The left front blinker bulb is out on my 98 Avalon. The owners manual shows removal of one philips head screw to release the assembly from the car. I've removed the screw and pried fairly forcefully around the assembly, enough to crack the plastic on one area. What am I missing?
Try removing the adjacent side marker light first.
They seem to be in the same package on this car.
Sorry, without looking at the car, I'm out of ideas. Perhaps the local toyota dealer would be kind enough to show you?
All right, I'm going to answer my own question, just so it's in the archives for some future seeker to find.
Toyota screwed up on this design. There's a barbed plastic hook on the outboard side, near the top. Pry on it a bit and it will break, because it's old and brittle. Below that, there's a locating pin, also plastic. It will also break.
Now, about two inches from the inside edge of the assy. and two inches up from the bottom, there's a fairly robust plastic pin, about 1/4" diameter, or maybe 3/16. You can see it, once you've pried hard enough to break the other parts, if you have a laproscopic surgery camera. But, there's no way to get a tool in there to push on the back end of it.
This plastic pin goes into a molded plastic bushing that goes into a molded hole in a big plastic frame that holds, among other things, the headlight assembly.
This arrangement comprises a snap-in, snap-out mechanism. I bet it works great for a couple of years. Then the plastic parts get brittle, and dry, and they don't slip or flex. So, after spending ten or twelve hours trying to coax this thing apart gently, you simply grab it and yank hard enough to break the hole that the pin goes in.
Change the blinker bulb, which is now white instead of yellow, if you shopped where I did, and you're back on the road. Of course, your entire parking light and blinker assy. is now held on by one tiny sheet metal screw.
Incidentally, if you decide to take apart the *other* side, just to see how it all goes together, you can break all the little tabs and pins on that side, too, like I did.
you shopped where I did, and you're back on the road. Of course, your entire parking light and blinker assy. is now held on by one tiny sheet metal screw.
to see how it all goes together, you can break all the little tabs and pins on that side, too, like I did.
Sounds like the kind of luck I usually have w\ those "simple" things like changing a bulb. Thanks for the info AND the chuckle dc
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