Quote:
Originally Posted by JamieG
Thanks everyone for the help as it's a salvage vehicle (which simply means it was in an accident and the insurance company already paid the retail value of the vehicle instead of actually fixing it).
The accident was minor and had nothing to do with the lights but when a California vehicle goes into salvage, the title always has to be changed, the license plates always must be replaced, and it has to have a $60 STAR smog certificate and a $150 California DMV Brake & Light Certificate. Only after that can you pay your registration which has to be done in person because they have to check the VIN and they check that the replacement parts aren't stolen (nothing was replaced as the accident just destroyed the rear bumper).
In the California DMV Brake & Light Certification inspection, they check that all the lights work (including when you press on the brakes and when the high beam goes on the dashboard blue light has to also go on) so I wanted to test the lights first before spending the money for the check.
When I tested the lights, the two white license plate lights didn't go on with the headlights, and those two side white/yellow corner lamp lights didn't go on ever either. (There is no "key fob". There's just a key.)
I'm glad the YouTube video shows that the headlight doesn't have to come out first as I couldn't figure out how that corner light comes off. I'll try it tomorrow in the daylight and let you all know how it goes. The YouTube video says the front corner lights take a Toyota 194 bulb. Apparently it needs just a single Phillips head screw for each light.
I'm glad I watched that video because I may have to sand the headlights if they're fogged as that would make them fail the inspection also. Interestingly it seems the corner light has to come out before the headlight can come out.
I may also need to adjust the headlights as they did in this YouTube video (but I don't know the dimensions for setting the high beam - do you?) |
Someone else should weigh in on the marker lights, but I know mine blink with the taillights when I lock the car with the keyfob. Outside of that, I've never been able to figure out another way to turn them on. When I originally bought my car, I thought they didn't work because of that until I noticed that they do flash when you lock the car with the keyfob.
The marker lights don't need to be pulled to remove the headlights, but you do need to remove the grill to access some of the screws.
If you have OEM headlights, they should be glass, so you don't need to worry about sanding them, frosting only happens to plastic lenses over time due to UV exposure.
To me it sounds like you are way overthinking this. Replace the license plate lights and double check that everything works and get it inspected.
