2007 Touring License Plate Light Replacement

The other day I had noticed one of my license plate lights was toast and needed to be replaced. I searched the web and Prius chat and found various "how to" posts and videos. None of them were very clear to me. So I decided to take pictures and hope this helps someone down the road...

First off, some tools that came in handy. A flathead screw driver used to pry...I actually did not really need this, but if the blue clips do not come out with the large plastic piece you may have to pry them out. My Leatherman came in handy, specifically the pliers to remove the little bulbs from the plastic housing. A flashlight...not totally necessary, but it did come in handy for me. WD40...this really came in handy when removing the plastic light housings!


This is the plastic housing that needs to be removed from the rear hatch. A good pull from either the right or left rear of the housing will get the ball rolling. Don't gentle, give it a good yank and it will remove rather easily.


Once removed this is what you will find on the rear lid of your Prius. The light on the right I had removed the plug. The left one is still plugged in.


Here is one of the lights plugged in...


Simply unplug the light by gently pulling...it will remove very easily...


One it is unplugged you will face the hardest part of this little task, removing the bulb housing. I had read a few articles and watched a video...both said turn the housing counter clockwise. Not true. Turn the housing clock wise. I spent a good 15 minutes trying to move the housing counter clockwise...nope. I had sprayed some WD40 first. When I finally decided to try clockwise it was still a bit stuck but it was a short turn that did it and voila!

I used the pliers on my Leatherman to pop the bad bulbs out...




Popped the new bulbs in...


Checked to make sure everything worked. One did not. I realized a bent a connection in the bulb housing and used a toothpick to straighten it. Got both bulb to work...

Old on the left, new on the right...




New bulbs...


This should take 15 minutes as long as you don't mess around trying to turn the bulb housings counter clockwise. I hope this helps someone down the rode

 

I should have mentioned the Leatherman and flathead screwdriver were used to remove those from the back of the hatch and put on the cover before putting it back.