Under dash light bulb removal

[RonP]

Does any one know how the under dash (footwell) light bulbs come out? I am switching mine over, and tried pulling the bulb straight out but it is not coming out?
Any ideas appreciated

 

[scottdk]

Does any one know how the under dash (footwell) light bulbs come out? I am switching mine over, and tried pulling the bulb straight out but it is not coming out?
Any ideas appreciated

Actually, you just have to pull harder, the bulbs are stubborn.

 

[ctrcbob]

Also note that my bulbs had a "blue Condom" over the bulb. Removing the condom did not help with the amount of light in the footwells. Some day, I will try to change the bulbs for brighter ones.

 

[dataguy]

On the difficulty of removing the bulb: Agreed, it's very, very hard to pull the bulb out of the socket. Don't worry about yanking too hard, as the bulb is one piece of glass (there's no plastic or metal ballast at the base of the bulb. I ended up using a pair of pliers and gently grasped the bulbs to pull them out. Just be careful not to shatter the bulb.

On the blue plastic on the footwell bulbs, I think that's to give the incandescent bulbs a cool white look that somewhat matches the overhead LED color temperature. Replacing the blubs with LED's and/or leaving the opaque lens cover off of the bulb well will greatly improve the amount of light down there.

 

[Bernie]

Yep, I had lots of problems removing mine also. In fact, so much so, that I ended up tearing the blue sleeve, making pulling even trickier. I ended up using plyers and busting the bulb. Once busted, it's a real job removing the socket. I strongly recommend that you pull on the bulb with gentle tugging. Don't use plyers!

 

[scottdk]

On the difficulty of removing the bulb: Agreed, it's very, very hard to pull the bulb out of the socket. Don't worry about yanking too hard, as the bulb is one piece of glass (there's no plastic or metal ballast at the base of the bulb. I ended up using a pair of pliers and gently grasped the bulbs to pull them out. Just be careful not to shatter the bulb.

On the blue plastic on the footwell bulbs, I think that's to give the incandescent bulbs a cool white look that somewhat matches the overhead LED color temperature. Replacing the blubs with LED's and/or leaving the opaque lens cover off of the bulb well will greatly improve the amount of light down there.

Just like you mentioned I actually just left the covers off and that produced better light and more light. What I mean by better light is higher clarity.

The bulbs suck to removed, and it took me longer than I thought it would. I just crabbed some duct tape about 3 inches in length at most and folded it over the bulb. This gave me a ton of grip and I was able to pull the bulb right out.

 

[GripperDon]

Duct tape forever!

 

[RonP]

THANKS to the person who suggested DUCT TAPE for removal of the lights!
Mine came out in about 10 seconds!!!
RonP

 

[scottdk]

THANKS to the person who suggested DUCT TAPE for removal of the lights!
Mine came out in about 10 seconds!!!
RonP

 

[Teo]

I found out the easyest way to pull the bulbs out is to put a piece of double sided tape over the bulb and then grab it.

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