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Light in glove box won't go off

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by mightywhitee, Mar 31, 2007.

  1. mightywhitee

    mightywhitee New Member

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    Hello, I'm new to these forums, this is my first post. The lady who went over the prius with me at the dealership gave me the address to this site. Her job is to teach people about how to use their car when they buy one, and she said she goes to this site just about every day.

    Anywho, the light in my glove box stays on all the time (when the headlights are on anyway). The manual says that it is supposed to go off when you shut the glove box, but I can see the light through the crack between the glove box and the dash.

    Does anyone know where the sensor is that detects if the glovebox is close? I took the glove box off the way you would if you are replacing the air filter, but I couldn't see or feel anything. If it's something I can adjust or fix on my own, I'd rather do that then waste a couple of hours at the dealership.

    Thanks!
     
    #1 mightywhitee, Mar 31, 2007
  2. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

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    There's no sensor or button. It goes on when you turn the lights on and stays on, whether the door is open or shut. It's cheaper than installing something that'll shut it off, but sometimes the light leaks through. That's how it is in the 2005, was there a change in 2006-2007?

    IIRC, it's an LED, so there isn't much of a power drain there.

    Welcome to the group. :)
     
    #2 aaf709, Mar 31, 2007
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    technically there is a switch (According to the service manual) but in reality, it stays on lol.

    It's an LED light so it'll last a long time plus it uses very little power.
     
    #3 Tideland Prius, Mar 31, 2007
  4. mightywhitee

    mightywhitee New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Mar 31 2007, 11:59 PM) [snapback]415822[/snapback]</div>
    The service manual shows a swtich too? That's strange that the service manual and the regular manual both show the wrong thing.
     
    #4 mightywhitee, Apr 1, 2007
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mightywhitee @ Apr 1 2007, 04:38 AM) [snapback]415891[/snapback]</div>
    The Prius owner's manual was adapted from the generic template for all the Toyota vehicles....several things that were markedly different on the Prius slipped through the tech-writer's notice. There's no switch and that's a brilliant thing...the LED drain is so small and the light so durable that this totally eliminates any need for or concern about sticking switches.
     
    #5 efusco, Apr 1, 2007
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 1 2007, 08:16 AM) [snapback]415937[/snapback]</div>
    ohh ok. I just remember danman32 talking about a switch.
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Apr 1, 2007
  7. mightywhitee

    mightywhitee New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 1 2007, 10:16 AM) [snapback]415937[/snapback]</div>
    That makes sense. I'm going to see if I can find a way to stop the light getting through that crack though. Maybe if I just fill the glove box with stuff, that will make it so that I can't see the light. I'm going to have a hard time filling it, the car has so much storage, haha.
     
    #7 mightywhitee, Apr 1, 2007
  8. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    :rolleyes: I admit to being a fan of the Owner's Manual and recommending its use - HOWEVER - the OP is quite correct in this post. Page 307 of the Manual DOES INDEED indicate that the glove box light will come on when the lower glove box is open. That's wrong. With parking or driving light ON, the tiny LED light will remain on regardless of the position of the glove box door.

    Their logic {if indded there IS logic there} is that the tiny LED consumes a negligible amount of current and would only be "on" when the parking or headlights are "on" - and a switch for that light would probably be more likely to fail before the LED did, it made sense to omit the switch and save the cost. Remember that the original concept in the current Prius model in 2004 was to keep the base price below $20K.
     
    #8 Charles Suitt, Apr 2, 2007
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