When I bought my H2, the previous owner had taken the spare tire and mount off. He gave it to me when I bought the vehicle and I’ve since reinstalled it. I didn’t even think about the license plate light until I got pulled over for not having one. I bought a generic light off Amazon. Is there a plug or harness I can tap into?

 

You don't show your license plate? Do you have it covered? State law states license plates need to be visible from 50ft., modern plates are reflective & easily covers that distance.

 

He got pulled over for not having a light on his license plate, it's state law in KS that the license plate must be illuminated and I am sure it's the same in most states.

The harness runs through that hole in your bumper cover, I just looked at mine and found a part number on the harness, maybe it will help. 15246319A harness asm rr lic plt lp wiring is what the tag on it reads.

 

Yes, light on rear plate is required in most places, reflective plate or not.

and yes, harness is missing. Look behind rear bumper. If the guy was smart at all, he bundled and strapped it under there. But I doubt he was smart, as evidenced by the gaping hole in the bumper.

 

I've owned 40+ vehicles since driving back in the '70's, and NEVER got pulled over for a burned license plate bulb! Temp tags are mounted in the rear window & legal in all states(no bulb to illuminate). Why does someone get pulled over for an inoperative license plate bulb? Answer>>>> A reason to pull over a vehicle under surveillance with authority to search the vehicle.

 

The officer was nice. He just gave me a warning. I bought a LED strip off Amazon and wired it into the trailer harness. $13 is better than $150+ for the factory harness.

 

I have an 2009 H2. I guess yours is either a 08 0r 09. That hole is where the special grommet plugs in. There is a hole in the grommet for the lead wire to pass thru and up the back side of the square tube carrier. Those 4 divot's you see on the back side carrier are where a wire holder plugs in. The lead wire passes thru the holders into the rear and to the holder that the tire sits on which contains the bulb housing and socket.

Not sure where power comes. from. You'd have to look that up in the shop manual. I bought some aftermarket L.ED. plate lights and tapped into the normal feed.

The other wires you see coming off of that main wire feed are Back Up L.E.D. Lamps I added which are under the tire carrier buttom.