5th gen 4runner Premium glove box/light issue

Hey there!
I am new to the forum but not to wrenching on bikes/trucks and everything with an engine. So, 8mos ago I made a huge financial mistake but a dream come true and bought a 2016 4runner SR5 Premium. I upgraded all the interior lights to LED's....except the glove box. I didn't even know it had one til I had 1bag left of my LED's labeled glove box. I found the tiny glove box light and when I "man" handled it trying to get it out I accidently pushed it into the abyss(aka the empty area between the attachment point and the above mounted airbag? I see there is 2 little plastic covers which I assume will allow me to access and/or drop the compartment down enough to retrieve the light fixture. My question is do I need a trim bar to open these little plastic squares or will a flat head do the trick?
Thanks in advance

 

Oh you are in for some fun...

FYI, the glove box LED can NOT be changed It is a module that is crimped onto the factory wiring harness, so there is no removing it or changing the color.

To get the LED module back in place you are going to have to remove the whole glove box to get at it. This requires;

1) Removing the passenger side door sill plate, kick panel, HVAC blower cover (under glove box), all held in with clips.

2) Remove passenger side center stack HVAC control panel trim bezel.

3) Remove the passenger knee airbag (3x10mm bolts, 2 are hidden behind small rectangular plastic cover. This gets you access to the 2 lower bolts holding the glove box in.

4) Remove the 2x10mm lower glove box bolts. Then use a plastic trim removal tool or large flat blade screwdriver to remove the 3x bolt covers inside the glove box. Press straight into the small gap between the bolt cover and glove box until they pop out. It will sound like you are breaking them, but you are not.
This exposes the remaining 3x10mm bolts holding the glove box in.

5)Pull the glove box out starting at the bottom to release the remaining plastic clips, but DO NOT PULL the whole assembly super hard, as the glove box light wire is clipped on top of the box. Clip the light back into place, and reassemble.

6) Crack open a drink of your choice, you're done.

 

Awesome, just awesome!!! I think I will skip to step #6 and let it stuck in the abyss somewhere since it wasn't working anyways...lol Thanks for your response I will def keep it to reference when I become more ambitious.

 

Yeah, this late in the day, I would too. Depending on how far it moved inside the dash, you might be able to get away with removing the inside side panel on the drivers side of the glovebox. That panel pops off so dealers can see the IMEI number of the telematics module on 4R's equipped with them, but you might be able to contort your hand up through there and grab a hold of the light. Wear a glove though, as the metal structure of the dash inside is like sticking your hand into a bag of razors. It's pretty sharp in spots.

 

thanks for the tip! I think I will stick to the drink for tonight it's been a loooong day.
I will try the 2nd option tom

 

Mr. Red
I popped off thensode panel amd back panel and was able to fish it out. What a piece of crap that tiny thing was such a hassle to remove. It never worked since I got the truck.

I am tempted to just cut the adapter off and modify it. I think i read somewhere that the 2016 glove box light does not ever turn off and that's why they made it so dim...??? From my understanding no matter if you open or close the glove box it has no switch or relay to turn it off.

Is that correct? Any thoughts or warnings if I choose to splice and dice a light that will actually function?

I respect your time amd advice it has been extremely helpful.

 

The glove box light comes on when the headlights are turned on. Whether that is when it is closed as well, probably, as I don't see a switch or sensor anywhere to shut it off when you close the glove box.

 

@glwood54 is correct, the glove box light is on when the parking lights, and headlights are on. Any time the dash is illuminated, so is the glove box. All the dash lights in the 4R use Green (Ill+) Grey (Ile-) that are powered and dim with the dash. With the glove box light, you have the Green (+) and a normal ground, hence no dimming function.

@xtricator21, that's actually a smart way to go to get access to it. The light shuts off, and you are correct, there's no switch for the glove box light, which there should be. My guess, Toyota wired it the way they did as a cost savings measure and for simplicity.

It looks like your light module is only half there. You should not see the two resistors. It looks broken, and is missing the top part with the LED chip. Is the top part still sitting in the opening for the light?

You should be able to splice in a light no problem.

 

Good choice

 

thanks guys!

@Old Red the tiny bulb and housing was in tact. it was shoddy and i chose to tear it apart for fun just to see how it was configured inside and of course out of frustration for how long it took me to get it out...i have alot of tools and MacGyver skills to pay the bills....but i am not a small girl lol and im an orthopedic trainwreck so it took a lot of twisting and painful contortions to get to it and I had more than enough dealings with it. I was either gonna pull the fuse and put it back in place in it's existing non working condition or modify and make it work one way or another. Since I put that much effort into it it only felt right to fix it and make it better. however I have not gotten that far as the humidity and heat was kickin my butt so i left it in limbo for now. I decided to give myself the rest of the day off. ill keep you all posted

 

Good to see Old Red the wise wizard of wiring, post again.

 

Agreed! @Old Red is very wise and helpful.
I am literally about to bite the bullet and slice and dice...or roll the dice...kinda nervous about this in the next hour or so...

to Clarify: I 1 trillion percent trust in @Old Red ,his advice and knowledge has already helped me more than you could know. Also I am 1 million percent confident in my ability to rewire and modify almost anything and probably have in the past but this is a new situation. i still owe 30k to the bank for this and it is the newest I've ever had so I am not used to all of the ins and outs when it comes to repairing, upgrading or wrenching on at all. My concern is that if they find out anything at all has been altered I void my powertrain warranty which is the main reason I bought it. I do not fear fire or explosion or anything crazy like that. I'm afraid that the new mod will blow the fuse or screw up the computer system or something as I have spent the day trying to eduMECATE myself and weigh the pros and the cons and have read a lot of horror stories that have resulted from things less than what I'm about to do. But here we go rubber meets the road I'm doing it I found a light assembly adapter in the garage I have tested and tried with my new LED bulb and it works great but it is definitely a jump from the tiny OEM setup as far as output goes and so is the underlying reason for my concern. If it does not cause any electrical issues it will be awesome especially because it is a round adapter that would fit perfectly in the glove box spot that would have been for a cig lighter aux power port in the older 4runners. Mine has the spot with a cover over it but I can't seem to pop it out. I definitely was able to get my hand back there to confirm that it's just an empty void and I'm not trying to drill it out or crack it trying to make a spot for it so that is my dilemma currently before I even do the wiring. It'd be stupid to wire it and realize that hey that door don't open so it don't fit and If It Don't Fit It Don't Sit LOL I'm going to take a few pictures of the situation and hopefully somebody is awake with an idea haha

 

Not sure it it will help, but some have added lights in the center armrest lid. May give you a bit of confidence or other options if read the thread...

https://www.4runners.com/threads/added-a-hardwired-automatic-led-light-inside-center-console.12908/

But, it looks to me that you have all the light needed in the glove box

 

i chickened out. too much money for me at stake (anything more tha 5centz is too much for me financially roght now. not worth the risk at this point

 

I was contemplating going down this rabbit hole. This thread was extremely helpful in making the determination that this is absolutely not worth it.


I've drilled holes in the cigarette power outputs on the center console to put rear footwell lighting in, I added lights under the seats, I'm putting lights in the cargo area, but I will not touch the glove box!

 

well, dang. I guess that answers the question I came here with. Looks like a tap light is gonna be my best option. To my knowledge, my light also doesn’t work. Although, maybe it only works when the glovebox is closed. Kinda like the opposite of a fridge light.

 

If someone really wants light in the glove box, a stick-on battery powered led seems the best course of action.