Zeb Wainwright

Soooo, my dome light didn't work, so I checked the fuses, checked the bulb, discovered that there was no buzzer box, so I was sure that was the problem, so I ordered one on eBay, installed it, still nothing (even the supposed seat-belt buzzer still doesn't work, but I am ok with that.)
Anyways, I started to try and chase the wiring when I thought, what the hell, and tested the wire coming in that connects to the dome light. 12v! So I threw a temp light on it and it lit up, so after all that it was the stupid switch. I spent a LOT of time looking for a brown one in good condition from a 1st gen but couldn't find one anywhere. I wasn't interested in painting it, so I compared pics of 2nd gen dome lights, T-100, etc and they looked almost identical.

I took a chance on a 96 T-100 dome light and short story, it works.

Long story: The dimensions are identical. The screw locations are identical. The bulb size is identical. The wiring is identical.

Issue 1:
The plastic housing on the back for the light reflector/shroud whatever that isn't the same. The T-100 is wider and so it doesn't fit. Got my Dremel out, sliced it down, now it fits. I just trimmed along the base of the plastic border, leaving a little extra plastic for the metal contact.

Issue 2:
Metal spring contact on the cut down side presses against the metal roof grounding it and defeating the switch (light is always on). A little electrical tape over the metal spring contact solved that.

Issue 3:
The spring gets pressed in such a way that a 31mm festoon won't fit anymore. Not sure how small they make them. My plan all along was to get one of those large rectangular LED panels and just attach it to the metal contacts. Right now I have a bulb just kinda wedged in there, taped on the ends to hold it in.

I really like the new switch. Looks better, more rounded, and the switch mechanism is much nicer. Since parts are so hard to come by in these older vehicles it's nice to know what stuff from other models "fits" with a little modification. I don't have pics of the install process but it's pretty easy.

atcfixer

iTrader: (1)

Just for more info and such, the 92-96 camry, 93-97 corolla, and I think 97-2001 camry have extremely similar dome lights too. I was thinking about throwing one in my tacoma for the back side of the cab lighting for behind the seat etc, but ended up getting rid of it, and got a xtra cab T100 and found it already has it.

Also the LED light kits work great in those housings, it's about 2x brighter than the oem style bulb. I'd take a pic but my T100's full of a ton of crap. I also have one of those LED kits in my Corolla too.