488 Replacing license plate light bulbs

I did this task today on my 458 Spider and the photos are the same. Earlier in the Summer I replaced my License plate bulbs with LED's which gave the rear a more modern look. However, the LED's do not put enough wattage and caused an error message to show up in the Left (TFT) display screen. My dealer tech could not clear the error permanently and I just got tired of seeing the Low Voltage warning message so I put the original bulbs back in.

To replace the bulbs I used a plastic interior tool but the first time I just used my index finger. It was easier to use the tool. You need to slide each housing to the right as you look at the rear of the vehicle to compress spring. Using the tool today I slightly moved the housing to the right to a point where I could get the tool edge under the edge of the housing. Then you can gently and carefully pry down the housing to remove it from the body and get to the bulb per the photo. I did notice that today it was easier to remove since I had taken them out once before. Hope this helps

 

Also note that you may have to remove your license plate to give enough room to drop down the light housings.

 

It can be difficult and take a bit of force.

And yes, I switched to LED and learned to live with the symbol in the TFT

 

You can always wire in a small resistor w/ the LED.

Ray

 

Just keep in mind that only one side will rock out. The other side is held in with that little half round plastic part you see in the photos. If you apply some pressure to each side, it should be fairly evident which side wants to come out.

Ray

 

Do you have any details to share such as the tulle of resister and how/where to install?

 

Not off the top of my head. However, you could always take the original bulb and measure the resistance and then just buy a small resistor and try soldering in. Some LED's from china come with a very small resistor already soldered in. I'm assuming here that the error code on the TFT is probably due to the ECU sensing a lack of internal resistance from the incandescent bulb vs. the diode.

You might also want to check the voltage drop across the OEM light (while it's on) and then use Ohms law to compute the approximate resistance in the circuit when it's on as well. This should give you a ball park figure. You can then perhaps start with a very small resistor (in conjunction with the LED bulb) and work your way up until the car's ECU detects that the circuit is how it wants to see it.

Ray

 

I used Sylvania LED’s throughout the car and they provide a bright “daylight” brightness but you are correct the Sylvania 194 LED does not put out the power out that the car is looking for from the license plate lights.

 

Has anyone found led lights for 488 license plate?

 

I am not sure about the 488 but when I installed the LED's for my 458 license plate the car did not like the lower voltage and I received an error in the Left TFT. I had one of the Techs at my dealer try to override or turn off the warning light but he could not. I finally got tied of seeing the warning light and also explaining to my friends that it was just the LED bulbs in the license plate. I replaced them with the original bulbs. However, I do love the look of all of the other Interior, puddle light and Frunk LED's that I installed.

 

Anyone use no fault less that don't throw fault codes? Used these on my Audi, and it worked that was 6 years ago. Had a Porsche and it came with leds so didn't need it. Curious if these no fault leds work in Ferrari


I bought from this place as they were higher quality (allegedly). I confirm that I never got a fault code


https://deautokey.com


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Are there dimmer bulbs we can install?


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Can you give us the part # for the license plate bulbs in LED proven not to trigger the codes from the sight? "Ferrari" is not a drop down choice I can make.

 

I have successfully installed resistors and LED license plate lights without the dash error.

The resistors and bulbs are from Amazon.

Amazon.com: Terisass 2 Pcs T10 LED Headlight Decoder Turn Signal Headlight Light Bulb H7 Canbus Error Free Anti Flicker Resistor Canbus Connector : Automotive



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Ordered!

Bravo! Which exact bulbs did you go with?

 

I used these bulbs:

Amazon.com: T10 LED Bulb, OUSHI Canbus Error Free 2835 Chipset 12V Super Bright 6500K Xenon White W5W 194 168 158 2825 Replacement For Car Interior Light Dome Light Turn Signal Light Indicator Light (Pack of 4) : Automotive


Make sure you install both resistors. One for each bulb.

I hard wired the resistors into the factory wiring.

 

So both your bulbs and resistors are "error free" I see. I take it the bulbs alone "errored"?

Do you believe the bulbs themselves need to be "error free" as well for all this to be successful? In other words, do you think the 'error free" bulbs had anything to do with the final success of the system?

There's a lot of trial and error as well as variable nuance in decoding the result.

 

I believe so.

I tried the following:

- bulbs as is- got error
- both resistors and one bulb- got error
- both resistors and both bulbs - no error

So this combo worked for me.

 

But you never tried the resister with regular LEDs?

I only ask because I currently have some regulars here but if you tell me these won't work as per your science, I'll save time and order those can bus bulbs now.

 

No I didnt. Just had these LEDs to begin with

I tried these LEDs with Philips resistors, didnt work.

The system is quite finicky. I can confirm the above combination worked for me.

 

Great info. A definitive solution needs a sticky.

 

Good luck. Please post if it works for you as well.

 

parts ordered!

 

OK, after some thought I finally figured out the connection after determining the resistor won't fit in the housing! Duhh.


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