Dashboard / Ashtray lights out

[fenixus]

Hello,

I have my old 2000 Solara I4 and it happened that some bulbs recently went out. quite a few of them. i replaced 3rd brake light bulb myself and left head light assembly in workshop (had a collision before x-mas). now i have 2 more burned out bulbs that I'd like to fix at low cost, first for ashtray and second underneath the fan control knob.

Can anyone post some screenshots of manual or something similar explaining in easy steps the process of de-installation of the dashboard?
By dashboard i mean the plastic parts covering the area around radio & control knobs (for fan speed, heating, air flow direction) and ash tray.

It doesn't seem to have any clips or screws visible to me and i do not want to brake that parts in process (got 2 left hands LOL)

thank you.

[Akfahad]

start from the bottom up: take out the coin holder/ash tray and remove the cigarette lighter. Now grab the plastic where the ash tray used to be and pull slightly and work your way up. You'll see immediately the wire connections for the ash tray bulb and the connector for the cigarette lighter. The ash tray bulb should just pull out and swap (that one is easy). As for the manual climate control section: once you have the center plastic piece totally off (easier to work with once it's off), I believe the climate control is held in place by 4 phillips screws on the corners, remove them and pull the unit out. Now it's been a while, but from what I remember you don't have to remove the connectors on the back. The face plate of the climate control unit is held in place by some tabs, two on the top and two on the bottom I believe. Shimmy the face-plate off and the bulbs should be visible. Pull the bulbs out GENTLY.

[fenixus]

thanks Akfahad!

sounds simple.
will follow your guide in spare time. now at least i know how to bite that cake, thanks again!

[fenixus]

SUCCESS!

Thanks again, wanted to confirm that afterall it looks easy now, but without Akfahad step by step instructions I wouldn't dare to do it (was affraid to brake something).

bulbs replaced, all works nice!

I think I wanted to share with others the fact that you won't be able to buy those tiny bulbs from a local store (i checked Autozone they didn't have them at all).
However local Toyota Parts dealer store had them, these are the part numbers:
-Bulbs behind the Climate Control knobs (total of 2):

"Heater Control Bulb" 90069-98004 (sold in QTY 1)

-Ash tray / Coin holder light bulb

"Bulb 12V, 1.4W" 90981-11018 (sold in QTY 10 but was able to buy a single one)

NOTE: do not discard the green rubber thingies covering Heater Control bulbs as dealer will sell you them without it (need to put them on new ones to keep the green light glow).

Hope it helps others!
cheers.

[Akfahad]

glad everything worked out!