This forum saved me $1,100

S

Swammy

New member
I own a 2007 4 runner

I had a light out in my information center and a light out in my temp control

If you haven't had this problem, you will

My wife took the 4 to the dealer who said the complete unit had to be changed out, according to the Toyota mother ship

They didn't even have part numbers for the bulbs or how to do it

They quoted her $1,100 , plus install ..we had no warrantee

We went on this forum and searched the problem

It came up under ( Black light in info panel flickering )

All the info on this forum and that thread was great

We sent the information to the service manager and he looked it all over

He took the unit apart and went out and bought some bulbs

He replaced them all ( 5 ) and the bill was $120

Kudos to the service manager for taking some initiative

My wife told him it looked like Toyota was trying to gouge us

I told him Toyota should issue a service bulletin update on this panel, but they won't

If you have the time to do it yourself, go to the thread and it shows you how to do it

If you take it to your dealer, take the forum information with you

Thanks to everyone on the forum

Happy Holidays...looking forward to 2011

Swammy
 
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Awesome! I'm amazed every day what you can find online.
My gas furnace kicked on, then right back off...I checked under the panel and found a flame senser that looked dirty...googled some key words, and found a youtube video on how to clean the flame senser w/ sandpaper! Problem fixed.
Tons of great info on our 4runners here. Glad you found a fix to your problem!
 
Glad it turned out good for you. I'd seriously wonder about that dealership... they shouldn't need a TSB to think about light bulbs behind the dash.

That's a new joke - how many TSB's does your dealer need to change a light bulb? :zoom:

For a dealer near me, the answer would be at least 2 - one (or more) to tell them to read TSB's, and the second TSB to explain the problem. ("Over time, the filament inside the bulb will become weaker as the bulb is used. Eventually, the filament will break and the bulb will cease to provide illumination. The solution is to replace the bulb; see the Repair Manual for replacement instructions specific to the model of vehicle and bulb location. Such breakage is normal wear and tear, and is not covered by warranty beyond the first 12 months/12,000 miles of ownership.")
 
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Yep

There's a life lesson to be learned there.

Do your own maintenance. :cool:

If you want to save money, the dealership is definitely not the place to go. With the wealth of information available online and how readily available good tools are... no reason not to.

Google + your toolbox will save you a lot of money. Don't have a toolbox full of tools? Nows a good time to start building one.

Glad to hear it worked out for you.
 
Glad you had a dealer who was open minded and consider your advice.

I wouldn't be surprised if some dealers responded, "That's not an authorized Toyota service procedure. We're not following that." After all, they are a money making entity.
 
That was their initial response

I have bought 5 Toyotas from this dealer over the past couple of years and I wasn't taking no for an answer

After reading these threads, they understood

I just hope they help other folks who need their bulbs changed without charging a grand or more

Swammy
 

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This was my first DIY item from this forum as well. I had a bulb burnt out and thanks to that thread, I had it fixed myself in no time.

There is so much info on this forum its amazing.... and money saving. :reddance:
 
Ridger said:
This was my first DIY item from this forum as well. I had a bulb burnt out and thanks to that thread, I had it fixed myself in no time.

There is so much info on this forum its amazing.... and money saving. :reddance:
Click to expand...

X2!! My very first DIY fix and extremely cheap!

To the OP, as everyone is saying, read this forum and you'll never again be shafted from the stealership
 
Swammy, thank-you so much! So many of us post responses and never hear a thank-you. I'm glad it worked out for you and thanks to MikesToy for great, relevant responses :bigok:
 
jbrhymer said:
Awesome thread. I pulled the panel apart in a few seconds, and realized some of the smaller night illumination leds were burnt out. Ordered 3 x part 90010-09015 for $5 a pop. Will be nice to see the controls again at night.
Click to expand...

If you want to save even more money you can replace the bulb in the socket yourself with bulbs from Radio Shack. Bulbs are $1.99 a pair. #7219 Micro Lamp.

Take out the old bulb, straighten the wires, cut the wires on the new bulb to match the length and you are set to reinstall. I did all the bulbs in my panel last weekend, under $10.
 
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Chris...Thank You

These forums are a great help to everyone and you guys are the ones that do all of the work

I also belong to the Corvette forum and between both forums it saves me a lot of time and money

Thanks again and have a great New Year

Swammy
 
1) Great post OP. Rolling up your sleeves isn't just a great way to guarantee the quality of work, it's a great way to be sure that your mechanic isn't an idiot.

2) There is no particular need to get creative (for the technically challenged) with radio shack hacks since the factory bulbs are only about $4-5 each from the dealer. But yeah, if you have a little time and some technical skill, you can shave a couple bucks a bulb. A couple bucks is a couple bucks. That's TWO BK double cheeseburgers at participating locations.

3) I am not a Toyota technician and although I have an engineering degree, I am NOT an auto mechanic, have very little direct experience with car repairs, and don't really read a lot of car literature. When my dash lights started flickering and then went out, I just took a wild guess at the problem, removed the ONE screw that holds the climate control panel on and found and diagnosed the problem (bad lightbulb) in about 10 minutes. The fact that your dealer didn't immediately say, "It's probably bad light bulbs. It should cost $5/bulb and 1/2 hour labor" is a HUGE warning sign. YOU NEED TO CHANGE SHOPS

4) In what world is this a 1 or 1.5 hour service? I've changed bulbs twice and changed the entire control console once after my wife shorted one by spilling a coke into the dash. Even counting finding a junkyard replacement on ebay, ordering it, replacing it, and doing two additional light bulb replacements, I might be up to a total of 25 minutes work.

5) Great things I've gotten from these and other T4R forums?
-A link to the Toyota Repair manuals for my T4R
-The TSBs!
-Brake pad/disc change walk-through
-O2 sensor replacement walk-through
 
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GreatZen said:
2) There is no particular need to get creative (for the technically challenged) with radio shack hacks since the factory bulbs are only about $4-5 each from the dealer. But yeah, if you have a little time and some technical skill, you can shave a couple bucks a bulb. A couple bucks is a couple bucks. That's TWO BK double cheeseburgers at participating locations.
Click to expand...

I posted the Radio Shack option as all dealers don't stock the bulbs. The two nearest me do not.

They are very simple to swap your bulbs, if you can change the oil the bulbs are about as difficult.
 
It bugs me to no end how the back lit blubs in the runner burn out i got blubs burnt out all over the truck. the HVAC control & the heated seat controls are out.
 
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