Nicaidas

How are you supposed to get these out? I wrestled with the LH assembly for about 45 mins until I finally had enough, and I broke it out. My RH assembly came out easy enough, but that's only because the previous owner had apparently attacked it with a screwdriver and broke it in the same spot.

After I removed it, I could see why it wouldn't come out (see picture):



I really don't see how this bit would ever fit through the hole. The hole just isn't big enough to let it slip though, and the plastic is far too hard to have any "give" (And it's brittle enough to crack and break with too much force). I ended up having to file the end of the broken piece down in order to pull it out, and then I was able to reattach it reasonably well.

To get it out I first took the screw out on top, and then I tried pulling the light straight out, no luck. Then tried prying with a screwdriver (wrapped it so I wouldn't scratch anything) and pulling, and it just wouldn't budge. Fortunately I didn't damage anything else in the process... I knew these assemblies aren't terribly expensive so I wasn't going to lose any sleep over breaking this piece off.

So, my question is: What is the "proper" method for removing these? At some point in the future I will get new R & L turn signal assemblies because one of the lenses was already cracked when I bought the car. As of right now, I don't see how I could even install new ones though.. unless I filed the end of this piece down. When I reinstalled the broken light, even after I filed this bit down and reattached it (some glue and tape), I had to lean into it with all of my body weight(170lbs) and give it a big shove to pop it in.

The only info I've ever found was from celsiorup.com, and it said you just pull it out (if only it was that easy...). On my particular vehicle i just can't believe that these could have been removed without breaking them...

Kansas

Maybe the previous owner did something that made the housing hard to remove.

First of all - never use a screw driver to pry one of these turn signals out -- it doesn't distribute the force and, as you found, will do damage.. All it should take after removing the one screw is to grasp the leading edge of the turn signal housing (where it meets the headlight lens) with your all your finger tips and pull it away (to the side) from the body. If you have to use any tool to get it started, use a wide flat blade putty knife or scraper to distribute the force evenly along the leading edge of the turn signal housing.

I don't recognize the portion of the turn signal in your picture -- maybe I could if you took a photo of the entire housing.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

turn signal next to the headlight (not the side marker) right? mine are cake to take out....and stay in properly.

Nicaidas

I already re-installed them, but I found this picture. My picture is of the same spot that is circled in red in this pic:




I had no trouble getting my finger tips in there.. I just had to apply so much force that I started hearing it crack, so I figured the damage was done and yanked it out.

Yes. I sure wish mine were. These things just don't fit right. It's almost like they aren't OEM parts, but they do say TOYOTA/STANLEY on them. One of them has always slightly bulged out just above the bumper, and the other one, well, it's seen better days now. At least it fit back in and stays in place.. looks fine from the outside

Anyway, I guess the only thing I can do is try buying a new one sometime and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice Kansas.