I have been unable to correctly install the replacement bulb on the passenger side low beam headlight. There's NO ROOM to work. Hand doesn't fit to properly install. Driver side was a piece of cake but the passenger side is imposible. Dealership says bumper has to be removed.......are you serious? That's absolutely unacceptable but seems to be true. Any suggestions?
You take the air intake plastic assembly out. Pretty simple so far. I remove one of the coolant reservoir hoses, I assume its the top hose as it does not drain the reservoir. Then be sure of the bulb location and rotate it 90 degrees with the cable on. Pay attention to the position of the bulb assembly after rotating. Pull it out and disconnect the cable. Put on thin gloves and install the new bulb without the cable. Make sure it is flat against the headlight housing or it won't engage properly. Rotate down 90 degrees. Finally snap on the cable. I have done it many times and wear 4xl gloves.
Not sure how much it would help, but you could also unbolt the engine coolant reservoir and lift it (carefully, don’t tip) out of the way. I’ve got a vague memory of doing that, when replacing a side marker bulb, but mighta been of marginal benefit.
I have always managed it without removing the air intake, but it is a PITA. Next time I will try removing the Air Intake. Do I need a 10mm socket to get that part of the Air intake off? As an Uber driver, I drive with my headlights on all the time. With close to 2k miles a month, I go through bulbs pretty often, and I always keep a new spare in the tray in the back. I wish that I could retrofit the five's LED lights, but I believe that requires changing the bumper cover.
I didn't have a problem when I installed these LED's two years, ago. Fortunately, in my earlier years, I installed parts in aircraft and satellites.
An excuse to buy a cheap dedicated 10mm ratcheting box end wrench to keep in the tray in the back. I like to change my bulbs as soon as I notice that they are out (so I keep spares on hand). Looks unprofessional to PU a passenger with a headlight out. I store a 1/2 breaker bar with the 21mm socket back there too. It is surprising how much faster a wheel change can be with my breaker bar & socket. While I am thinking of it, I would like to carve the foam in the back so I can store my full size spare in there. It would save me time driving home to swap tires the next time I get a flat while Ubering. Skip the donut mounting and driving home steps altogether. Somewhere in here, I read a post about a UK Prius + or Alpha driver that was surprised to learn of the concept of a compact spare. Maybe the EU does not allow them. Should mean that a full size spare would fit, with the correct shaped foam pieces
FWIW: I’ve tried dripping a full size tire/rim into our 3rd gen hatchback; it “almost” fit, was chafing the side walls of the well and rode a little high, hatch floor raised an odd looking inch or so. There is no foam on ours though, with the temp spare. you can tool around town on a temp spare for a few hours. You likely don’t want to do that on an Uber shift though, lol.
FYI: For some reason, on my browser, posts that contain a link to amazon show up as blank for me. If I do a reply, I then can see the embedded link of {MEDIA=amazon}B07YXYY239{/MEDIA} (Note I substituted curly braces for square brackets). I can then search for the text "B07YXYY239" This is what the post above from @Georgina Rudkus looks like when I view it:
H11 H8 H9 LED Headlight Bulbs CREE-Chips MINI Size 12,000Lm 6000k AUHDER All-in-One Super Bright Conversion Kit White Pack of 2 Brand: AUHDER
I would be willing to store the full size spare without air in it. Having to pump the spare back up is still better than aborting an Uber shift to deal with a tire. I recall trying it, and the top side of the tire rubbed against the bottom of the foam tool tray (there is no foam around the donut). It might fit with proper cutting of the foam tray (or just remove it). The tire might fit better partially deflated. I suspect that the tire compartment is a little different in my 2013 Prius V, as compared to your 2010 Hatchback. I found it laughable reading in the manual that you are supposed to strap down your bad tire in the cargo bay, using the enclosed straps and those very annoying "D" rings bolted to the edges of the cargo bay. Elsewhere, I posted my experience with ripping a hole in the sidewall of my passenger side front tire at 8PM on a Friday night of Uber driving. I don't know how people drive around for months on a donut, the noise is loud, and the car just doesn't feel safe. Picking up a passenger with a donut on the car is a sure fire way to get consecutive low ratings. Condensed version: I got home on the donut, and swapped the donut with one of my spares, and I was able to Uber again that night by 10:30, just as the peak of bar hopping starts. Having a partially deflated full size spare would have saved at least an hour.
My favorite item to keep in the car, and it doesn't take much space. Got it at Home Depot. ONE+ 18V Lithium-Ion Cordless Power Inflator Kit with 1.5 Ah Battery and 18V Charger RYOBI ONE+ 18V Lithium-Ion Cordless Power Inflator Kit with 1.5 Ah Battery and 18V Charger-P737DKN - The Home Depot They has a special deal this summer. Got the inflator for free, when you purchased two 4AH batteries for $99 and got the inflator for FREE,
I keep a good quality floor-standing bicycle pump in the garage, and take it along when we're on road trips. If I get a flat around town I figure to drive home on the spare, deal with the flat there. I have a BlackJack plug-repair kit under the hatch floor too. Plus a few other practical/safety items, wheel chocks, gloves, safety vest, piece of plywood to go under the scissor jack if needed, stuff like that.
I have been looking for a deal on a combo jump starter / tire inflator / USB power station. A logical combination of tools for a car. My 2013 is still on its original 12 volt battery. I recently disconnected the 12 volt battery to work on the steering wheel switches (to disable the air bag), then I closed the hatch. What a bone headed mistake. My neighbor wasn't home, or I could have borrowed li-ion jumper to power the car from under the hood. It would be really useful for Ubering. I recently accepted a ride, only to find out that the passengers wanted a ride to their stranded car, Plus a jump. I would not consider jumping a vehicle with my Prius. Worked out for them. The parking garage had an attendant that could jump their car. Missed opportunity for a nice tip.
Get a lithium jump pack and keep it behind the rear seat or in the glove box. Often the combo units are lead acid and are guaranteed to be discharged when you need it. Plus too big to have upfront so its accessible when the hatch won't open.
Yep, replacing the bulbs is one of the time you say, "Why, Toyota ....WHY???" Same thing for my 2014 Tundra. I have to remove the front grill to replace a headlight. The hardest part is not knowing where the two middle clips are so you have a hazard of breaking them if you don't know about them. The trick is to shine a light in there (after removing the screws on top) and you can fit an extra long flathead screwdriver in there and pop it right off. It's easy peasy once you know how to do that. We have a travel trailer so having a good portable air compressor is vital. I used to have a portable Chinese made one like that Ryobi but only lasted a few months, got so hot the end of the air cable actually melted and no replacement parts available. (Thankfully, only costed around $25) Now I have this bad boy, VIAIR 90P, for tires and my Firestone air bags and I added about 25 foot of wire to it so I can connect it to my Tundra 12-V battery and reach all the way back to the camper...works FAST too...
This might be of interest: https://cloreautomotive.com/product/jncair/ JNCAIR 1700 Peak Amp 12V Jump Starter w/ Air System Doesn't have USB, but does have a 12 volt outlet (cig lighter style) that you can plug in USB station (with adapter). I have the JNC660, similar, but without the compressor. But hey, have my bicycle pump: it's simple/effective, never runs down. Addendum: Ouch, just saw the Amazon.ca price for the one linked above, $429 CDN. That more'n double the price for JNC660, at least the amount I paid a couple of years back.
The key to LED headlight conversions is not to go overboard and get really high output LED's. They create higher amounts of heat, require higher volume fans and are more likely to fail. The ones I got off of Amazon are a mild upgrade in output and are less likely to fail. The nice thing about the Ryobi battery inflator is that there is no need to connect to the car's low powered 12v or to keep the car's ice running. All you have to do is take off the tire valve cap, clamp on the hose and pull the trigger. The built in digital gauge tells you what the tire's pressure is and you inflate it. When it reaches the desired pressure, release the trigger, unclip the hose and put the tire valve cap back on, That's all there is. I have a Lithium-Ion jump pack with a USB charge outlet to which I can also connect to a permanently wired pigtail to the 12 volt. When my battery died, I just hooked up the jump pack, started the car and went on my way.
