Previa Dashboard Lights Bulbs

TVT appears to have a bunch of threads on dash bulb stuff for the Vanwagon, but only a few for the Previa, and those are somewhat specific so I thought I would start another one. Forgive me if somehow I missed things with my searches involving common words such as Previa dash dashboard lights bulbs.

My thought is that it would be an informational base for people doing standard stuff - replacing blown bulbs, where to get them cheap, part numbers, bulb specs, how to make LED upgrades work without unintended consequences, etc. rather than specific problems with particular circuits (but whatever, contributors will add valuable information regardless).

I just replaced some switch backlight bulbs on my '91 and was unwilling to pay $10 each for the dealer replacements, and couldn't find reliable info for standard incandescent alternatives which had been successfully used, so this is where I'll start.

First, check out this thread for disassembling the dash... "How to disassemble the dash on a previa" by timsrv.
http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...le+dash+previa

When you put it all back together DO NOT reinstall the two bolts which hold the radio from underneath. That way you can subsequently take the radio out as the very first step, leaving everything below intact, and get to the upper dash a lot quicker without the fiddle and without chancing breaking some of that lower stuff....

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The switches I had to replace the backlight bulbs on were the Hazard and Rear Defogger switch.
Both take the Toyota part # 84999-10320 which is a 14V, .84W incandescent and costs a whopping $10.
The bulb is the one which has been removed from the defogger switch in the photo below (AC switch in background)
Incidentally the red bulb is the one which illuminates when the switch is turned on, part # 84999-10470 14V 1.4W ...

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After searching for a while I decided to use a standard two wire terminal "7219 miniature bulb" for replacement. It was the closest wattage I could find in an incandescent (14V, .72W). Just unwind the legs of the old bulb from the base to remove it, insert new bulb and rewind the wires. Done. I found these at an electronics shop for $1 each.
Old bulb vs new bulb....

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You can see that the bulb itself is physically smaller ~3mm in diameter and shorter in length too (I think the Toyota one is 4mm in diameter) but it still works fine. If you do use this smaller bulb the next detail is important...
To make sure that the bulb does not sit too low in the base and hide some of those photons I stripped two pieces of cable sheathing, 3mm long, from some small diameter wire and slipped them over the wire legs before inserting the bulb. That way the bulb sits up higher and the filament isn't obstructed by the base.

The bottom line - happy wallet and the switches are illuminated almost exactly the same as the stock bulbs, which is what I wanted.

Just replaced the cluster lights on my toyota pickup with green leds, T10 194, and T5 76 . Have some left over to do the previ a. Will post some pics when inStalled. The Previa Cluster Is Easier than The Pickup To Remove. Did The 4runner Cluster swap on the pickup so would have tach, tripmeter, and more guages.

After 27 years and 245,000 miles I finally lost the fuel gauge illumination bulb. Being an incandescent kind of guy I replaced with an old school stock bulb.

Using Timsrv's dash disassemble thread combined with my shortcut [radio bottom screws permanently removed] (see first post above) I had access to the offending bulb in literally 3 minutes.

It is a 12V 3.4W T10 wedge bulb, with a green rubber cap to give it the relaxing greenish glow. There are several of those bulbs back there. Part #83109-24030. $9.80 from Toyota.

https://parts.toyota.com/a/Toyota_19...2440-8301.html

In the same parts diagram there is also a 12V 3.4W T10 wedge bulb, costing $0.81 !! Part #00234-00158. The only difference - there's no little rubber thing over it. Apparently the Japanese really like tiny green condoms and charge $9 for them.
No need to buy the $9.80 bulb. Buy the $0.81 bulb and you get to be able to tell your friends that you reused a condom! It's made of pretty good rubber, mine was still very stretchy, with no holes or tears.

If you go to an auto parts store/bulb supplier I believe the closest is a #184 or #194 bulb for about $6 for a package of 2.

Has anyone replaced an overdrive light? It appears mine has stopped functioning.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonny

After 27 years and 245,000 miles I finally lost the fuel gauge illumination bulb. Being an incandescent kind of guy I replaced with an old school stock bulb.

Using Timsrv's dash disassemble thread combined with my shortcut [radio bottom screws permanently removed] (see first post above) I had access to the offending bulb in literally 3 minutes.

It is a 12V 3.4W T10 wedge bulb, with a green rubber cap to give it the relaxing greenish glow. There are several of those bulbs back there. Part #83109-24030. $9.80 from Toyota.

https://parts.toyota.com/a/Toyota_19...2440-8301.html

In the same parts diagram there is also a 12V 3.4W T10 wedge bulb, costing $0.81 !! Part #00234-00158. The only difference - there's no little rubber thing over it. Apparently the Japanese really like tiny green condoms and charge $9 for them.
No need to buy the $9.80 bulb. Buy the $0.81 bulb and you get to be able to tell your friends that you reused a condom! It's made of pretty good rubber, mine was still very stretchy, with no holes or tears.

If you go to an auto parts store/bulb supplier I believe the closest is a #184 or #194 bulb for about $6 for a package of 2.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonny

If you go to an auto parts store/bulb supplier I believe the closest is a #184 or #194 bulb for about $6 for a package of 2.

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Those might work but the stock ones are actually #158. I can see the number 158 on the Toshiba bulbs I just pulled out of my 97, which is fortunate because I had already bought 158 long-life bulbs earlier to replace them.

Good to know what Toyota uses.
Recently I found this great site for browsing bulbs of all kinds.....
https://www.bulbtown.com/category_s/...show=30&page=1
You can waste hours here!
The link goes to a page selected by wedge base, but you can search by voltage, bulb #, etc etc. Interesting that Toyota chose to use a bulb with a 500hr operating life for the dash when the 184 and 194 are much higher (7000hrs for the 184). What am I missing here? For bulbs buried within the bowels of the Previa I know which I'd get.

Has anyone just gone ahead and replaced all the dashboard bulbs while they are in there? Is that practical? Are they all the same bulbs?
Toyota Dealer quoted me $260 for 20 bulbs and $340 labor to replace all 20 of them... going to look at thread for dashboard removal and see if I can do it myself...just wanted to think about replacing them all once I am in there.

Also, the stock radio is gone in my 95 Previa, which is the one with the gear selector bulb out, will that make it easier to get into the dashboard lights?

The most troublesome part of accessing the bulbs on a stock Previa is getting the sliding tray/cig lighter assembly out in order to remove the radio. If your aftermarket radio allows you to get it straight out you are more than 1/2 way there. If you decide to disassemble yourself, don't do it on a freezing cold day. Old plastic, cold weather and first-time learning experiences are not a good combination.
There are several different style bulbs back there. Unfortunately the parts diagram links don't seem to work now and I can't get the diagrams any more on my computer, so I can't help besides what is written in the posts above. You may have better luck. The plain wedge bulbs are cheap (reuse the existing green rubber caps). The bulbs with the integral plastic base are expensive. Replacing them all would mean you'd probably never have to go back in there again (keep the working old bulbs - they're still good for future emergencies). I've only lost 3 bulbs in 300K miles and 30 yrs. Personal choice thing. I don't think there's a wrong or right method to the replacing.

Another trip to the Yahoo! Previa archives to dust off this photo essay by "bat00k" and some comments by Eric Collins.

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There are 2 bulbs that provide illumination for the PRND2L bar, and they each have little green caps on them. They are specialized bulbs that are only really available from Toyota.

They are part number 90072-02010 for the 2 illumination bulbs with green caps. There is also a bulb in there for the "O/D off" indicator that is the same size as those 2, but it costs twice as much without the cap! So buy 3 of the ones with the cap and just remove the green cap for the "O/D off" indicator if you want to replace it.

You'll have to remove the instrument cluster to get to these, so you might consider replacing the illumination and "warning" bulbs for the cluster. The illumination bulbs are a standard 158 type, but I would recommend using 194LL bulbs there which will also fit. 194LL will last longer than the stock bulbs so you shouldn't have to replace them again (Note- later posts were about LEDs). 4 of these bulbs have green caps, but you can reuse the caps from your old bulbs (be careful removing them though b/c they sometimes melt and stick to the old bulbs after so many years of use). There is a 5th bulb of this size in the combo meter for the fuel indicator, but it has no cap, so you can just use a 194LL directly in that spot.

The instrument cluster "warning" lights are part number 90981-11018, and you'll need 13 of them if you want to replace them all preventatively. Note that although they look similar to a standard #74 wedge bulb, they are actually slightly smaller, and the #74 bulbs wont fit in the bulb sockets very well, so just get the actual bulbs from Toyota. At a minimum, I would replace all 5 illumination bulbs in the combo meter with 194LL, and maybe some of the more "critical" warning lamps like oil pressure and A/T oil temp (AWD only). Hope this helps. Eric

Hey, I'm new around here and trying to figure my own situation out. I'm missing all of the caps that hold the bulbs in for my warning lights, save 3. Is there any way to order lights that have that part included or am I simply reduced to searching pick and pulls for that?

Are you talking about the base sockets? It seems like all these bulbs/sockets are still available from Toyota. Some or all were used in '90s model Corolla and Camry.
If you want to buy new find an on-line oem parts site which has part diagrams. Here is one...
https://parts.lakelandtoyota.com/sho...rimLevel=18232
I like the fact that when you choose a part there is a "what this fits" option to see what other vehicles use it.
DO NOT order from these guys. Their service is TERRIBLE.
Sometime it takes a while to figure out which assembly diagram your part is in.

Personally, I think it's a good idea to have a bunch of spare bulbs on hand. Again, you can get many of these from other '90s Toyota models at the scrap yard.
Here is my yard bulb selection. Should be OK for a while with these! Note the fuse puller and elusive functional cup tray clips also!
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