2003 Sportivo Dash Light Change

[xndr]

Hey all, 

I have a 2003 Corolla Sportivo I just picked up, and I’m not a huge fan of the red/green interior combo on the climate control/dashboard. 

Does anybody know how to change out the bulbs on the dash and climate control module to be a different colour? A friend has purple all round in their car and I absolutely love the look. 

I had a look online and on youtube and cant find any tutorials for these cars, so any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂

TIA

[Squalled]

On 1/3/2023 at 9:41 PM, xndr said:

Hey all, 

I have a 2003 Corolla Sportivo I just picked up, and I’m not a huge fan of the red/green interior combo on the climate control/dashboard. 

Does anybody know how to change out the bulbs on the dash and climate control module to be a different colour? A friend has purple all round in their car and I absolutely love the look. 

I had a look online and on youtube and cant find any tutorials for these cars, so any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂

TIA

Hey mate, there 2 ways to go about changing the colour/s:

- Replacing the bulbs with new LEDs of the colour you want
- Getting bulb covers for the existing bulbs

I went with the latter many years ago when I did it as I didn't have a soldering iron let alone the skills to use one to replace the old bulbs with LEDs. The job generally takes around 30 minutes taking your time and it's fairly easy to do.

Firstly, get some covers like these - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/334447143640?hash=item4dde9a6ad8:g:AgAAAOSwvEBbUq7f&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4IQEDltWZ4cA%2BUpeq5OtrxKWlBe4euuIJJE1GZzfYX%2FpZ5VoVIKX89Wqydrowxo8v%2BgAwmaqrM6Hl2iB2MykiEk5QDgFHG7pcpVNlTo5iL2snnvIHMalVjFWdEhgWc0sNg40aov7WepkMkgYzYUHM7izk5pPyrSRaM5%2B4V1LtkvHikydkU28oZfH55abduRefa6xwZlGaqjMsnoULZ8RRonhzQFwsyPgyvxPwIlnZiBB%2BB%2FQnrlPo7EMV7uxAUCcKhDxQZs2vsDCZiqVEjv02YTKba1cMp46cdrPiqEPx4Yf|tkp%3ABFBM9quz8rNh. It is annoying that they come in packs of 100 as you'll only need 11 to do the entire centre console area (climate control unit and cigarette lighter).

You can follow this guide Kenshin X created some time ago that I used and this will get you out of trouble: 

[xndr]

On 1/11/2023 at 12:51 PM, Squalled said:

Hey mate, there 2 ways to go about changing the colour/s:

- Replacing the bulbs with new LEDs of the colour you want
- Getting bulb covers for the existing bulbs

I went with the latter many years ago when I did it as I didn't have a soldering iron let alone the skills to use one to replace the old bulbs with LEDs. The job generally takes around 30 minutes taking your time and it's fairly easy to do.

Firstly, get some covers like these - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/334447143640?hash=item4dde9a6ad8:g:AgAAAOSwvEBbUq7f&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4IQEDltWZ4cA%2BUpeq5OtrxKWlBe4euuIJJE1GZzfYX%2FpZ5VoVIKX89Wqydrowxo8v%2BgAwmaqrM6Hl2iB2MykiEk5QDgFHG7pcpVNlTo5iL2snnvIHMalVjFWdEhgWc0sNg40aov7WepkMkgYzYUHM7izk5pPyrSRaM5%2B4V1LtkvHikydkU28oZfH55abduRefa6xwZlGaqjMsnoULZ8RRonhzQFwsyPgyvxPwIlnZiBB%2BB%2FQnrlPo7EMV7uxAUCcKhDxQZs2vsDCZiqVEjv02YTKba1cMp46cdrPiqEPx4Yf|tkp%3ABFBM9quz8rNh. It is annoying that they come in packs of 100 as you'll only need 11 to do the entire centre console area (climate control unit and cigarette lighter).

You can follow this guide Kenshin X created some time ago that I used and this will get you out of trouble: 

Thanks for the reply!

I would love to do purple on the interior, as it's a gorgeous colour (in my opinion) and I think it'll look wicked with the black car. Only issue is finding any sort of lights in purple, especially the dash cluster lights.

I'm also not too sure if the 03 tivos have a red lining inside them, as when the car's off I can see a hint of red where the light shines through, so I think it would probably have to be removed.

[Squalled]

On 2/10/2023 at 8:21 PM, xndr said:

Thanks for the reply!

I would love to do purple on the interior, as it's a gorgeous colour (in my opinion) and I think it'll look wicked with the black car. Only issue is finding any sort of lights in purple, especially the dash cluster lights.

I'm also not too sure if the 03 tivos have a red lining inside them, as when the car's off I can see a hint of red where the light shines through, so I think it would probably have to be removed.

I don't believe I've seen purple before in terms of the light covers. I have seen people use a light coat of paint and even nail polish on the bulbs but I can't say how bright the lights were and what colour they ended up being.

For the cluster, there is another DIY on the forum for that - 

Personally I've never bothered doing it since I like the stock cluster lights along with no having the tools or confidence/experience but, I've seen a number of people do it successfully and it's a really nice unique touch.

[Sick Puppy]

Thank you for posting this and the advice!

Another question - would anyone know how to dismantle the ignition - the bulp and colouring appear to be built in and is green? Wanting to change to red. 

Also, for the ZZE corolla, the bulbs appear to be a shade under 5mm? Are these intended to be stretched on, or are the 5mm ones better?

[Squalled]

On 2/16/2023 at 5:41 PM, Sick Puppy said:

Thank you for posting this and the advice!

Another question - would anyone know how to dismantle the ignition - the bulp and colouring appear to be built in and is green? Wanting to change to red. 

Also, for the ZZE corolla, the bulbs appear to be a shade under 5mm? Are these intended to be stretched on, or are the 5mm ones better?

Don't think anyone has really bothered with the ignition barrell light seeing as you don't see it when you drive. I've seen a few people even change the window switch lights but that's a bit beyond my capabilities. I mean it can be done and I'd say you'd need to pull apart the column and have a look and see what you need to do to get it working. It'll either be a small bulb like the center console or a small LED. From memory I believe the actual lense is clear as well so it'll likely the light itself which produces the colour, unlike the ash tray section which has a tinted green plastic that makes the light green.