Hoping this is an easy one, but I couldn't find a similar thread even in the archives. How do you get to the trunk light bulb to change it? The plastic lens/housing will pull out just a little bit from the wall of the trunk, but I'm afraid of breaking anything else by being clumsy so I didn't want to try and muscle it all the way out without checking first.
It does simply pull out, but from one side only. I've never been able to tell which side has the little spring tab and which side has a pair of long prongs that hold the connector to the lens, so it's a trial and error process. Unfortunately due to the age of the plastic, even if you guess the correct side to lever out, yout almost always end up breaking the plastic spring tab. I think TFS sells the lenses if you break yours.
Pull it/pry it from the right, or passenger side. The left side has the electrical plug and won't pull through very well from that side. The retaining arms are fairly thick so you shouldn't have much problem getting it out unless someone glued it in place.
Man, I'm gonna owe some +es when I get enough posts. Pulled out the housing as far as I dared, and then I used a small flat head screwdriver to push in ever so slightly on the passenger-side edge of the housing and it popped out without incident. There was more slack in the wiring than I was expecting, that's helpful and surprising considering all the electrical problems that I'm learning escaped from the factory. Bulb didn't look particularly bad, but I'm getting voltage so I guess I'll throw one of those in on my next parts order. Thanks!
You may be getting voltage, but do have a good ground? If you have power when placing a test light or volt meter from the bulb socket to a general body ground you are bypassing the trunk light circuit ground. If you measure voltage from both terminals of the light socket with the trunk lid open then you are testing the whole circuit.
I don't get any kind of reading that makes sense when I do that. Maybe related to the overall electrical issue I'm having that I think is a bad ground somewhere?
Below is a good thread regarding the trunk light inop. The ground for the circuit is in the switch by the trunk lid release. There is also a connector near the passenger side of the engine compartment wall. Sometimes the connections get corroded and the ground is not effective. Your problem definitely seems to be ground related. You could try jumping the ground wire in the harness (not the lead that goes to the switch) and see if the light works. Just a matter of locating where in the circuit you have a problem.
This may be a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway. To remove the lightbulb while it is on, is the best way to just unclip the plug from it, or is it ok to use a small screwdriver to pull the clip away from the bulb. I unplugged it while doing mine, but I'm just curious....and remember, there are no dumb questions, just stupid people that ask them ;-)
This may be a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway. To remove the lightbulb while it is on, is the best way to just unclip the plug from it, or is it ok to use a small screwdriver to pull the clip away from the bulb. I unplugged it while doing mine, but I'm just curious....and remember, there are no dumb questions, just stupid people that ask them ;-)
I would unplug the wires it and leave it to cool for a little while before removing the bulb. That little bastard gets hot real quick...
Sorry for thread ressurection and a dumb question. I just picked up a 1988 GT and wanted to keep the trunk...hood? open to cool it down quicker. I noticed the bulb gets insanely hot quick. I was thinking of just removing the bulb and keeping it out permanently. Stupid question, but being an older car I'm nervous in general about touching things until I learn more...but no chance it will be drawing any electricity without the bulb in right? I store the car a short distance away from my home and just trying to ease my anxiety. Once it's in the garage and stored for the week, everything is closed up but I want to cool down the engine a bit before it goes in.
Sorry for thread ressurection and a dumb question. I just picked up a 1988 GT and wanted to keep the trunk...hood? open to cool it down quicker. I noticed the bulb gets insanely hot quick. I was thinking of just removing the bulb and keeping it out permanently. Stupid question, but being an older car I'm nervous in general about touching things until I learn more...but no chance it will be drawing any electricity without the bulb in right?
No harm at all if you do that. Actually, the first thing I did after I bought my car was take that bulb out, and its been out ever since. I got tired of looking at the engine with that dumb bulb glowing the whole time and maybe draining my battery! So out it came...
No harm at all if you do that. Actually, the first thing I did after I bought my car was take that bulb out, and its been out ever since. I got tired of looking at the engine with that dumb bulb glowing the whole time and maybe draining my battery! So out it came...
I know it was a silly question, but I get anxious with stuff like that when unsupervised. I have an 87 Camaro Z28 that I also let cool off a bit before putting it away. There's minimal ventilation in storage and just puts my mind at ease. Thanks for the reply. My next question will hopefully be a bit more inclined 😂
86+ Trunk lamp and Dash Ajar is on w/ black switch on the latch.
Can just make something to push up the arm on the switch w/ or w/o closing the latch itself. Spring Clamps 1" or larger works. You "clamp" the latch to pushing up/in the lever not "clamp" the switch.
OE trunk lamp for Fiero is some of the worse designs. A lot of better ways and won't blind you at night.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
I am pretty sure that even with a big clamp on the switch, at some point my old brain would tell my arm to close the trunk, OUCH. Since I like electronics, I found a cheap Chinese Timer module on eBay. I think it was a couple of bucks, and took three weeks to get to me. The unit is smaller than the plastic light housing, I programmed the timer for a few minutes and then put the device in a large piece of electrical shrink tubing, and inserted it in the hole. Now my trunk light comes on for a few minutes and then will turn it self off. Most of the newer cars have timers that turn lights off after a specific period of time. Let me know if you would like to know the timer that I purchased.
