I've had my TL S for 2 weeks now.. I own an rsx and have owned a civic and integra before.

I've been trying to get the damn interior and trunk lights open for 2 weeks now. Is there a secret formula because no matter how i pry on them they just won't come out. On the rsx they just pop right out. The trunk light I've mangled so badly it doesn't even look the same anymore and it still won't come out. I about drill into these things to change the bulbs.. Can someone please tell me how the hell you pop the housing out to change the interior bulbs? Did acura design these things so you aren't allowed to change interior bulbs or something? They are pretty damn tight fitting.

 

mine popped right out when i changed mine
look up some threads on it maybe

 

There's plenty of threads on here with directions on how to do what you want to do, a simple search should work.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-photograph-gallery-96/another-led-conversion-803659/
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/definitive-led-thread-all-youll-ever-need-know-about-leds-3g-garage-g-076-a-633045/

Read through these.

I gave up on the trunk light and vanity lights because they were so stuborn, I'm afraid of breaking them or bending them further than I already have. There are people on here that have done those too though, they say you just have to pry those ones.

Best of luck.

 

LOL, o man I remember these woes. I was searching those threads and honestly they don't really tell enough to help a noobie pop those out.

For me the trunk was an easy one, the domes are easy with the right method.
The vanity..I left those alone...
One thing I've learned about this frikkin car is, Do not mess with it too much. It has things that will break and will piss you off.

 

just prying them out if you broke it then just buy another cover.

 

I remember trying to take the trunk light out to replace with a LED.... I had to fight it to get it to open. I actually gave up at first and got back to it several weeks later and finally got it to open. Just keep trying, it shouldn't break.

 

I find this to be a pretty common exercise as a TL owner.

 

Use a butterknife. After i took someone elses advice it was easy. The vanity mirrors take the knife stick it from the side toward the middle the of the car. (drivers side stick in the right, pass in the left) stick between the metal and the plastic, with enough pressure they will come off easy.

The trunk is from the right side between the metal again pressure and done

 

I'll give it a try with a butterknife again sometime, thanks. I've only ever tried with little screwdrivers and was applying more pressure than I thought was smart and still nothing.

 

Well once you open the trunk light cover study it like its calculus then re attempt the front vanity although now that I have opened it it rattles :/ haha maye you shouldn't replace it at all...

 

Thanks for everyones advice. I was expecting a bunch of "SEARCH YOU NOOB" replies but I guess this is AcuraZine and not Honda Tech. I did search and even after following the instructions the covers were just too stubborn to come off. Well after going inside and having a cold beer and taking a chill pill (just cut my finger pretty badly replacing the motor mounts on my rsx) was expecting the TL light covers to be a breeze. NOPE. Had more trouble doing the TL light covers than the damn rsx engine mounts haha.


This is what I've learnt.

For the trunk light. The pry point is towards the passenger. You have to stick a screwdriver in there and push the clip in so it comes out. I mangled that cover trying to get that one out. The vanity mirrors are literally just PRY. There is no correct way of taking those out. I realized that my mistake with the dome lights was the screwdriver I was using wasn't thin enough. I was already using a VERY thin screwdriver.. And it wasn't working. So I used my knife on my victorinox to pry the clip and remove the dome lights. There is a little slot where you can stick the knife in.

Well.. I hope I never have to do this again because this crap was miserable.

 

sorry but i can't believe you had this much trouble taking them off.

should literally take 5 seconds to pop them off with a flat head screwdriver.

glad you got it figured out in the end tho! that's all that matters.