DIY: Dome light repair and light replacement

DIY: Dome light repair and light replacement

I've decided to share with you my hellish experience fixing my dome light. First off, my DE3157 6 hi flux LED dome light came, so I popped it in only to find that it doesn't pop in. The bulb is the standard 31 mm size that comes from factory. It's the retarded Toyota design that doesn't allow it to fit. The cheap spring loaded mechanism was defective to all hell. So after 30 minutes with a screwdriver and pliers, I hacked, mangled, and bent the dome mechanism into the right configuration to fit the bulb. In the meanwhile, I burned out two fuses while testing the fit and configuration of the bulb. Luckily, I had a spare (Finally something Toyota conveniently decided to include). With the bulb properly installed, the bulb would not light. If I were to apply pressure to the whole mechanism it would light. If I were to let go, it would die. I knew it wasn't the fuse or the bulb contacts, so I decided to take apart the switch mechanism since it seemed like the contact was bad. I unscrewed the switch and removed it only to have the tiny ass switch parts fall into the tiny cracks and crevasses of the car seats. (Mind you I'm doing this at 10 pm at night...) I was on hands and knees for about 30 minutes until I found the spring and ball bearing for the switch. The easy fix was to reinstall the switch and tighten it down for a better contact. That's right. If your dome light isn't lighting, it could be that the switch has come loose and weakened the contacts. So the bottom line is to check all your contacts! Don't take anything apart if you can. Sorry for the rant. I just hate Toyota's dome light design. Hopefully by sharing my experience, people won't have to go through this headache. But the good news is that the LED dome light is in and it floods the interior with white light. I can actually read a book at night. Much better than the stock one. I'll post pics tomorrow.