Totally screwed up my car last night - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

captaincorolla · 10-21-2009, 10:37 AM

Last night I made a huge mistake. I tried to swap out my ignition light on my steering column. It currently had a single LED bulb (#74) and I wanted to exchange with a 74-xHP3 LED bulb (3 High Power SMD LEDs with wide beam angle radially mounted) to increase brightness. When I tried to change the bulb, it started flickering, I smelled 'hot electronics' and gave up and switched back to the original LED. Now the ignition light and dome-courtesy light will not turn off, ever. Whether the car is on, off or the alarm is active/in-active, they won't turn off. I had to remove the ignition bulb and turn the dome light to off. My car is a 2000 Corolla with an aftermarket car alarm. When functioning properly: the ignition and dome light come on when the car alarm is de-activated. They eventually fade to off, or turn off when the car is turned on, or the alarm is activated. They will turn back on, when the ignition is turned to off or a door is opened. Now, they're just on 24/7. When the dome light is set to "door" (which is the method where it won't turn off, period) it's very, very dim. When I change it to "on," it's full intensity.

This is probably less of an LED problem, and probably more of a "Matt screwed something up" or car alarm problem. I also think there's a better possibility it's the car alarm. I'm also thinking it might have something to do with the 'fade' feature my car has for automatically turning the lights off.

LOOKING FOR HELP! I have a friend that runs a shop that specializes in LED swapouts so I am hoping he can a lend a hand.

Flashmn · 10-21-2009, 11:53 AM

a led generally doesnt have a fade feature... but I'm thinking maybe 3 leds were too much for that circuit to handle.

fishexpo101 · 10-21-2009, 11:59 AM

I take it you did this with battery still connected or this was after the battery was reconnected? Not much you can do about it at this point.

Hard to say exactly where the problem is, could have shorted out a number of wires that are close by. Could be a fuse that blew out, but having the circuit stay on, when it should turn off - could be nearly anything.

Start by checking the wires for visible damage (missing outer jacket, blistering/burnt wiring, etc.) - if you have a multimeter handy, you can trace back the wires and see if you can find the short.

captaincorolla · 10-21-2009, 12:04 PM

Oh yeah, I did the genius move of changing the bulb while connected to the battery AND lit. Woo hoo! Didn't even think about it. I've done it a million times, and always disconnected the battery. I'll have to get in there this weekend and see what I can do.

captaincorolla · 10-22-2009, 10:09 AM

Bump.

Still hoping someone might have a little more specific insight. I appreciate the previous advice. Looks like I'm going to have to take it somewhere and pay someone to look at it.

Flashmn · 10-22-2009, 10:56 AM

I doubt you're going to get any more specific info online about it, theres only so much one can do from the other side of the screen.