1998 Toyota Corolla Lighting Issues

Sep 13, 2010 3 Replies

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The light on the right side of this picture went out a year ago. It occasionally comes on, but is usually out. Is this a light bulb issue, electrical issue, or a battery issue? I've owned the car for 5 years, driven it 70k miles, and never replaced the battery. I don't know if was ever replaced in the previous 7 years. This hadn't bothered me until I was greeted by this yesterday morning:



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The light that is out only effects the fuel gauge light and the right side of the speedometer. The fuel light and rear defroster light still come on.



Other than that, the car has slightly struggled to start a handful of times this summer. Nothing another twist of the key didn't solve.



Thoughts?


Just buy another one. Geeez, Toyota on the rocks and here are you are trying to keep an old one afloat.

Light bulbs are relatively inexpensive, so I would start by replacing the light bulbs for the HVAC control and instrument cluster. Replacing them shouldn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes.

The battery will not cause random lights to not work. Either all of the lights will go out, or none of them. If you have owned the car for 5 years, you are probably close to needing a battery, but the lighting issue isn't an indicator.

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