order a set of screw-drivers from Germany (in about a dozen different sizes).

You will find that their sets have screw-drivers of sizes not found here in the US. One of those will fit these screws perfectly.
And as Drex correctly said, to avoid stripping, apply direct (perpendicular) pressure on the screw. A small angle will begin to strip the soft screw.

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

 

Leave it to Carlos to make my explanation seem completely complicated!...Thanks for jumping in on this one, Los. Perfect explanation..."Perpendicular"...I don't know why I make things so complicated sometimes...

 

all in the spirit of the 1902 Mercedes SIMPLEX

now only if they were all that simple to work on

 

OH~my 10w superbright licence plate just went out again, this time i just replaced it like 5 days ago. And the inside like all melted. Do you guys think I can keep using this superbright bulbs or is there a better bulb to replace? I have tried a normal LED bulb for my car and it cant work. My car is 2007 C230. And I live in Vancouver.
Thanks for ur adivse

 

I had a burnt out licence plate bulb and finally decided to fix it. I have noticed 2 things:

The lenses are coated with dirt on the INSIDE! I wonder how dirt is getting in there.

The contacts were corroded and a new light bulb doesn't work. Going to clean the contacts tonight and see if I can get it working, otherwise gotta test with a voltmeter to ensure the corrosion hasn't damaged the circuit.

 

I got a 'right license plate lamp' display on the MFD...went around the car and the light is still on...I noticed that the lenses are coated with dirt too.

I should take it out and clean it too!
Is there any seal around the lenses?

 

there is a seal but the screws are super hard to turn so I think they're just not screwed in all the way from the factory and dirt gets in.

 

+1

 

Hi Guys,

Right License plate lamp not working. I switch my Hoen license plate bulbs and still not working. any idea?

 

maybe the contacts?

 

is this with stock bulbs?

 

Hoen bulbs (assuming he means their bulbs and not LEDs) work perfectly in our car for the license plate lights. Takes out the yellow. Sounds like bad contacts otherwise you might have a wiring problem.

 

I've had problems with the Hoens and others have as well. The bulb works in other places and stock bulbs work in the housing but hoens don't work on one side for me.

 

yes my contacts is lose. wirings are fine. thanks guys....

 

That's almost always the problem if it isn't the bulb.

 

I was getting a "licence plate lamp" message showing up on the instrument panel every once in a while. When I checked the 2 bulbs, they were both fine. I decide to clean the contacts that hold the bulbs and lightly sand the bulb contacts as well. One of the metal end contacts on the bulb had come loose causing the error to show up intermittantly. Not noticeable if you see how the bulbs are put in. Here is a photo of the bad bulb.

 

my oem bulbs worked fine but when i switched to hoen bulb i realized how dark and burnt the oem bulbs looked. they were almost black in color

 

but the hoen bulbs wont have error code right?

 

What's the bulb length for the license plate bulbs?

 

I have HOEN bulbs and no error, but the size of HOEN bulbs is shorter than OEM. It's been working just fine tho..