Ok, I'm dense. I pulled the cover and out came the multifunction display but I could not see how to replace a burnt-out, cruise control light without undoing a bunch of small screws. I really don't like disassembly of a display but if I have to, well I'm OK if someone has some clear instructions, perhaps photos? Right now, I'm thinking it is time to get one of the 'screw-holding' Phillips to remove and not drop the screws but gosh that seems more involved than I would expect. Also, anyone know of an LED replacement for the display incandescent bulbs? If I have to go to that much trouble, I want a fix that stays there . . . for a very, very long time. Bob Wilson
Hi Bob, I'm being lazy and looking at my combo meter pics from the steering-gear thread instead of walking out to the car. It seems as if CRUISE should be the middle light on the top row - are you saying there's not enough clearance between the black lampholder base and the circuit board for you to get your fingers in, twist the base 1/4 turn CCW and lift it out? In the worst case, it doesn't look as if it could need more than 2 or 3 screws out to separate the white lamp array thingy from the board to make access easier. It's possible that I don't remember some earlier disassembly steps to reach the state shown in the pics. I see what look like three vacant screw holes and one unplugged ZIF connector, so I'm guessing I had already taken some stuff off for the pic. The ZIF connector probably went to the other indicator lights on the left side of the meter. -Chap P.S. as for LED lighting, you can check the wiki page for the lighting specs I've been able to find, but I see I could only find the Toyota P/N and wattage for those lamps, but no lumen output, which you would probably want to match closely for appearance's sake unless you propose to replace them all in one go. You'd probably want a white LED whose spectrum would not look funky through the four different color filters of the legend card - which might or might not be easy, as white LEDs can have a rather gappy spectrum. If it were me, I might just buy the Toyota lamp and call it done. How long did the first one last? I don't remember the meter disassembly taking very long. If there were ever some lamps I might really want to swap for LEDs, they'd be the ones that illuminate the center cluster - they really are down at something like the third-to-last step of a loooong disassembly sequence. On the other hand (knocks wood), here I am 13 years out and haven't lost any yet. That may be because I tend to keep the dimmer fairly low. That's just because I like it that way, not for lamp life, but I do remember reading somewhere that the inverse relationship between filament life and applied voltage has an exponent of 13 on the voltage. (!) -Chap
The original bulb lasted for 10 years. My suggestion would be to remove the combination meter and replace all bulbs at once. Then you hopefully wouldn't have to worry about it for another 10 years and by then you may have disposed of the car.
Thanks Chapman, There is a dark, plastic cover over the front of the display and I could not see an easy way to remove it without taking a bunch of screws out. This is the point where I stopped. It looks like your photos are after the part was removed to the bench and disassembled there. I was hoping for something less invasive. Pat, I agree that replacing all bulbs would be a good way to go but the geek in me loves new technology. So I'll probably replace them all with LEDs (and include them in my will. <grins>) Bob Wilson
Bob, By now I don't remember just how I got it to that stage, but I'm pretty sure the unit comes out of the car with at most 4 screws and unplugging two wire harness connectors. (As you see in the pics, I didn't try to unplug the inclinometers, with their rather tiny electrical connectors; I just took out maybe 2 more screws and pulled the meter out inclinometers and all). Once it is on the bench, as you can see, access to the lamps is from the back (er, the side facing the front of the car when in place). It doesn't look as if there were more than three screws involved there, maybe fewer if you aren't trying to get access to the circuit board as I was. But if you're going to be in there anyway, might as well consider adding an LED on the EMPS WL circuit. Never know when you might want to read steering codes without your MiniVCI handy! If you do replace the existing indicators with LEDs, please report back on the specific LEDs you used, resistor value, lumen output, and how the colors look when viewed through the colored materials of the symbol card. -Chap
