the emergency release handle.

4) When you look at the bulb socket, you will see one of two flanges/fins protruding down toward you. The other one is on the opposite side of the socket, which you probably won't be able to see. The only purpose of these fins seems to be to help you turn the socket.

5) A long-nosed pliers will really help if you can't get your fingers in there.

6) The two sockets (driver and passenger side) are NOT mirror images of each other. To unscrew them, turn the socket so that the bottom fin (the one you can see) turns toward the driver's side of the car.

Hope this helps.

 

I am also happy to have found this forum. So here's my 2 cents worth.
My 2008 Sonata also goes thru a lot of light bulbs. So far all the tail light bulbs, three head light bulbs,(no high beam) and tag light.
Before the warranty was over the dealer would replace them, I don't know if they had to under warranty or if they did it just cause.
This time the warranty is over so they wanted to charge me for replacing two tail lights(on the trunk lid) and the tag lights. I don't mind paying them for work but I can replace light bulbs myself.

For the trunk lid tail lights:
Someone mentioned that there are a couple hex plastic cap nuts that appear to hold the trunk lid tail light assembly in place but it did not make sense to me that while everything else is held with metal screws that the plastic nuts would be holding the assembly in place so I did not mess with it. I took the trunk lid liner off, the sockets were easy to get to and I replaced the tail light bulbs.

For the tag lights:
I could not reach the lightbulb wiring socket for the tag light from the inside with the liner off. So I took a previous poster's advice and removed the lens from the outside.
I used a thin flat screwdriver and reached gently in the thin gap between the sheetmetal and the lens, reached the metal spring/clip pushed it about a sixteenth of a inch and the lens came right out.
*It is important to reach the spring/clip and push in to clear the opening and not just pry it with force.*
I twisted the light socket counter-clockwise and pulled it out, replaced the bulb twisted the light socket back in (it is a little tough taking it out and putting it back in because of a rubber O ring, so push in while turning.
The whole process took less than a minute on the second replacement. The first took longer, because I was learning my way around.
Having done it this way, I would never consider removing the liner for replacing the tag light bulbs.
Good luck.