September 16, 2016

Tucson Tom's Camry Pages - light bulbs

What can there be to replacing bulbs you say? More than you might think.

Headlights

These use a 9003 bulb. The driver side requires that you remove the battery to get it out of the way.

Pull straight back on the connector to remove it. No twisting or turning is needed! It may be quite tight. Then pull off the rubber boot. A clever spring clip holds the bulb and is easy to figure out. The new bulb goes in with a blade to the top (match up the connector if you are confused), then replace the boot and push on the connector.

Dome Light

This is a DE3175 as the original tungsten filament bulb. The DE3021 fits the "courtesy" only (and the license plate apparently). "Courtesy" is apparently the light inside the glove box.

Most LED replacement list themselves as fitting either, so my bet is that one is higher wattage than the other, but who knows. Some say that they have trouble fitting the new LED replacments into the sockets without bending the socket somewhat.

These are 31mm (1.25 inch), which is the distance from point to point.

I bought some inexpensive LED replacements (with six xx emitters), and they are very blue and not very bright, hence very disappointing. I also bought a Phillips LED replacement for full price at my local auto store, and it also was disappointingly dim. I think there is or was some brightness regulation. I want to upgrade to something that will seriously light up the car so I can find things.

I ended up buying these. I get two, so one goes in the Camry, the other in the Tacoma.

One guys review said, "Light up the interior of my truck like a hospital operating room." Once I read that, I was sold, along with other reviews saying they are almost too bright.

Side running lights

Some nimrod (maybe me years ago) replaced a 194 bulb in the side running light with a same size 168 bulb. The extra heat melted and damaged the fixture, so let's start with that.

Both 194 and 168 are identically sized "wedge base" bulbs, but the 194 is a 3 watt bulb and a 168 is a 5 watt bulb. More watts means more light, but also more heat. These are ideal candidates for replacements with LED's these days (and that will certainly solve the heat issue).

The rear fixtures (brake lights and turn signals) are accessed through the trunk by pulling panels. You will be well served to buy the special tool to release the plastic clips. I find it quite handy to just pull the entire module once you get past the beauty panels inside the trunk. This is easy (three 10mm bolts). Then the bulbs are:

My running light was actually labelled "W5W E1 2GL w8X" for what it is worth. This is also said to be equivalent to a 2825 bulb and both of these are 5W bulbs, but I still replace them with 194 bulbs. $5.50 for two at Autozone.

LED replacements with a T10 wedge base vary widely. You can buy very expensive ($10 each) items from OSRAM, or a package of 10 modules of uncertain make for the same price. Note that the no-name often have a bulky end that emits light so they may or may not fit where they belong, even if they fit in the base.


Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Camry pages / tom@mmto.org