Interior LED installation finished...for now

Well last night was the first chance I had to put the interior LED lights in my 2000 SR5 so I took advantage of the spare time. Total time was about 1 1/2 hrs but that could have taken less time had I not had to check two plug-ins that were not functioning properly. Before I get started let me just list a few things that I ran into. For reference I posted some before and after pics.

Pros- I was fortunate enough that I didn't have to remove the complete lower panel under the steering wheel to put the lights in. I did unfasten the panel all except for the two cables at the bottom left hand side and moved it around toward the drivers side door (as seen in pic). The center console was pretty easy to remove. I also didn't have to unhook any of the wiring connections in this area which made things a whole lot easier. You can pull it to one side or the other to replace the A/C and temp control lights. To replace the lights in the A/C and temp controls area all you had to do was remove the face place of the unit after you initially pulled the front console piece off.

Cons- I was a little disappointed in the light intensity of the LED lights in the instrument cluster. What you see in the ads is not exactly what your dash is going to look like. Mind, I ordered the ice blue color but did get the 6000's which is the highest available, but to me, still a little dim than I wanted. Putting the LED lights in the bulb holders was not exactly easy. However I did have a young boy working with me and he was much more able to remove them than me. I guess it was my fat fingers, lol. I found it extremely hard to put the LED lights in the bulb holders. Again, this could be due to my big fingers. In one case I actually took a pocketknife and shaved the edges down on what I call the post area into a wedge shape. This helped seat the bulbs better. I wasn't even sure if this would damage the bulb but I decided to take the chance while I had everything apart and try it. The worst problem we ran into was that I could not get the bulb out of the holder located just over the power source. Long story short, we busted the bulb and then had to use needle-nosed pliers to remove the remainder of the bulb. Of course then I noticed that I could remove the bulb holder from the wiring harness. After removing the same housing from my '99 Solara I thought I had the problem fixed but the replacement one didn't work either. Anyway, I left that housing in it and will deal with it later. I also busted the two pushpins that hold the lower center console in place while trying to remove that section. Guess I'll have to make a trip to the parts store for them.

Final thoughts- Overall I am very pleased with the final product. Again, I wish they were a little brighter. I plan on replacing the dome and cargo lights in the near future but will probably use the clear ones in those areas. I would also recommend a magnetic tipped screwdriver when doing this job. Helps from losing those screws into "no-man's land". Hope this helps some newbie out there.

 

You can get rid of some of those hot spots by putting wax paper in the led housing. Looks great, I like the full blue look.