antlese

Hi everyone.

The light bulb just above the interior door handle in the front passenger door is blown on my GX. I'd like to replace it, but I'm not sure how to get access to the bulb. Would someone be able to help me out?

Thanks in advance!

LZMF1

you have to take the door apart to do that plus you have to solder the bulb in. that statement is coming from experience. look for my thread in the lighting forum. you'll see what i'm talking about.

aljodoro

I have replaced mine a number of times (5 maybe) as I try different led’s. The light assembly comes out from the door skin. You pry it out. I cannot remember which end of the light you pry from. Get a thin screwdriver. Be very gentle and pry on one end. Feel it there is a movement and gradually it will come out. A word of caution one end is not going to come out by prying as there is clip that hooks to the underside of the door skin. You’ll have to break that clip to get it out from that end. The other end has a flat spring which compresses and allows you to slip it out. It is pretty low pressure to pop it out. The lamp unit is a nicely designed item that comes out as one unit. Then, you remove the bulb holder and put in a new bulb. Push it back in. You may be able to look at the light very closely and tell which end is the one to pry.
I’d go do it but my car isn’t here. Don’t take the door skin off. That is pretty easy to but there are hidden pieces to remove.

antlese

Thanks LZMF1...I did read your post and look at all your pics while I was searching the forum. Very nice...but I'm not sure that I really want to get into that...

aljodoro...Are you referring to the courtesy light near the bottom rear of the door? I'm talking about the little light just above the door handle. I have tried to pry the plastic piece out. But I was afraid that I would break it.

If there is soldering involved I may not bother. Never tried to solder anything...

Thanks guys.

LZMF1

antlese....it's not that hard to do but if you don't feel comfortable doing it find someone who will do it for you. i did all 4 of mine in under a half an hour it almost looked like an assembly line on my workbench/desk :-P.

aljodoro

Here are some photos of the courtesy light removed. Small screw driver on the front edge and they are out. Sorry about not reading which light to be removed.

I would encourage everyone to learn to solder. Weller soldering iron, solder and heat shrink tubing. You can practice with scrap wire. Heat the wire with the soldering iron and flow the solder on. Simple and easy. Lots of places on the net to look for instructions. When I was a kid every kid knew how to solder. How else did you make a heathkit? Very useful skill.

LZMF1

aljodoro those are not the ones he was looking to replace. he was talking about the LED above the door handle inside the car like the ones i posted a link to up above ^^^ i understand that you realized that but i figured i'd put the pictures here

here's mine

the courtesy light in the doors are a breeze to do. the ones for the handle are a wee bit different and harder to do. here's a pic of what antlese is talking about.



to access these you have to basically remove the padded armrest and a couple other things just to gain access to the screws that allow you to remove the door panel. it's very easy to do if you know what you're doing.

antlese

Thanks again guys!

I just had a bunch of LED lights delivered. Purchased them on ebay for my other car. I will definitely take a closer look at what you did LZMF1 inside your GX. Will need to do a little more shopping for the kind you have pictured above for the soldering.

I plan on learning to solder (google) and will give it a shot.

LZMF1

antlese, i bought most of my bulbs on ebay. they are 194 wedge base bulbs, what i did was remove them from the base and solder them in. if you do go ahead with the project just remember the pin with the resistor is +positive and obviously the one without is -negative!

soldering these is actually pretty easy. just take your time

antlese

LZMF1, the 194 LED wedge base bulbs are what I have as well. I didn't know about pulling the base off them. Very cool. I believe the ones I have are too bright though for the subtle light that I want over the door handle. But I will give it a try and see what it looks like.

LZMF1

the covers for the LEDs are rather thick and opaque......almost looks like unfiltered sake at the thickest end. the bulbs are really toned down and softened up by their respective covers. if you look at the pic i posted above you'll see in the pic comparing bulb sizes. if your bulbs are anything close to the diameter of mine you will have to enlarge the area that the bulb fits into once the cover is in the assembly. i kind of reamed the first one with a drill bit. it was tedious and annoying so i grabbed my unibit and did the other 3. not as neatly done as the 1st but it doesn't really make a difference since only a sliver of the opaque cover/lens actually shows.

LZMF1

alrighty then!! i just checked in my gx and as it turns out the lights are all part of the PCB not an easy swap if you're interested in replacing the actual LED. now if you want to spend alot of money and replace the entire switch assembly it'll be a piece of cake.

i noticed tonight that my window switches are illumnated. i hate the boring green color and would love to make it a nice white light but i doubt that'll happen.

Vint

Nobody mentioned where to get the bulbs or what bulbs they are. To replace the originals I here is what I found: https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...-mcd/314/1246/

I tried the yellow first but liked the orange better. They are a little brighter than original but are the dimmest I could find. They are 3mm Though Hole bulbs that are 2.2V.

The soldering was real easy. Just held the circuit board with needle nose pliers to the soldering gun while gently pulling on the bulb. Then it was easy to just push the new bulb through. No new solder required.

Make sure the positive and negative are right! They don't work turned around. I know. Just look at the slant inside the bulb and put it the same way.

Hope this helps others.