Interior Light (What to do)?

[latina_qt]

I do not have the map light that is attached to the rearview mirror because I have the moonroof. I have a light button that is connected with both the moonroof buttons and my light won't turn on anymore. I was hoping it is just a bulb. I checked to see if I could remove the cover but it looks like it needs to be unscrewed and I'm scared to unscrew it and check because I don't want to mess with the moonroof buttons. Any suggestions on what it is and what I should do? I don't think it's a fuse because they same fuse controls my keyless entry and a few other things that are working fine. Suggestions Please?

[philndz]

dont fear...unscrew it....theres nothing special under there....for some reason a lot of us had that bulb burn out quickly....dealer should replace it too....i just replaced it w/ one i bought at wal-mart....very very easy to do.-Phil

[NovaResource]

Yeah, don't worry. It's an easy job. The pics in this thread should help clear up what you'll be dealing with:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=576

[Triton]

Go for it. You won't hurt anything by taking that screw out.

[slbpsi63]

Latina_QT, If you want to ad the rear view with the map lights one is up for bid on ebay. the bidding starts at $20. The bulb replacement is very simple don't worry about braking anyhting. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... gory=33699

[latina_qt]

Thank all of you for your advice. Your responses are greatly appreciated! I will do that today after work! I don't mind my light being there or on the rearview mirror. All I care about is that it works! I just wonder why it went out so darn fast since I just bought the car in February and I don't use that light that much.

[KSNeptune]

quote:I just wonder why it went out so darn fast Because most of the replaceable things put on new cars in the Vibe's price range are the cheapest versions available. And with light bulbs vibration, heat/cold variations, on/off cycle, and a few other things can contribute to short life even if it's a well made bulb. Sometimes it's as simple as the position the filament ends up in relative to horizontal/vertical. Sometimes it's a faulty fuse, or a good one that detects a short and prevents a fire.That said, I wouldn't be afraid of changing the bulb yourself. But since the car is in warranty, letting the dealership service it would ensure that the circuit was checked (if you ask them to check it) and the problem was truly identified and solved.KSNeptune

[joatmon]

I recently bought a lighted mirror off ebay, and got it installed today. I like the mirror lights better than the one in the sunroof control because the sunroof light is distracting at night, kind of like having the dome light on. The mirror lights are hidden by the mirror, they shine down and not into your eyes. I wonder why they don't include the lighted mirror with the sunroof. just being cheap?

[joatmon]

I know, but I already had a Vibe with a moonroof, and it seemed cheaper to just buy the mirror than to buy another vibe.

[ragingfish]

My sunfire had a moonroof AND map lights on the mirror...*shrug*...joatmon -- how did you wire in the mirror? Can you post a link to the auction? That's something I'd be interested in getting ahold of...

[joatmon]

I took off the sunroof control (one screw for the cover, a second one under that to detach it from the roof). Disconnected the wire from the control and fished the harness out of the headliner. The harness came out pretty far, lots of extra length, which was useful. Looking at the sunroof control, it was easy to see which wires went to the light, and matched them up to the wires in the harness, a small black one and a small white w/ black stripe. (In the service manual it says that the balck is +12V, the WHT/BLK was ground, but fot he light it didn;t matter if they were reversed) I pushed the black tape back to expose the wires and stripped off a bit of insulation, and took my new wire, twisted it together and crimped them together with a modified terminal lug. Didn't cut the conductor of the original wire, and only stripped one at a time to reduce risk of shorting them together. Taped up the new conections, and then retaped the harness. Ran the new wires out the front of the headliner. It helped to twist the sunvisor anchors a quarter turn counter clockwise to let the front of the headliner drop down a bit. The mirror came off a matrix, same as a vibe, and it has three pins on the back. I had used a 9V battery to figure out which pins worked, the two outer pins. Before I ran the wires, I soldered a female pin on each wire and insulated them. (didn't know where to get the proper connector)After the wire was run, I connected it to the new mirror and then hung the mirror on the windshield. Takes a torx bit. For wire I used some off an AC adapter, wall wart, Dc converter, whatever you want to call it. The lights are not very bright in general, and it should handle the current. Gave a smaller, single black line to the mirror than the NUMMI two big black wires. The pins and tape were also things I had laying around, so aside from the mirror, install materials cost scrap. I had thought that the reason that you didn't get the mirror lights with M&T was that the non-M&T mirror mounted to the roof instead of the windshild, but was able to look at a non-M&T Vibe before I bought the mirror and saw that they mounted the same. The lighted mirror is a little differently shaped than the basic mirror, perhaps a bit more mirror surface on the basic one, but not enough to matter. According to the matrix parts list I got from a link here at genvibe, the lighted mirror costs ~$100. The guy I got it from only had the one, was $25 incl shipping. If you look on ebay, check out the Matrix parts too. unfortunately you get too many hits for crap like "TRD seatbelt pads", but seems to be more actual parts on ebay listed for just Matrix than for Matrix/Vibe or just Vibe. If I see another I'll post it. There's also the lighted electrochomic mirror with compass option (some threads here on that somewhere)sorry for the long winded reply, I'm supposed to be painting the outside of the house today and it's raining.----------------------------------------------------------- laterTHis trans am mirror looks just like the one I installed, but the picture shows some wiring, can imagine it coming out of the bottom front corner, but that's what the pic looks like to me. Might we worth "ask seller a question"http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 2429634516

[joatmon]

quote:That's something I'd be interested in getting ahold of...ragingfish, was that you that got the mirror that I had posted (ebay ref deleted) ? let me know if you have a Q's about the install,

[Frosty Girl]

My light just burned out this week too! I'm glad that I'm not the only one!

[champcaracing]

evryone, those go out ALL the time, i have replaced many. many of those in corollas', matrixs', and celicas' VERY common