i have a 98 xjsport and where the wires travel up the boot lid arm one has been repaired and masking taped up. when lifting the boot lid the lights come on and when closing it they go off. does anyone know which colour wire feeds the plate lights?
the only other solution i have is scotch lock a feed from the tail lights in order to rectify this.

 

it seems to me that you have an earth problem.You didnt say if the lights were on or off when this was happening. If they were off i would look to see if the boot wiring is not bare and grounding , or if the wires are connected to the wrong recepticles. if on look to earths.

 

thanks lumppy, it only happens when lights are on, when the boot is open they are on but about half way to close they go out,
it looks like a previous repair by someone else has now broken as there is a bullet connector already in line. i think its shorting on the metalwork as the boot is closed.

 

If it was shorting you'd blow the fuse. You've got an open circuit somewhere. I've had the same issue on my BMW. The power and ground wires are hooked up correctly, or the lights wouldn't come on at all. Take apart any previous repairs, most people don't know how to fix wires properly. Inspect the whole run of wiring anywhere it flexes around the hinge point. One fix is to splice in a new section of wire, with butt splices above and below the section of harness that flexes all the time. Make sure the new wire is reasonably flexible too.

 

thanks for the reply! i'm going to take apart the repair and feed a new wire in then mask it all back up,