1993 Tercel Bulb Replacement

[Ambrosity]

I've searched and searched all over the net and all over this forum but can't for the life of me find how to do either of what I need to do.

I have a 1993 Toyota Tercel DX automatic that has a couple of burned out bulbs..
First of all, I need to replace the bulb in my gear selector. I'm a noob when it comes to anything to do with cars. I don't know how to go about getting to the bulb.

Second, the lights behind my AC / heater panel are out. I don't know how to get to those either..do you have to take the whole dash off? and if so how do you go about doing this?..Or is there some magical way to get to the bulbs without having to take everything apart? I'm really hoping somehow it's the latter

Anyway, any kind of help would be appreciated! It's driving me crazy not being able to see either of these at night!


One more thing that has been bugging me since I bought this car.. What is the best way to go about driving this car on the freeway (60-70MPH speeds)? I've read in multiple places that this car is only a 3-speed transmission and have noticed it does only shift twice, so if I just let it normally shift, by the time I get up to 55MPH my car bucks and I lose engine power. I've tried manually deciding when to shift from second to third gear, which seems to do the trick for the engine bucking, but it still sounds as though I'm running at a decently high RPM by the time I reach 60MPH. Any tips?


I know I am so car stupid

[Ambrosity]

Did more research and still can't seem to find anything on either of these

[noahthefrog]

I would check your electrical connectors behind the heat/AC panel first. You can just reach around behind the center console cluster and wiggle (don't pull, just jiggle) the various wiring harnesses and connectors to see if the lights flicker on. In my '89 Tercel and a previous Nissan Sentra I owned, I ended up having a short in one of the connectors rather than a bad bulb.

For replacing the bulbs, removing the entire dash is probably not necessary. You will probably have to pull off the cover part that goes around your stereo and heater/AC selector knobs much like you would if you were replacing the stereo. Usually it just pops off if you pry at one of the bottom corners with a putty knife or wide flathead screwdriver. A Haynes Manual will give you some diagrams as to what you have to remove to get to what parts and may tell you what bulb type you need.

For the gear selector... I don't know how you would get at that, but you can just plug in a cigarette lighter LED map reader light and aim it at the selector for an easy work-around fix. Also, glow in the dark fingernail polish will work to label things if you can't or don't want to take it all apart to replace the bulbs.

As for your transmission question... You should probably check your automatic transmission fluid to make sure it's full and not burnt looking if you are getting unusual shift behavior. It may need more added or to be drained and refilled, much like you would with engine oil. For reference, my '89 stick-shift Tercel runs at almost 4000RPM at 60MPH, so if you're in that range I wouldn't worry about RPM.

The bucking and such could be spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and/or rotor being worn out, therefore not producing good strong spark. Could also be clogged fuel injectors or a number of other things. Also, these cars hate ethanol (E10,E20) and cheap-o gas (Raceway and the like) - get a tank of premium gas from a Shell or Chevron station and see if things get better.

Hope that helps.

[Ambrosity]

Thank you so much for your response! I'll be getting into the stereo compartment today to put a DIN cubby hole in so I might as well see if I can do something about this bulb situation..

I do still need to check all of my fluid levels and I will probably run a fuel injector cleaner through my car's system. Hopefully I can figure out something

[Ambrosity]

Well, months later and I still have burnt bulbs in the back of my AC panel and gear shifter! :P Anyone have any ideas?