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Question On Getting Loose Piece out of Tail Light Assembly

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by John Kinney, Sep 9, 2015.

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  1. John Kinney

    John Kinney Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    A PIC of piece in question :



    MY GOAL: Install larger LED buld and have it fit properly. To make new larger LED bulb fit all the way into socket and twist in.

    I was trying to remove the little bulb cover center piece inside the light assembly itself.
    I always wanted to remove these covers anyway, to make it look brighter.

    Well, when the plastic cover finally came loose it fell into the bottom of light about 3 or 4 inches.

    It is just sitting there now. Without breaking it up into smaller pieces, it is to large to pull through bulb hole in back of light.

    I thought of breaking it into pieces and using something sticky like duct tape to pull pieces out through rear bulb hole.

    Any ideas on techniques, tools, tricks to pull this off?

    Thank you,
    John Kinney


    BTW: Pieces are plastic cubes with one side open they are about 2" cubed.
    NOTE: The new bulbs fit great and are really brilliant.



    HERE is the bulb description from AMAZON:

    JDM ASTAR Super Bright AX-2835 Chipsets 161 168 194 912 921 T10/T15 LED Bulbs for Tail lights, Brilliant Red

    $15.99 & FREE Shippingon orders over $35.
     
    #1 John Kinney, Sep 9, 2015
  2. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2023 Prius
    Model:
    LE
    Replacement bulbs for that particular housing should've fit perfectly.

    Anyhow, what you can do is drive the car up on an incline so that the piece moves down to the back of the lens housing and then use a pair of long needle nose pliers and see if you can grab it. This is the method I used when I was replacing that particular bulb on my own Prius and the bulb came loose and just sat in the housing. In my instance, I used a telescoping magnetic pick-up tool.

    On a side note, if the led bulb you put in isn't red and you knocked it out, it would be white or non-red color and you would get stopped.

    If it was a red led you put in, it actually doesn't effect anything because the lens only blocks all but red. Since the led is putting out a natural red, nothing gets blocked.
     
    #2 CooCooCaChoo, Sep 9, 2015
  3. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    ^^^The OP stated that the pieces were too big to fit through the bulb sockets.

    If you can snag the pieces with a long, flexible pick up tool/grabber, then bring it up against the bulb socket opening.

    http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=190994940407&alt=web

    Then take a heated soldering iron and carefully melt the plastic pieces into either smaller pieces, or see if you can fold or bend the pieces into smaller dimensions with the applied heat. Pull out of bulb socket holes.

    Hint: coating the metal claws of the grabber tool with plastidip or hot melt glue will give the metal prongs better grip than bare metal.
     
    #3 xliderider, Sep 10, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2015
  4. John Kinney

    John Kinney Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2014
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I tried other bulbs but they were not bright enough for all the winter driving I do. (Snow in Upstate NY)

    Also most larger and brighter compatible LED bulbs for that socket are about 1/4 inch to long. (Wedge Style)

    With the new bulb installed and little plastic piece removed, it really looks great and is much brighter.

    I will post side by side comparison of both my prii next to each other tonight.

    Additionally, I just never liked that little piece in there, and I'm glad it's gone.

    NOTE: Be careful if you decide to try this. The silver piece loosened on one side when pushing the red piece out. Not a big deal since it had no where to go, it is still perfectly straight.. Just a warning.
     
    #4 John Kinney, Sep 10, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2015
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