Hi All, I just purchased an 2007 Gx470. Since I cant leave well enough alone I decided to install LED lights. This included the running board lights. 3 of them went in no problem but my trouble lies in the 4th. When putting the bulb in the bulb popped out of the socket and is now in the assembly. There is not enough metal in it to get it out with a magnet. If i remove the colored trim will that allow me to remove the light and get the foolish bulb out? Any help is appreciated!!

Thank you,

Mike Gavin
2007 Gx470

 

Yup. Same thing happened to me.
I tried the magnet and the magnet fell down in the housing too. Turned into a big cluster. I finally got a pencil, stuck double sided tap to it and pulled it out that way. Has to come out straight (parallel) with the pencil. Won't come out sideways. Little tricky but got it done.

 

 

I joined this shameful club today. Except I got two bulbs floating around in the assembly. Does anyone know if it's possible to remove the lens without removing the whole running board?

 

I had the same thing happen. I bought one of the flexible claw things. I had my wife use it and get them out. She has more patience than I do.

 

Sounds like a plan

 

I just swapped out the lights on Saturday with LED’s, and was super careful (after reading this thread after searching lol), and thankfully didn’t have any issues. Man these were a bit of a pain!

I would recommend getting a vacuum out and just sucking it out? The bulbs are so cheap anyway, wouldn’t even have to dig in the vacuum to retrieve it.

However would have to be a super compact one to get into place.

you could try just pushing out the lens from the inside where you screw the bulb? That doesn’t sound ideal either....

 

Mine were a pain too, I was under there a while trying unscrew those silly bulbs. But it was worth it, even during daytime they are bright.

 

So I ended up going to Advanced Auto and getting the Sylvania 194 LEDs. They are expensive, but have on year warranty and THEY FIT!!!! It's the cheaper LEDs you get off Ebay that end up falling off into the assembly. I tried the claw tool and had no luck. So, I just left the two lost bulbs in the assembly. Yeah, you can see them if you get real close with the lights off, but at this point. I don't care.

My next issue is that I have only done one side. The other side has a broken wire that is so close to the connector I cannot splice into it. Does anyone know what the part name and number is for the middle running board light connector? Not the ones that go the bulb, but the one that plugs into the middle of the running board.

 

Didn't even think to use the Shop Vac. Not sure I can get the tube back there, but I'm going to try.

 

Shop vac may work. I forget which one it was but I had to replace the socket. Had to by the whole assembly to get it. But sand and dirt got in the assembly. I was able to get the vac on it enough to get all the debris out.

 

You can always make up a flexible tip for the shop vac from scrap paper and tape or something to get it to the light housing, might be easier with the truck jacked up and the tire removed, I'm not sure which light it is your trying to access.

 

Anyone have instructions how to replace the running board bulbs? Do you remove them from underneath? Or a vid would be even better, thanks.

 

yeah underneath - twist and pull (I think). YouTube it, there are a few videos.

it’s a massive pain in the ***.

 

I’ve got another thread going related to the running board lights. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...rd-lights.html

I’ve listed some part numbers that may help. My problem is that one of the bulbs was corroded and ruined the bulb socket. The Dealership said I had to replace the entire wiring harness which was about $150CAD. But looking through some 4Runner forums I was able to locate the socket pieces that I needed. What I also found was that the wiring diagrams do not show the part numbers for running board electronics because the parts are used in other places of the vehicle. The part that I need is also used to house the back up light lightbulbs for example.