how to turn off pointless footwell light

Everything is simple with a crowbar and a hammer.

 

I have never had footwell lighting in a car before. I remember the first time I saw it I thought "Wow, now that's cool!". I love it. I have searched in vain for black items on a black floor mat in pitch dark before. It's amazing to me that having it irritated someone enough to start this thread, but I'm glad there is a solution, albeit a slightly inconvenient one, with the OBD port.

 

Agree, especially it dims to very weak light whenever the car is not in "Park" and it's barely noticeable.

 

So I just bought and installed those cool illuminated Prius door sill protectors in my wife's 2017 Prius. Scared me because the instructions has you splice into the wires for the foot sill lights under the dash. But our car has no lights! Oh no! But when I unclipped the covers, the power brackets where right there! (The protectors are sweet...the two in the front are lit, the back don't)
Anyway, I searched on the McGeorge Toyota website for those two little lights but can't find them...just the two courtesy lights in the doors. (Which we already have)
Can anybody find the part number for those little foot lights? (Or if you take yours out, I'll buy them from you!)

 

So if anyone is interested in installing them, I think I've found the LED light assemblies that clip into your underdash panels. To see if your car is already wired for the lights, you just unclip the right side panel, push it down, then pull it straight out. A small wire harness will be in the middle of it.
Anyway, theToyota Part Number is 81080-33280
I ordered a couple from McGeorge on-line ($14 each) and will let y'all know if they fit and how bright they are. (If they are dim, I'm hoping we can swap out the bulb with a brighter one.)

 

Just to clarify the footwell lights are only on the level IV & V.

They are their brightest in Park and dim a little in drive.

They do not turn off at all until you shut the car off.

I just changed the amber color for the white ones.

I like they way they look and will upload soon.

 

Just to clarify the footwell lights are only on the level IV & V.

They are their brightest in Park and dim a little in drive.

They do not turn off at all until you shut the car off.

I just changed the amber color for the white ones.

I like they way they look and will upload soon.

 

Take the bulb out.

 

Is it a removable bulb, not a hardwired LED?

 

Yes you can unplug it and remove it.

 

I watched and they turn on and stay on when only the hatch is open and nothing else is running (and the dome lights are in the off position and don't turn on).

I'll just share a reason why I would want a switch so that it can be turned off and on easily when I want, like in the car settings (as opposed to removing a bulb) - I don't mind having that gentle amber light daily in the city - it turns off after 30 seconds or so after the door is closed, but when I'm camping, I want to be able to keep my hatch open to get stuff from my car that is off without that light going on and it makes no sense that it turns on there when I'm at the back opening the hatch without anyone opening the front two doors. I also sleep in my car sometimes and it's easier for my cat to jump in and out through the back (to feel safe, she needs to be able to jump in easily to hide). It might be a small drain, but right now, it's not worth the risk of having it open all day or night because of these lights. I wouldn't want my battery to die, especially out camping. They actually make rear hatch tents so that you can sleep with the hatch open. I guess you have to go to the trouble of disabling it and not being able to easily turn it back on again. If anyone has an idea of how long roughly it would take to kill the battery with just the two footwell lights, please let me know. I can turn all the other lights off and I'm talking about the car being totally off - I know that some people run their air con through the night to sleep in the car, but I haven't needed to do that...although I suppose that would ensure that the car keeps itself charged up because the motor would run occasionally...

 

Beware that others have run into problems with this. At least with any side door open, I don't know about the hatch but don't have reason to believe it is different. It isn't the current draw of the light(s) being the problem, but rather the current draw of the other electronics kept awake by the door-open switch.

 

FWIW the Gen 4’s (at least my ‘22 XLE) have the customization option of turning off those lights (even though it is a dealership customization). I don’t recall if Carista actually has it, but I would think it does. (Sorry, to lazy today to get it out, plug it in and then wait for it to load everything up, to check it).