How do you change the light bulb on the gear shift indicator of a 1999 Toyota Corolla?

Answer 1

I changed the bulbs on the instrument panel of my 97 corolla XL 1300

Using a Philips screwdriver, remove 2 screws located below the upper instrument cluster cover. Carefully pry off the instrument cluster cover as there are retaining clips attached to it. You don't need to remove the steering wheel, just slide the cover sideways to take it out.

You then have to remove the screws at each corner of the exposed instrument cluster. Slightly pull off the cluster and remove the wire connectors at the back of the panel. Mine have three of them and has no speedometer cable, its electronic.

Just be patient and careful in removing and reinserting the wire connectors. There is a portion on the connector that you have to depress to lift it off. Take out the cluster and replace the bulbs. You can replace them with brighter LED bulbs if you want to. You might as well clean the inside of the cluster. Take it apart by unhooking the plastic retainer clips.

I used cotton balls slightly dipped in isoprophyl alcohol to clean the panel including the odometers to make it more visible. I was only able to clean a portion of the odometer since i did not figured out how to dismantle the whole thing.

Reassemble the cluster and connect the wires. You can hear a click after reinserting it as an indication that is has fully seated.

Switch on the ignition and lights to check the indicators, gauges and panel lights. take out the car for a spin to check if the speedo is working before tightening the panel screws and reinstalling the cluster cover.