Parking lamp bulb replacement for '01 RAV4
Yeah, I went thru this aggravation with my '01 RAV.
The Toyota RAV4 owner's manual shows how the bulbs unscrew, but doesn't address the very crucial issue of access.
It's a bear.
There's just not enough room to reach your hand down in from above, grasp the back of the bulb socket, then untwist.
Not even my gf's smaller hand could do it.
It took a while, but I figured it out. Good thing, too, because both bulbs crapped out on me, and I had state inspection coming up.
Couldn't see taking it to the dealer for this little item.
(Aside: Anybody else have a lot of bulbs go out in less than 4 years, including these parking lamps, the brake lamps, the license plate lamp, the console gear indicator lamp?!)
Here's what I did:
I went in from below. That is, I went to the wheel well, in front of the tire, where the plastic of the wheelhouse meets the metal of the fender. Force your hand in between there (not sure if I had to remove a screw or bolt), then reach up and grip the sucker. Twist counter-clockwise to unscrew the bulb socket. It has enough wire to lower down to where you can undo the bulb easily enough.
I put some oil on the socket before putting it back in, so next time it will go a little easier, 'cuz it was still a bit tough to unscrew, but do-able. Oh yeah, I wore a latex glove to get the best grip. Just my bare hand slipped off.
The Haynes/Chilton manual does not cover this.
But now you know one way to skin this cat.
Thank heaven (and Kelly) for RAV4 World.
RAV on.