mau108

Hey Guys

I tried searching the forum and google but couldn't find any results. Replaced every other bulb with LED in the vehicle but cannot seem to remove the cover of the trunk bulb.

Which side do I pry on? I didn't want to break anything (crappy plastic tabs, broke soo many in the past) so I stopped .

snake134

iTrader: (1)

i had the same problem, except i tried removing every light cover before i ordered my leds. i even got the damn vanity one off but the trunk one was impossible. i ended up deciding that i RARELY use my trunk and a led there would be kind of pointless so i elected to not even bothering with it.

Bearcat94

Vanity and Trunk light covers are very similar.

There is a tab one side that you have to depress, then pull the light housing/cover down (toward the ground). I don't recall which side the tab is on, but I think it's the driver side.


Edit: make that the passenger side.

snake134

iTrader: (1)

^^^i think it's the passenger side. but i tried the same technique as i used on the vanity and it didn't work out. i'm sure a little wiggling and pushing would get it out

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Look up under the light and see which side has the little rectangle on it (as shown in the diagram above), that's the side you need. Use a screw driver and pry the light out from there. I'm pretty sure you can't just pull it out- not easily at least. I remember struggling with this as well only to find out it needed to be pried out.

mau108

I'll give it a go again today thanks.

mau108

argh I tried every which way can't seem to get it out!

I don't want to put too much pressure and break it.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

I wish I could just demonstrate in person. It seems confusing but once you get it out, you'll feel silly. So you tried to pry it out with a screwdriver?

Be careful using brute force though, it can break.

mau108

Idea!, what about an instructional video lol

Well I tried using a flat head and wedging it in on the passenger side of the cover and moving it down (so the screw drive is pushed down) that didn't work. It seems to come out bit cuz I can push it back in but after it hits a certain point it just won't move down any further.

andURpoint

Had the same issue. After taking the liner out, you should see the light and there will be two openings on both sides. After unpluggin the wiring harness.

Reach in on of the openings and feel around the side of the light. You should be able to feel the little clips holding the brackt in. Basically its held in place by one on each side, but only one needs to be free to get it to come out.

Now take a long flat head screw driver, insert into either opening and push against the side of the clip. U might have to use ur other hand to make sure the screw driver is hitting the right spot. Just gently push with the screw driver using more force of needed but start easy.

U might have to pull down on the whole bracket itself a little to get it to come free.

I don't havenpics of this and imnnot going to tear down my trunk liner to take them.

Hope this helps. The trunk light and tag lights were a bitch to get out, but once I figured it out, I was amazed at how easy it was. In hate engineers.............

mau108

Thanks! woo hoo got it out just had to use a bigger flat head and some force

Shitty part is I couldn't get in the led board I wanted to put in instead I put in another led I had kicking around. Definitely brighter (Put tin foil on top so no light is lost from the top and all is directed down)

Chisel

Just did this on my 2007 TL
Yes…pry from the passenger side! I used a stiff putty knife and a large screwdriver behind it as a fulcrum. Pry nice and easy… I did as mau108 suggested and put some tin foil behind the bulb as a reflector…great idea. The LED is nice and bright.

LaCostaRacer

The light is a pain to get out. Here are my tips:

1. use a screw driver shank to turn off the light by engaging the trunk latch so it thinks it's closed and locked. This way you can save yourself burning fingers and blowing fuses and such.

2. use a dinner/butter? knife to pry the plastic housing out. I tried screw drivers for the vanities and had problems that were resolved by the dinner knife trick. The dinner knife is slimmer and wider and seems to make the job easier.

Aaron Long

So this is my first post on Acurazine...just got my 2008 TL. I put blue LED bulbs in all interior lights, including the trunk, tonight. They looks awesome! The trunk was the hardest of them all. I tried the butter knife trick but ended up using a larger flat head screw driver and prying gently from the passenger side, as high as I could. You can tell when it's just the lens cover and when you are high enough that the whole light assembly is coming down/out - it's just a matter of sticking it in there and prying, trying again, etc. until you get it right. Worth it though! Hope this helps someone.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Welcome, thanks for your input!

polobunny

Have you changed the vanity lights? I've found those to be the most annoying ones. The trunk is not even close in comparison.

eastcoastguy

I agree with that completely!!

I actually broke the tab on my trunk light housing but it still stays in place somehow.

If you couldnt fit your LED board in the housing you could stick it to the outside, thats what I did, you cant see it anyway because of the location and on mine it actually blends in nicely.





A small but very practical mod that makes a world of a difference at night. Its really bright and you can see the contents in the trunk great!

acford

I'm trying this on a 2015 TLX and can't seem to get the light cover off for the trunk light. I think it is the same as the 4th gen TL. I can pry the cover down from the passenger (right) side as illustrated in the pic below but it just won't pop off.

iObey_CJ

I just bought a 2016 ILX in January. Currently in the process of switching out all of the LED lighting inside and outside of the car. So far, I've done the interior dome light and the foot well lighting area for both the driver and passenger side. Tomorrow I'll be taking care of both driver and passenger side vanity mirrors. I tried to take off the trunk light but like everyone else, I'm afraid to break it. Have you been any sort of successful with this? I also want to switch out the map lights too. I was successful with taking it apart, but under the motherboard (yes motherboard) it's a type of light I have never seen for sale before. Any ideas?

Castillo7121

Hey y'all where is the light bulb at I'm my 08 Acura tsx I can't seem to find it can someone take a pic and post it so I know where to look thanks

truonghthe

You looking at the wrong sub forum, this is 3g TL section.

eastcoastguy

https://acurazine.com/forums/acurazi...community-131/

thoiboi

It's in the trunk.

It's that thing that's lit up

nittany84

Not sure this is exactly the same, but you might want to look at this video showing the trunk light cover removal on a 2015 Honda Accord Sport. I'll be trying this tomorrow on my 2016 TLX. Hope this helps.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NONIgL6THHI

WDPanda

When you look through the cover, you'll see the gold color socket on one half. That's the side the wiring is running in so the opposite side is the pry zone.

ex_hacker202

I know this thread is ancient and for TL's, but trying to pry the trunk light cover off or any Acura can be extremely difficult, and I discovered a beyond simple way to get the light out, so I'm sharing it for those wanting an answer in the future. I have a 2005 RL and replaced my NAV DVD unit yesterday, wanted to remove the trunk light so it wouldn't drain the battery as I suspected the job was going to take at least an hour (took almost two hrs!). I read about using screwdrivers or butters knives on various forums here but could not find the correct place to push to release the clip, the light cover was bending, so I quit trying, didn't want to break it. First step for replacing the NAV DVD unit in the trunk is to pull down the upper carpet - the manual says to use plastic bodywork tools, which I have, but a regular flathead screwdriver or paint scraper would probably work just as well. There are five plastic clips attached to what looks like black velcro holding the trunk carpet to the trunk lid, stick the tool under the carpet at those locations and the clips pop off very easily. Once the carpet is loose the trunk light literally falls out by itself and hangs in the air - it took me about a minute to pop the carpet clips and disconnect the trunk light with no risk of breaking the lense - just be careful disconnecting the wire harness - the bulb is hot as hell and will cause a 2nd degree burn if you grab it while it's lit. I had a hard time removing the harness connector and ended up using pliers to push in the little tabs that lock the connector into the back of the light fixture to release the connector - those tabs were too stiff for my fingers to compress, probably because they're 17 yrs old and hard now.

BTW, replacing the NAV unit is beyond a PITA - there is zero slack in the cables that connect to the back of it, you have to do everything blind, and they were just as hard to remove as the trunk light connector - so hard I almost gave up to take it to the dealer to finish. Installing the connectors in the replacement NAV unit was just as hard, no slack and you can't see anything, have to do it all by feel. After all that work and effort the used Ebay unit couldn't find a GPS signal - I may not have gotten the antenna cable fully installed, whichever one that is - dreading having to try to get to those connectors again, removing the four screws that hold the unit into it's bracket is not easy, especially if you have big hands - hardly any room on the left side to get your hand in there, let alone while holding a stubby screwdriver or small ratchet - the screw heads are Phillips but also 8 mm hex heads, using a socket removes the risk of stripping the Phillips slots - the screws are torqued to a pretty high level and cracking them loose is not easy.