Starlet 1994 Speedo-light Broken

[PHP Junkie]

Hi,

A week ago the lefthand light behind my speedometer (and petrol-indicator) went down. Slamming the dash won't help, so I think that after 12 years of faithful service, the bulb has broken down.

When it's dark, I don't see my speed until I reach 100 K/h, so I want to have the light fixed :)

Is it possible to replace this tiny lightbulb myself, or do I have to unmount half the dashboard for that (I'm not THAT handy ). On the other hand: I'm not looking forward to a garage-bill for three hours work if I can do those three hours of work by myself. Underneath the overhanging "roof" over my speedo are two screws, but I'm a bit afraid to remove them, afraid I won't be able to get everything back the way it should be. Has any of you ever done this before? Is it possible to fix this by myself? Or should I just call my toyota-dealer?

[BALIKBAYAN]

Hi,

I have changed those lampbulbs in my Corolla several times. Some of the screws might be hidden behind the vent grills. It takes some time to dismantle the dashboard, but it is not difficult. Remember to put all those screws so you remember how to put them back. Good luck.

LM

[PHP Junkie]

Yesterday I tried to remove the lot, but it didn't work out as I expected. After a lot of struggeling (there's a steering wheel in the way! :)) I managed to remove the black cover over the meters, and found five screws underneath. I removed them all, and found that the complete unit (with the speedo, the fuel-indicator and the thermometer) had come loose. However, I can't move the unit more then an inch to the left or right, because of all the cabling attached to the back.

At the moment my dash looks like this:

Should I try to remove the transparent cover? I tried that yesterday, but faild to do so, since the clip in the lower middle is kinda impossible to open (I can't reach it because there's a steering column in the way). You can just see it in the picture righ next to the crack I caused in the cover yesterday (but the crack will probably disappear behind the black cover once that's back in place...

Hope anyone out there is able to help me out in here...

Thanks in advance!

[BALIKBAYAN]

Hi,

Try to get your hand in the back of the dashboard and release the wires that hold the dashboard. You could if you want to remove the wheel, but that should not be necessary. If you have an airbag you must be very careful. If you do wrong you might release it. That is no good.

[PHP Junkie]

First of all, I can't reach between the meters and the dash, my hands are bigger than the average Japanse hands I reckon :)

Second point: If I manage to remove the cables from the back, how on earth do I connect them back once the whole thing is removed? The cables don't appear to have much lenght for playing around with 'em.

Last question: I'm a bit afraid to do it, but if I need to: how do I remove the steering-wheel? I looked at it yesterday, found one screw underneath the steeringwheel that I removed, but that didn't do anything (I did place it back just to be sure ) .

On the back of the steeringwheel are two holes. I can't look in 'em, and my screwdrivers don't feel anything that feels like a screw-head in there. To make sure, I took my digital cam out, and took a photo of the back of the steeringwheel, but on the photo it became clear that there was nothing useful in the hole (so it seems).

Should I just pull the horn-button (covering the entire front of the steering wheel) off, as my collegue just mentions?

My Starlet is a 1994 type, centuries before the airbag got common in cars this small, so that's not to worry about.

Thanks again!

[BALIKBAYAN]

Well, I don't have anymore suggestions for you. You better put everything back and let a mechanic do the job then.

[gazza1286]

Is it possible to drop the steering column? This will give you much better access and theres no need to remove the steering wheel. To do this will be relatively straight forward. There will be some larger bolts/nuts - probably 14mm. Probably 4 in all straddling the column onto the bulkhead. You will just need to remove the trim below the column to gain access.

Good luck.

[PHP Junkie]

For the moment, I'll just follow Balikbayan's advice and seek help of a profesional mechanic (or, if the price is too steep, I'll just leave everything as it is.)

Everybody thanks for helping!

[PHP Junkie]

Due to heavy traffic this morning, I had plenty of time to take a good look at my still not fixed speedo-unit. Tonight, I managed to release the transparant cover and after that the black plastic cover.

It now looks like this:

The lefthand light (between the speedo and the fuel-indicator) is the one that's broken. Because the three meters lie on top of the white plastic frame, and the lights are more or less "in" the frame, and the space between the two meters is less than 1 centimeter, it's impossible (for me) to even reach for the lightbulbs, let alone replace them. I tried to remove the speedo (by removing the two tiny screws in the middle) but the needle of the speedo is preventing me from removing the black disc. I assumed the needle would be easy to lift off, like the arms of a clock, but it's firmly attached to the meter itself.

Can anyone advise me how to remove the needles, so I can remove the black discs, so I can replace the lightbulb, or (if possible) can anyone advise me how to replace the lightbulb without having to remove the needles and meters?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[BALIKBAYAN]

Hi,

my experience is that the lightbulbs are placed from the behind. They sits in the socket that is mounted from behind. If you get a tool for extracting lampbulbs, it could look like a tiny hose, you might be able to pull it out from the front.

[PHP Junkie]

This weekend, I phoned my garage to ask them if I could stop by to have them take a look. They asked me what I was up to, and I told them the entire story. The guy on the phone told me the same, the lights are reached and replaced from the back, and, he added, if you have come this far in taking things apart, you'll have no problems dismounting the ente thing to replcae the lights from behind.

So there I was again, in my car, reaching in to disconnect all the cables. The electricity wiring was easy, they're all on the edge of the white housing. However, there was a cable in the middle that was sooo tight, I could not reach it, let alone disconnect it. I drove to the garage, to ask for help.

The mechanic was not so sure about the lights being reachable from the back. He took a set of tweezer-shaped pliers (does this make any sense? I don't know what else to call it ;-) ) and pulled the lights out of my dash in a jiffy. With the same pliers he pushed the new lights back in and (after connecting the electricity wires at the back again) everything was done.

Lesson of the day: Dashboard lights in a starlet are easily replaced from the front, just pull 'em out.

Everyone thanks again for thinking with me!