Replacing Parker Lights

[lasertip]

After spending hours kneeling beside the car getting my hands cut to shreds trying to change my parkers, I decided that no one should ever have to go through that. This method is rather crude but I suppose it's easier than removing the entire bumper.

EDIT: Hidden Taco mentions that it's possible to remove the wheel arch instead of unclipping the bumper according to my guide. I have not tried it but it sounds reasonable.

Okay so, You want to change your parker lights, you'll first need to decide on which lights you want to get (note that blue, red lights are not allowed on vehicles in australia)

I decided to use 5 SMD (surface mounted diode) LED lights(on left of image, right is stock parker)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-T10-White-5-SMD-LEDs-Car-Side-Light-Headlight-/180667342974?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a109ce07e#ht_3582wt_905

however, according to DJKOR, these have lifespans as short as 1month, so I did some research and heard from other members here that Philips bluevision parkers have extremely long lifespans (>3 years) so I've ordered a set to replace these when they die.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PHILIPS-BLUE-VISION-4000K-T10-5W-GLOBES-PAIR-/180681035048?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a116dcd28#ht_1276wt_929

Now that you've got your replacements, let's begin:

(I used gloves as my hands are in no state to work after picking up the wrong end of a hot soldering iron and spending the afternoon getting lacerations all over my arms trying to figure this out)

1. You'll need a thin flat head screw driver and a spanner. If you're crazy enough to work at night like me, get a work lamp.

2. Turn your wheel all the way till it locks for more space (thanks Buff Hamster)

3. Remove the clips holding the wheel arch in place.

For no.1, you'll need to use the flat head screwdriver to turn it to vertical, then pry it out. No.2 and 3 are slightly different, you'll need to pry out the top cap, then remove the bottom clip.

This is what the clip looks like:

4. Push the wheel arch upwards and you should find a screw just above where no.1 clip used to sit, remove it with the spanner

5. Using reasonable pressure, pull the bumper out of place and push the wheel arch upwards, exposing the back of the headlight assembly. You'll have to maintain pressure for it to stay open.

6. Locate the parker light assembly. To remove, twist and pull. Mine was very stiff and took alot of force to remove.

(Thanks Hidden Taco for the image!)

7. Put in the replacement globe and test it. LEDs have polarity so you may have to flip it over if it doesn't work

8. If it works, put everything back in the same order and you're done! Grab yourself a beer!

Edited June 30, 2011 by lasertip

[httttt]

Nice tutorial!

If I could add that you don't need to remove the bumper as I have replaced them twice with 19" wheels and lowered springs. Removing the bumped should be a last resort.

If you continue to have problems then lift the car up with the jack to provide more room.

[william777]

Great tutorial.

I liked the last part, i.e. "Grab yourself a beer!"

[DJKOR]

I liked the last part, i.e. "Grab yourself a beer!"

He put it in the wrong space though. That should go at the beginning... or at least after removing the clips.

[lasertip]

I liked the last part, i.e. "Grab yourself a beer!"

He put it in the wrong space though. That should go at the beginning... or at least after removing the clips.

Nah, after removing the clips, run inside and chuck a beer into the freezer.

Don't drink so soon, it's difficult to reach as it is, beer goggles don't make it any easier! :P

[DJKOR]

Don't drink so soon, it's difficult to reach as it is, beer goggles don't make it any easier! :P

Maybe for you, but I've had no issues putting my hands into tight places with a bit of alcohol in my blood :P

[tekkyy]

That Philips Bluevision parker is bulb not LED right?

So they might last a while?

[lasertip]

Maybe for you, but I've had no issues putting my hands into tight places with a bit of alcohol in my blood :P

Kinky stuff there :P

That Philips Bluevision parker is bulb not LED right?

So they might last a while?

Yup that's correct. Somewhere in this forum, someone mentioned that he's got them for 5 years and they still work fine.

[RJx]

haha why did Toyota have to make life difficult. Thanks for the guide mate

[the drake]

Thanks for the guide.

However, i'm still having troubles getting access to it..

the wheel arch seems to be the issue, can't bend it enough to open enough gap for me to put my hand and arms to reach the parkers..

any advice?

[Kombi17]

Thanks for the guide.

However, i'm still having troubles getting access to it..

the wheel arch seems to be the issue, can't bend it enough to open enough gap for me to put my hand and arms to reach the parkers..

any advice?

First of all, great tutorial lasertip, thank you for making things easier for everyone.

'The drake', if you're still having problems accessing the parker lights after removing the 3 screws on the wheel arch panel, you can do what I did which was to remove an additional 2 screws at the very bottow of the wheel arch. These 2 screws hold the the wheel arch panel to the bottom of the bumper and once you remove these screws, you'll find you can move the wheel arch panel aside much more for greater access.

I recently had to change the parker lights and chose to install white LED's, my personal opinion is that they are more for looks than lighting effectiveness. The white light certainly looks cooler but I would say the standard bulbs are more visable during low light settings. Once the LED's stop working, I will likely switch back to standard bulbs.

[the drake]

Thanks for the reply Kombi17.

I did see those additional screws and was tempted to try but didn't get the chance to today. Looks like you will need to remove the front wheel as well for easier access .

Might give it another shot tomorrow.

[Wildseven]

Great Tutorial and Thank you very much.

I was planning to remove my whole front bumper in order to put in my new parkers. Now I dont have to. If I see you, I'll shout you a beer for posting this! Yahoo and thanks :D

[Wildseven]

Dammit. I scratched myself to death trying to replace the parkers tonight. I failed and didnt get anywhere because I couldn't reach all the way to the parker lights. Seriously why does Toyota make it so hard now to change the parker lights :'(. I am really worried if I bend the plastic panel too far at where the wheel arch is it might get deformed or snap :(.

Can someone please confirm with me, that by removing the bottom 2 screws of the plastic panel where the wheel arch is, will the gap become greater and wider hence being wide enough for easy access into the parkers? I'll give it one more go and see but if someone can confirm with me again that the gap is considerably wider then I would very much appreciate it. I am atm deciding if I should change it or let it be :(

Edited August 23, 2012 by Wildseven

[Kombi17]

Hi Wildseven

This is how I did it step by step, it should only take you about 10 minutes per side. If you want the greatest access to your parker lights, there are 6 clips/screws to remove.

1) Turn the wheel out fully out (facing you) to make access easier for the next step.

2) Remove the 2 screws on the inside, these attach the panel to the car, you can't miss them (Refer to the lasertip's photo above in step 3 - he circled the top screw as number 3 and the other screw is below that)

3) Once you remove these 2 screws, turn the wheel fully in, this will allow the greatest access to remove everything else and to access the parker lights.

4) Remove clips (these are marked 1 and 2 in lasertip's picture above)

5) Remove the 2 screws at the bottom

Once you do all this, the panel will be very loose and you will have access to parker lights. In saying that it's still a little cozy up there and you will only be able to put one hand up there. I found using a torch helped.

Failing all that. I live in WA but am flying to QLD for some training in a few weeks time. I'll gladly change the lights for you for a good local beer.

[Wildseven]

Kombi thanks for the reply. I'll give it a shot and let you know how it went. If all else fails then sure why not have a beer over it haha. Keen to meet more Toyota enthusiasts :)

Very much appreciated mate :D beers will be on me for the guy from WA if we meet up :) cheers

Mate!

[Wildseven]

Kombi I changed it already. I did exactly what you said and also with the guide of the pictures available here. Cheers all. It required me going berserk mode on the plastic panel and luckily it didnt snap or get deformed. Its all back in place and now looks no different. :) very happy with the parkers now matching the low beam :D Love ya all and thanks for the help !!!!! :D :D :D

[the drake]

Thanks for the further instructions Kombi!

Managed to get this done today, although it took me just under 2 hours!

All up, removed the 3 as outined in lasertip's original instructions, and another further 2 more screens near #3. ALSO removed 3 more screws on the bottom of the vehicle which holds the wheel arch and the front bumper..so total 8 LOL!

The above gave me absolute flexibility in moving the wheel arch which made it very easy to shove my hands to get the parkers.

Found it quite difficult to twist and remove the actual parker light enclosure..couldn't even twist it at all using my hands so I ended up using pliers.

Thanks again for those who contributed

[Kombi17]

Hahahaha. Great to hear guys, job well done.

It's pretty funny that it went from 3 clips/screws to 6, then to 8. The challenge is on! Can anyone find 10 clip/screws to remove just to change the parker lights.

[Wildseven]

lol

[leonG-]

Hi kombi, I'm from perth as well. which part of perth u live in ? I just ordered 2 pairs of parker light and a xentec HID from ebay. Not sure they are any good but will just give it a try. But so far i havent try to remove the aurion bumper at all. So might probably need some helps with it.

[Kombi17]

Hi kombi, I'm from perth as well. which part of perth u live in ? I just ordered 2 pairs of parker light and a xentec HID from ebay. Not sure they are any good but will just give it a try. But so far i havent try to remove the aurion bumper at all. So might probably need some helps with it.

I live in Leederville and I will certainly give you a hand with changing just the parker lights, that's no issue at all. As for HID's, that's a completely different kettle of fish and a whole lot more difficult.

What car do you have? If it already has HID, then you can follow this link:

The good news is that you don't have to remove the bumper but bad news is that it is a whole lot more difficult than changing the parker lights.

In your case, I googled xentec HID and those seemed to a HID coversion kit which is completely out of my scope and may mean you would need to remove the bumper after all. I have no experience with that. It looks like 'METAL13' is also from WA and you could ask them. Once you remove the bumper you will certainly have no problems changing the parker AND you would certainly beat the record for removing the most clips/screws to change parker lights, I reckon there would be at least 20 if you did it that way.

[zedder]

fitting hid's is one of the easiest mods to do. connect the plugs, mount ballasts then put the bulbs in.

[Wildseven]

Getting the bumper off is a pain as you have to be very careful not to break any plastics which hold your bumper up. I did that with my mazda 3 before and took a chunk off with my bumper and in the end it cost me $850 to have it replaced :'(

Take it easy when your doing that :) and let me know your record of pins and screws you have taken off lol. I'll prepare the trophy for you for having the most screws taken out lol. The Kombi trophy :P

[leonG-]

I managed to change hid aparker light. Lol! Didn't even take down thwarted bumper and also we just took off 3 clips on the mudguard. Pretty hard to change he parker light but not the hid. Xentec hid. A low quality hid but at least it works with my car not like others commented like damaged or broken products which never light up. Looking to find a good ballast or a hid kit. The outcome of the hid wasn't the one I like but will just use it now.