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Highlander Taillight replacement warning

7K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  sweeneyp 
#1 ·
Replace my reverse lights with LED's they said. It'll be easy they said...

Ok, so reading the forums here I saw that it is nearly impossible to access reverse lights from the little access way they provide. No worries, I just took a bunch of the trim off to get better access to the bulb.

Now the LED's that I got to replace via Amazon seems just right for the job:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K3GBRQ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I noticed that the LED bulb did not fit as far into the socket as I would have liked. I plan on notching the plastic housing just a little with a razor blade to obtain a firmer fit.

As I was installing the second, driver side, bulb, the bulb fell out of the housing and dropped between the frame way down into what I call, Never Never Land. I have spent the better part of 3 hours trying to locate and remove this bulb, fearing that leaving it will result in a rattle that will drive me nuts. No luck. I may spray some expanding foam down there to freeze it in place for all eternity.

SO, I'd say please make sure the bulb is extremely well seated and that you shove a rag or something into the gap when installing bulbs to save yourself from this grief....:frown:
 

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#2 ·
Ugh.. What a PITA
 
#3 ·
Man that sucks! I know rattles drive me nuts too, so I hope you find it or...it just doesn't make any noise.

I noticed that the parking light in the headlights were the same. I tried multiple leds and non of them seated properly. I was scared that I would loose a bulb inside of the headlight and have to fish it out lol.

I ended up just putting the old bulb back in.

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
:lol: you just have to twist your arm enough to get to it. I have large hands/forearms and mine barely fit. Having said that, wait until you have the bulb come out of the socket INSIDE the taillight....that really makes your day, don't ask how I know :lol:

There are cavities in the chassis on that part of the car, if you drop it it'll either fall into the eternal abyss or into the main cabin area (around where the OEM trailer connector is). If you can't find it quickly, chances are its fallen where the sun don't shine.

Oh and next time you can get away without completely removing the side trunk panel. If you remove the fasteners near the trunk opening, you'll be surprised how much you can force/bend it out.
 
#5 ·
Sweeney,

I'm no stranger to this region. A few years ago water started soaking up in the front passenger side under the carpet (a HUGE mess). I checked all the usual suspects, AC condensers, sunroof drains, door seals, etc to no avail. I removed the entire interior so as to dry the carpet, and then with everything out, had my son run water of the entire car. I finally found the culprit behind the bumper in the rear.

There are chassis plugs roughly under the taillight assembly/ behind the bumper. Water around the hatch is designed to flow behind the taillight and drain under the bumper. The rubber chassis plugs in question did not have a solid fit at all and had fallen out (they were found lying on top of the bumper insides). So rainwater was able to enter the cabin at this point, puddle in the left rear baggage area and then propagate all the way up to the front floor board on the passenger side.

Fixing the problem was simple, I reinstalled the plugs with windshield tape and even followed up with good old fashioned duct tape on the outside.

This job was a major PITA as you can imagine. On the plus side, I shampooed the carpet while it was out, dried it thoroughly, and redid all the insulation.
 

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#6 ·
I simply notched the plastic bulb housing slightly on each side and that got me that satisfying "snap" as the LED fully seated. I'm glad you shared this as it prompted me to go back and pulled the one I had already installed and notched that one as well...
 
#7 ·
Not to be a total a$$, but what is the point to replacing the backup lights with LEDs. I could see replacing the tail/brake lights or fog lights with LEDs, but why the backup lights. Are they that much brighter than incandescent bulbs? Just seems like a lot of work to do for something that is only use when you drive in reverse. >:D
 
#9 ·
^ And that would be worth it. If you live where it's dark, factory backup lights are not bright enough to see by. Why they make them so dim is anyone's guess (probably in the fed vehicle code).
 
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