[SliceOfLife]

I replaced my license lamps yesterday. They don't make it easy. Had to detach the entire rear light panel to get at them (about 10 nuts). My mistake was not taking the time to disconnect the harness and work out the grommetted boot from the trunk lid frame, so that the light panel could be worked on "on the bench". I thought I could balance the panel on the edge of the trunk lid frame, with the bottom line of bolts hanging in their access holes. It pretty much worked, except the spring in the trunk lid caught me off-guard and the left side bolts slipped out of their access holes; one of them put a quarter-inch vertical scratch in the paint at the lip of the trunk lid. :hide:

The lamps are 194 types that just pull out of the sockets which just twist out counterclockwise. Taking care to not get the silicone dialectric grease that I put on the base of the bulbs smeared onto the other ends was a little tricky because of the balancing act I'd committed to, but the bulb exchange was so easy that I managed without causing any further damage to my paint.

I still think I could have pulled it off, if I hadn't underestimated the finger-numbing effect of mid-30° temps on 58-year old hands. :duck:

 

[ThumperPup]

i just had mine out a few weeks ago had to replace the tail lamp bolbs on the trunk lid and the back up lights
that job sucked big time
when you say grommet boot from the trunk lid
your not talking about the weather stripping are you ?
if not what is it ?
i did not see anything there like a grommet boot when i had mine out

 

[STSS]

Don't feel too bad, I did the same thing a few years ago when I replaced the bulbs on my 01 (actually, the GF was holding the panel while I grabbed the bulbs.... oops)

Luckily the scratch was/is under the panel so you usually can't see it

 

[SliceOfLife]

i just had mine out a few weeks ago had to replace the tail lamp bolbs on the trunk lid and the back up lights
that job sucked big time
when you say grommet boot from the trunk lid
your not talking about the weather stripping are you ?
if not what is it ?
i did not see anything there like a grommet boot when i had mine out

No, it's not the weather stripping on the top edge of the panel (though I did treat that with a little silicone dialectric grease). All the lamps in the panel are fed by a harness about as thick as my index finger. It feeds through about a 3" hole in the trunk lid, behind the panel on the driver's side. In that hole is a rubber grommet-like thing, but it's kinda webbed. Most grommets just guard the edges of the hole from touching the wires running through it, which take up all the space within the hole. But because this hole is so much bigger than the harness that runs through it they, like, extended the grommet rubber into the space within it, to the harness in the center of that space. Where that extra rubber contacts the harness it is, like, shrink-wrapped to the harness for a few inches of the harness. I don't see easily separating the harness, at that point, from the grommet-like thing.

So, in your case, how was the panel connected electrically to the car? Were there a bunch of separate plugs? I thought, from looking at my parts list, that all 1998-2004 SLSs were basically the same.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Don't feel too bad, I did the same thing a few years ago when I replaced the bulbs on my 01 (actually, the GF was holding the panel while I grabbed the bulbs.... oops)

Luckily the scratch was/is under the panel so you usually can't see it

Ahh, the GF is mechanically inclined! What a delight!

As luck would have it, though, the scratch is not under the panel. It was a bolt at the top edge of the panel that did the damage. It is plainly visible, if you look closely enough. I'll touch it up, like I have for many other such imperfections (most of which were not my doing). From a distance she looks ok; but close up, it's like Barbara Walters in HD! hehehe

 

[ThumperPup]

No, it's not the weather stripping on the top edge of the panel (though I did treat that with a little silicone dialectric grease). All the lamps in the panel are fed by a harness about as thick as my index finger. It feeds through about a 3" hole in the trunk lid, behind the panel on the driver's side. In that hole is a rubber grommet-like thing, but it's kinda webbed. Most grommets just guard the edges of the hole from touching the wires running through it, which take up all the space within the hole. But because this hole is so much bigger than the harness that runs through it they, like, extended the grommet rubber into the space within it, to the harness in the center of that space. Where that extra rubber contacts the harness it is, like, shrink-wrapped to the harness for a few inches of the harness. I don't see easily separating the harness, at that point, from the grommet-like thing.

So, in your case, how was the panel connected electrically to the car? Were there a bunch of separate plugs? I thought, from looking at my parts list, that all 1998-2004 SLSs were basically the same.

Mine i think it was 3 plugs all ran on that same one long wire but when it split up there where 3 difrant plugs 1 big one and 2 small ones
might have been 4 but i dont really rememebr
and mine all ran along the inside between the trunk lid linner and the trunk lid itself
just unpluged them then unbolted the sevral nuts and pulled the panel out
the one thing that had me stumped was the screws for the license plate did not realize those had to come out in order to pull the panel out lol almost broke it but cought it in time

 

[SliceOfLife]

Mine i think it was 3 plugs all ran on that same one long wire but when it split up there where 3 difrant plugs 1 big one and 2 small ones
might have been 4 but i dont really rememebr
and mine all ran along the inside between the trunk lid linner and the trunk lid itself
just unpluged them then unbolted the sevral nuts and pulled the panel out
the one thing that had me stumped was the screws for the license plate did not realize those had to come out in order to pull the panel out lol almost broke it but cought it in time

Well, actually, I didn't verify that there was indeed a connector for the harness as a whole, I just assumed there was.

I didn't mess with the license plate at all! Hmmm...I wonder...did you have to take them all out, or just the bottom two? I don't have the bottom two installed...can't remember why.

 

[ThumperPup]

Well, actually, I didn't verify that there was indeed a connector for the harness as a whole, I just assumed there was.

I didn't mess with the license plate at all! Hmmm...I wonder...did you have to take them all out, or just the bottom two? I don't have the bottom two installed...can't remember why.

i dont have the bottom to screws for the license plate only the top 2 and had to take them out not sure why you would not and i would
maybe they did a small change in the year but not sure why they would have done that at all maybe you have screws that are shorter then mine and mine just go back further perhaps im not sure

 

[STSS]

Pup, you didn't have the pull the plate to remove the light panel... the screws don't go into the trunk lid, they only go into the plastic of the panel....

 

[ThumperPup]

for some reason i was not able to get the light panel to remove with the screw in there i don't know why

 

[STSS]

I know why, but I'm not sayin!

 

[ThumperPup]

hahahaha very funny
but no seriously with the license plate screwed in and i was pulling on the panel it was not budging when i unbolted the license plate it came out fine
so i don't get it

 

[STSS]

Look at the second picture in this ebay add... you can see the little plastic inserts that the plate screws into. The studs that go into the trunklid are the only things holding the panel on.... I'm guessing you just didn't wiggle the panel enough and one of the studs was hung up on it's thread.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SEVILLE-OEM-Trunk-Center-Deck-Middle-Tail-Light-Panel-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZMakeQ3aCadillacQ7cModelQ3aSevilleQQhashZitem3f0893a09fQQitemZ270726832287QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[ThumperPup]

ok im going to get to the bottom of this somehow for sure lol
im going to pull it again tomorrow if the snow melts and its suposed to be a bit warm just to see this is bugging me to know for sure lol

 

[STSS]

Also, check out this trunk lid... no holes for anything except the studs....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-99-00-01-02-03-04-cadillac-Seville-Trunk-lid-/320635904972?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aa763a3cc

 

[ThumperPup]

ok now im thinking maybe who ever owned the car before me used screws that are just to long and maybe they punctured the lid itself and screwed in there perhaps

 

[STSS]

Unless you bought the car from Superman, I doubt he got those screws into the trunklid...

 

[ThumperPup]

hmm ok well i want to know so im going to try it again maybe it did get snagged on something

 

[SliceOfLife]

The trunk keylock cylinder on the right side could be a hang-up. The right side of mine panel seemed wedged at its upper right corner. I had to work it off by lifting the left side of the panel first.

 

[ThumperPup]

yeah i remember that got snagged also