2014 Side Mirror Bulb Access

[harkco]

Does anyone know how to access the side mirror puddle bulb on the 2014 side mirrors?

I searched and found this.....

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/62252-interior-lighting-mod-4.html

However, on the 2014's there is no direct access to the screws that hold the bulb housing once the mirror is popped off.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[harkco]

Bueller....Anyone....?

 

[1engineer]

Bueller....Anyone....?

Can you take some pictures with the mirror glass removed? Also of the outside housing where the light lens is mounted would be nice.

 

[harkco]

Will take some pictures tonight. Thanks!

 

[harkco]

Ok.... Here are my crappy cell phone pics from this morning in the dark....

I tried to pop off the square inset on the bottom of the mirror which surrounds the actual light, but it did not seem to want to pop out.

 

[1engineer]

What is that located to the left of the white mirror mount? It looks like two push through clips. What is on the outside of the housing directly behind it?

 

[ROBSCOOL]

Access to the bulb is definitely done from the back of the mirror. No need to pop the mirror out as we did on previous generations. You need to pop off the plastic mirror housing. Just pull straight back and it will pop right off. From there you're on your own...I haven't changed mine out yet, I've been too busy. If I do it this weekend, I will post a write up.

 

[NoDak]

Access to the bulb is definitely done from the back of the rearview mirror. No need to pop the mirror out as we did on previous generations. You need to pop off the plastic mirror housing. Just pull straight back and it will pop right off. From there you're on your own...I haven't changed mine out yet, I've been too busy. If I do it this weekend, I will post a write up.

i hope so. that would solve my apprehension on replacing the side mirror lights.

i thought it was nuts you had to remove the glass to get to that bulb. probably too many broken glass by techs on replacments.

 

[harkco]

Access to the bulb is definitely done from the back of the rearview mirror. No need to pop the mirror out as we did on previous generations. You need to pop off the plastic mirror housing. Just pull straight back and it will pop right off. From there you're on your own...I haven't changed mine out yet, I've been too busy. If I do it this weekend, I will post a write up.

Great - thanks. I will give it a look this weekend.

 

[eddiebx]

Since you have the mirror off...look around and see if you can release these clips (and any other similar clips like this you see) by pushing them in slowly. Maybe this will release the plastic mirror cover so you can reach the bulb socket...

 

[Speedy Gomez]

:snacker:

 

[NoDak]

dont think that will work. if you look at the original picture from underneath, you can see an outline of the lens cover. the clips in the othe picture are holding something to the housing, two different things i think.

 

[eddiebx]

dont think that will work. if you look at the original picture from underneath, you can see an outline of the lens cover. the clips in the othe picture are holding something to the housing, two different things i think.

I don't have the mirror in front of me, so could you tell me...is the mirror housing two pieces or one solid piece? On my old car I had to unscrew the two piece mirror housing behind the mirror and then pop the back of the housing apart. This releases the puddle light assembly and allows it to drop down and gives you access to the socket.

Honest, I can't really see exactly what it looks like, I'm just taking a wild guess. We need high res clear pictures STAT, lol.

 

[ROBSCOOL]

I don't have the mirror in front of me, so could you tell me...is the mirror housing two pieces or one solid piece? On my old car I had to unscrew the two piece mirror housing behind the mirror and then pop the back of the housing apart. This releases the puddle light assembly and allows it to drop down and gives you access to the socket.

Honest, I can't really see exactly what it looks like, I'm just taking a wild guess. We need high res clear pictures STAT, lol.

2 pieces, no screws, the plastic back pops off. I will do the write up tonight when I get home.

 

[Speedy Gomez]

2 pieces, no screws, the plastic back pops off. I will do the write up tonight when I get home.

Can you please post some pictures with your write up?

 

[ROBSCOOL]

Can you please post some pictures with your write up?

I sure will

 

[Speedy Gomez]

I sure will

You are the Mann! Uhh..... without hair. LOL! JK

 

[harkco]

Since you have the mirror off...look around and see if you can release these clips (and any other similar clips like this you see) by pushing them in slowly. Maybe this will release the plastic mirror cover so you can reach the bulb socket...

I tried pushing on the plastic clips last week when I had the mirror off. They didn't seem to release anything. Looking forward to Rob's write up tonight - So many helpful people around here. :clap2:

 

[Speedy Gomez]

Looking forward to Rob's write up tonight.

Shotgun! I have a front row seat. op2:

 

[ROBSCOOL]

Here we go- it was actually way easier than I thought!

Step 1: remove back cover of mirror assembly. I marked the area with a red dot where you should start. Pull back and up with a slight pressure and the cover will pop right off. The tabs are strong, so dont worry about breaking them. Just be careful not to let it go flying and scratch up your paint.


Photo showing back of cover:


Step 2: that yellow wire leads to the puddle lamp. Remove the 2 screws from lower cover assembly. Next you need to pry off the lower cover. It's attached at several points, so the way I did it was wiggle it free on the right, then middle and then left and it came off pretty easily.


Photo showing back side of lower cover assembly, once removed from mirror housing.


Step 3: Twist the light socket from the lens assembly to reveal the old bulb and replace with your fancy new LED.



Reverse the process, reassemble and boom, LED puddle lamps.

Side note- taking this thing apart really explains all of the wind noise these things make while driving. There are no real seals or gaskets, so they just whistle dixie.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions!