Rear Door Courtesy Lights.

[TOYOTATONY]

I've always wondered why there are no courtesy lights in the rear doors.
I decided to search on the forum to see if anyone has done this & how, but can't find anything.
I'd be surprised if nobody has done this, but I have now & thought a blow by blow might help anyone else thinking of doing this.

I have used the same lights as used in the front doors so you'll need a pair of those obviously.

First of all, you need to carefully decide where you want to put them, remembering to fit them where the gaps are in the door construction! As you'll see from the pics, I have put mine on the curved strip. This allows the light to sit flush with the curved strip as the light lens is also curved.

Step 1: Lay the holder on the card in the position you've chosen, making sure it is square on. Mark around the holder & then cut out the rectangle you created down to the carboard. (Pic 1& 2)
Step 2: Lay holder on it's back or side next to cut out & mark for the holder recess. (Pic 3) Now cut out this section of cardboard so holder will fit snugly into it. I used a steel rule to help.(Pic 4) Pic 5 shows the result.
Step 3: With lens in place, drill through the 2 screw holes. I used a 3mm bit. Remove holder & using a 5mm bit, widen out the 2 holes you've just drilled. (Pic 6)
Step 4: The holder is curved to fit with lens. As you need to fit the holder on the back of the door card, it ideally needs to be flat. Cut & file flat the curved surface until it's at the same level as the 2 screw holes. Don't go below this or the bulb pins will sit proud & may foul on the lens when fitted.(Pic 7 & 8) Pic 8 shows original holder in front & filed flat one at rear.
Step 5: I found it easier to fit the festoon bulb at this stage & then place holder on the back side of the door card, position the lens on the front & using the original screws preferably, tighten up until secure.
N.B. Be careful not to over tighten!
N.B. I suggest using led festoons as the bulb will be a bit closer to the lens as a result of the filing of the holder.
End result is shown in pic 9 & 10. A nice neat & flush fit.

Repeat for the other side obviously.

Step 6: Wire into courtesy light door switch.

That's it sorted! Hope this will of help to you.

Regards
Tony

[greeley]

all that hard work,suppose if you want em though its worth it,mine has lights in the rear doors,just thought they where standard,must have some rare piece of kit,lucky me

[GBV8]

Last week i attempted to take my rear door cards off to lub up the window regs but couldn't get them off. I had all the screws and plastic panel studs out but after taking the little screw out from the door opening handle on the inside the panel still wouldn't budge. I didn't want to wreck or snap the door panel by pulling at it to hard. What was still holding it?

Although I didn't get the door card off I was still able to do the job ok.

[TOYOTATONY]

Last week i attempted to take my rear door cards off to lub up the window regs but couldn't get them off. I had all the screws and plastic panel studs out but after taking the little screw out from the door opening handle on the inside the panel still wouldn't budge. I didn't want to wreck or snap the door panel by pulling at it to hard. What was still holding it?

Although I didn't get the door card off I was still able to do the job ok.

The door handle has lugs on it. You need to slide the door handle towards the front of the car, about 10mm or so and it will free itself. Can be quite tight! The handle can then be fed through it's own hole by twisting & tilting it slightly. I prefer to remove the little plastic clip holding the metal arm to the handle. A bit fiddly but doesn't stress other components.

[TOYOTATONY]

all that hard work,suppose if you want em though its worth it,mine has lights in the rear doors,just thought they where standard,must have some rare piece of kit,lucky me

Hi,
I 'wanted them' is indeed the reason I did it. Just needed to think about it first. Took me a little over 2 hours once I got my head round it. If you have time to kill, why not spend it on the Surf I say.
Now.....what else can I think of?

[greeley]

Hi,
I 'wanted them' is indeed the reason I did it. Just needed to think about it first. Took me a little over 2 hours once I got my head round it. If you have time to kill, why not spend it on the Surf I say.
Now.....what else can I think of?

indeed spend it on the surf,haha.my mistake,i dont have them in the rear doors,could have sworn i did.looks good though

[Hawaii]

mornin' all

I have door lights in both the front & rears on my 3rd gen. Would like to try the "must be a SSRG 3rd gen thingy" but to be honest I fitted them myself - just got 2 sets from a celica (like to keep them all toyota)

hardest bit was deciding where to fit them so they sort of match the flow of the door trim - if only I could get the B***dy camera to download piccies properly.

ta

hawaii

[J i m s t e r]

I have an issue where the roof light doesn't come on for the passenger-side doors - is there a fix for this?

I also have a non-working demister on the back window, while I've got me whinging head on.

Any ideas where to start?

(3rd gen)

[Hawaii]

Jimster

if your interior light comes on when you open the drivers door then it must be a wiring or switch problem between the passenger side switches and the light - does it not work for both the passenger doors(if that makes sense). If it's one of the doors only then it's probably the switch and, to be honest it's probably the switches anyway, take them out and give 'em a good clean.

The failed heated rear window is again, probabl;y the wiring and it's maybe come off the tabs that are below the window seal. Take off the internal panel and you'll see the wiring flopping around. May just be a case of re-making the connections but could also be the relay/fuse.

don't think it's anything serious but it's really irritating when things don't work as they should

hope this helps

hawaii (an old Nottingham lad myself)

[J i m s t e r]

Noticed today that the door mirrors aren't demisting either. I believe these are on the same circuit as the rear window demist?

The dash light is on, but with neither working, I am thinking a fuse? Any idea which fuse this would be? (3rd gen).

Cheers for any reply
Jimbo

[wishbone]

all that hard work,suppose if you want em though its worth it,mine has lights in the rear doors,just thought they where standard,must have some rare piece of kit,lucky me

Can you take a pic for me? I've never seen a 2nd gen with lights on the rear doors.

Cheers,
Rob.

[TOYOTATONY]

Can you take a pic for me? I've never seen a 2nd gen with lights on the rear doors.

Cheers,
Rob.

Hi Rob,
If you look at post 6 you'll read Greeley's retraction as he now realises he doesn't have lights in his rear doors. (Mine are as in pics at start of thread.)
Tony