Remove Dome Light Housing

[rageandlove]

Has anyone ever removed the dome light housing - not the lens, but the whole housing? If so, care to share how to do so? I came up with 0 hits searching.

Mine has had a metallic rattle that shows up from time to time and for whatever reason it's become full-time in the last few months, so I'd to remove it and see what's going on.

An initial glance looks like it might be damaged ... there is one tab (green arrow below) that appears to move, but the one on the other side (blue arrow, and close up below) appears to be sheared off.

The rattle is on the opposite side from the sheared off piece, however.

Anyway, I figured I'd ask if anyone has ever had one of these out before I go try myself and potentially mess up the headliner ...

 

[lewdog998]

yes....I have by accident...I was not paying attention and pried the whole housing out, not just the lens.....I was a little worried it would not fit back tight, but it worked out. No damage to headliner, but i would not recommend. Why do you want to take out the whole housing?

 

[rageandlove]

yes....I have by accident...I was not paying attention and pried the whole housing out, not just the lens.....I was a little worried it would not fit back tight, but it worked out. No damage to headliner, but i would not recommend. Why do you want to take out the whole housing?

As I said above, there is a pronounced metallic rattle coming from the housing. All I have to do is tap on the lens to recreate. And any time I hit any sort of bump (tiny or big) I hear the rattle in my right ear. So I need to figure out how to stop it.

 

[lewdog998]

As I said above, there is a pronounced metallic rattle coming from the housing. All I have to do is tap on the lens to recreate. And any time I hit any sort of bump (tiny or big) I hear the rattle in my right ear. So I need to figure out how to stop it.

ah yes...i am bad about not reading emails and messages fully. I don't remember exactly, but I do recall mine being loose when I first put it back in (and i was thinking oh crap i just screwed this up)...and I had mess around with it to get it back right. Anyways, point is, it should be fixable. Sorry not much help.

 

[Humble Leader]

somehow I managed to bonk my head pretty hard in the back seat on the roof and noticed the housing was hanging down on one side very slightly. I didn't remove it but I saw enough to see how it was held in and was able to put it back in

on the centre of the left and right side edge there is a little clip that clips up into the headliner, like a hook. I had to use a screw driver to push the hook towards the centre of the vehicle, then push up the housing, remove the screwdriver and let it hook onto the headliner wherever it hooks onto. that fixed it for me

see if you can use a plastic pry tool on the edge right under the headliner to pull it down ever so slightly and see if you can see any sort of clip. it should be pretty visible, you might have to then use a screwdriver to push it out. I think if you do that on both sides the assembly should drop. there may be a clip on the front and back as well

just be careful not to break any clips/tabs

disclaimer - I'm often wrong, I often break things, my description may be completely inaccurate so I hope it doesn't steer you in the wrong direction

 

[WaldoJPL]

...Howdy!... ound::cowboy: ...check out Wanderlust-Overland...they have many excellent detailed vids on how-tos..and one of them deals specifically with how to remove the dome housing to replace the bulb...But, it's a real *****!....Good Luck....Cheers!... :cheers:

 

[rageandlove]

Update for in case anyone ever finds this thread for their own use.

The housing comes out fairly simply. The two tabs (that the arrows point at in my picture above) push in which drops those two corners of the housing and then you can gently rotate it and two other attachment points on the opposite corners come free.

I had to use a tool to move one of the clips because it was broken.

I am hoping that the rattle is a result of the broken clip which seems to be less secure.

You can buy a new housing + lens but the piece that holds the bulb is part of the wiring harness that runs all over the roof.

Part number is 8124035020B0.

We will see this weekend if that was the problem behind the rattle.

 

[sunnah]

The housing comes out fairly simply. The two tabs (that the arrows point at in my picture above) push in which drops those two corners of the housing and then you can gently rotate it and two other attachment points on the opposite corners come free.

You are correct it is pretty simple once you start poking around up there. That being said I had the exact same issue to. When I was swapping the bulbs I hit it loose. That is a reflective plate/heat shield. I was able to clip it back in securely. And then pop the housing in all the way.

 

[climbikeski]

Update for in case anyone ever finds this thread for their own use.

The housing comes out fairly simply. The two tabs (that the arrows point at in my picture above) push in which drops those two corners of the housing and then you can gently rotate it and two other attachment points on the opposite corners come free.

I had to use a tool to move one of the clips because it was broken.

I am hoping that the rattle is a result of the broken clip which seems to be less secure.

You can buy a new housing + lens but the piece that holds the bulb is part of the wiring harness that runs all over the roof.

Part number is 8124035020B0.

We will see this weekend if that was the problem behind the rattle.

Thanks for the pics and info! I'm in the same boat... I accidentally broke one of the corner clips because I forgot that I could pop the lens out, instead of the whole dome light housing. So now the housing doesn't stay in the headliner, the broken clip causes it to drop down eventually. I'm going to order a replacement housing + lens... but have you figured out how to remove/disconnect the end of the wiring harness/bulb socket from the dome housing? I'm tempted to use a pry tool to pop it out, but I'm afraid of damaging something and then having a bigger problem on my hands with the wiring harness not snapping into a new housing properly.

 

[Humble Leader]

I thought of this thread because I went to replace the housing. it is actually very simple to remove the housing from the harness. in the picture below there are two spots where you can insert a pry tool and GENTLY pop each side out. took me about 10 seconds total to remove the housing

as the poster above mentioned be careful because if you mess up that wiring harness you're screwed. the entire metal piece that is in there pops out and pops into the new housing, lightbulb and all. the Front represents forwards direction. so if you pull the housing down the front is where the toggle switch is

edit: the sand beige housing is 81240-42020-E0

 

[emmantik]

I did the same when I was trying to figure how to add lights to run with the dome light operation;

How to tap into dome light

 

[Humble Leader]

I did the same when I was trying to figure how to add lights to run with the dome light operation;

How to tap into dome light

that's a nice useful mod. there's basically no light in the trunk area in stock form. looks very OEM