Trunk Light Bulb removal - whats the trick?

[nusubie]

Hi, I just bought a new'18 Legacy sport and am doing all the lights over to LED's.

 

How did you get the bloody trunk light bulb out of the socket without breaking it? I thought i had great method - use an old vacuum rubber cap but i can't seem to get a grip on the bulb to wiggle it out.

 

I was considering asking my buddy's 7 yr old since he prolly has small enough fingers...

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

-D

[Jsmith]

Twist to unlock then they should pull right out.

[nusubie]

Thanks - but mine doesn't seem to want to twist at all - its a bayonet style connection right - thats whats on the LED to replace it - I must be dense but not seeing it having the ability to turn... Would they have changed this on the '18's?

[hkshooter]

I used a small screw driver and simply pried it out.

[surmiser]

If I remember right, the key was to wiggle it a bit while holding it with a cloth. I do remember that it was easiest of all the interior bulbs to do.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

cloth and pull pretty hard and it will come out

[ammcinnis]

Twist to unlock then they should pull right out.

... but mine doesn't seem to want to twist at all - its a bayonet style connection right ...

 

The OE trunk lamp in the 2015-2018 Legacy (SAE #194) is wedge base, not bayonet base. It should pull straight out; do not twist.

[Jsmith]

The OE trunk lamp in the 2015-2018 Legacy (SAE #194) is wedge base, not bayonet base. It should pull straight out; do not twist.

 

I misread his original post. I thought he could not remove the socket from the housing, not the bulb from the socket. Good catch

[nusubie]

Got fed up yesterday with this and crawled into the trunk from the back seat. Still couldn't remove the bulb but i did manage to remove the plastic socket from the trunk, pried out the bulb and then replaced the socket- took longer to crawl in than it did to replace the bulb...

[sgollapalle]

Got fed up yesterday with this and crawled into the trunk from the back seat. Still couldn't remove the bulb but i did manage to remove the plastic socket from the trunk, pried out the bulb and then replaced the socket- took longer to crawl in than it did to replace the bulb...

 

Just take a small screw driver and put it at the bottom of the base of the bulb and try to push the bulb out. The dam thing will fly out like a rocket, so do it in a carpeted area.

A fork might do the trick as well.

[gathermewool]

I just replaced mine with an LED and it took me a few quick attempts to get it right. I first tried needle-nose plyers with tape and other things to keep from destroying the stock bulb. This didn't work and I was worried I would crush the bulb. I tried wedging it out from the front and back, but that'd didn't work, either.

 

I ended up wedging a flat-head in the driver's side and slowly wiggling the bulb out. Find the right angle and from the correct side and it will come out quickly.

[rob_m]

Try wrapping a piece of tape around the bulb and pull down ... does the trick!

 

FYI - Be cautious of replacing the bulb with a LED in the trunk. Found out the hard way that mine didn't shut off all the time and drained the battery a couple times.

[gathermewool]

Try wrapping a piece of tape around the bulb and pull down ... does the trick!

 

FYI - Be cautious of replacing the bulb with a LED in the trunk. Found out the hard way that mine didn't shut off all the time and drained the battery a couple times.

 

I tried this, but there wasn't enough room. My tape wasn't very sticky, though. I can see how using a tape that would be difficult to remove might work really well. However, I was able to very easily pry it out by coming at it from the left or right.

 

Why would an LED bulb drain your battery? There's either voltage applied or there is not. I find it hard to believe an LED draws current where as a simple resistor (incandescent bulb) would not. I've noticed the new LED bulbs in the MAP and overhead positions will stay illuminated while driving. They turn off when the switch is off and when the car is off. I'm not sure why there's a small amount of voltage while driving, but it's incredibly faint.

[vtdog]

All this for a bulb? and a bulb in the trunk non the less.

Changing to LEDs appears to me to be another solution in search of a problem.

Maybe its just me, but its just a car.

[waldguy]

My trunk LED is WAY brighter and better than the filament bulb. When looking for something small in there at night it cuts down on the annoyance factor. It's one small change well worth the effort. And I remember it being a bit of a pain for the reasons above.

[gathermewool]

All this for a bulb? and a bulb in the trunk non the less.

Changing to LEDs appears to me to be another solution in search of a problem.

Maybe its just me, but its just a car.

 

I put off doing this for YEARS, because it's pretty expensive.

 

Firstly, the bulbs draw about 1/5 the power, if the the vendor, Diode Dyamics, can be believed. This impacts the draw on the battery a couple of ways. Our Subarus have proximity sensors, which means that every time we walk by with key-in-pocket the lights will turn on, even if we're just walking by to take the trash out (minor problem, and we typically put our keys in the drawer while we're home.) We have a kid, so loading and preparing for a trip, as well as getting situated take a little longer. Again, not a big deal, but sometimes we're in and out of the house with the lights on, blazing away, draining the battery. Even if you're quick, the battery may drain enough to reduce its life, since starting lead-acid batteries at less than 100% charge will sulfate and lose capacity (maybe not as minor.)

 

Secondly, the LED lights are significantly brighter. I purchased the option with the largest number of LED's for each application that was directly plug-and-play. For the map and dome light, the difference is pretty much night and day. The color is very close to the stock incandescent, too, which I like. I somehow accidentally initially ordered whiter bulbs for the map lights in the Forester, but it looked terrible (to me.) My buddy likes the ultra-futuristic light, and the whiter output does stand-out, but not in a good way to me. Diode Dynamics RMA's them for free and now I've got warm white LED's through-out the interior of both vehicles.

 

The Legacy's trunk light was incredibly easy to replace, once I figured out how to remove the stock bulb. The difference in brightness isn't a candle-flame-to-search-light difference, but it now illuminates the entire trunk, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

The bulb in our Forester's hatch was pitiful. To prevent draining the battery, and because it was nearly worthless, I left the switch off always and used a flashlight if I needed to see anything back there. The bulb from Diode Dyamics seemed to point axially, meaning it wouldn't illuminate OUT into the hatch. I ended up purchasing a bulb from super bright LEDs, because it had four LED's, arranged circumstantially, as well as one bulb pointing out axially. The new LED bulb is much brighter than the stock bulb, but that unfortunately doesn't make up for the light's poor location. With that said, the draw is low enough that I now leave the light on and, if the hatch area isn't full to blocking the light, it works well enough - it's increased brightness bumps it up from useless to meh.point.five (I'd rate it as worth it.)

[Paradox]

For gathermewool, you do know you can turn off the approach lights, so the car doesn't trigger your interior lights when you approach (or after you leave and walk away, they slowly dim)? It's in the vehicle customization settings in the HU.

 

As for the trunk light, if the trunk is left open, it automatically turns off the trunk light after about 20mins, to prevent discharge of the battery.

[gathermewool]

For gathermewool, you do know you can turn off the approach lights, so the car doesn't trigger your interior lights when you approach (or after you leave and walk away, they slowly dim)? It's in the vehicle customization settings in the HU.

 

As for the trunk light, if the trunk is left open, it automatically turns off the trunk light after about 20mins, to prevent discharge of the battery.

 

The following is my rebuttal to your unusually snarky reply:

 

You do know that I like the settings as they are, because they're convenient in most instances, right? Also, you did read the part where I explained that it's a "minor problem, and we typically put our keys in the drawer while we're home"? I appreciate your cherry picking, twisting, and exaggerating a part of my post.

 

Let's be clear, the benefit of LED's is the ability of swapping for LED's is that they're much brighter and draw less power.

 

//

 

The LED trunk light is also a lot brighter than the stock bulb. The bulb in the Forester is also very poor, but the LED makes it usable. Combined with the brighter dome light, finding things in the trunk is a lot easier. I still need to use my flashlight when the hatch area is loaded, but the increased brightness is helpful.

 

Also, when you're in and out of your trunk and car many times, but don't actual start your vehicle or charge your battery, it will deplete your battery. Even if it's a little bit, it's will reduce longevity.

[Paradox]

The following is my rebuttal to your unusually snarky reply:

 

You do know that I like the settings as they are, because they're convenient in most instances, right? Also, you did read the part where I explained that it's a "minor problem, and we typically put our keys in the drawer while we're home"? I appreciate your cherry picking, twisting, and exaggerating a part of my post.

 

....

 

You seem to take quite a few member's posts off the cuff, for some reason. Nothing in my initial reply was snarky, I only informed you of a customization setting that you might not have been aware of.

 

So, you took a reply with some info into some personal attack on you, again, in these forums.

 

Now, that reply was snarky this time.

[gathermewool]

You seem to take quite a few member's posts off the cuff, for some reason. Nothing in my initial reply was snarky, I only informed you of a customization setting that you might not have been aware of.

 

So, you took a reply with some info into some personal attack on you, again, in these forums.

 

Now, that reply was snarky this time.

 

You're taking my posts too seriously, brother

 

Personal attack, really? I don't understand how you're taking a small amount of snark/sarcasm as some kind of off-the-cuff rant? I thought the, "this is my rebuttal..." would have completely given away the fact that my post was sarcastic in nature; not to mention, rants are WAY longer!

 

With that said, I do apologize for offending you; however, can we agree that many posts that start with "you do know..." are usually not benevolent in nature, and are akin to a RTFM-type comment. I'm cool with that; most people don't RTFM, so I can understand why you might jump right to that conclusion and post the way you did.

 

Finally, the interwebs are for debates, discussions and sometimes either that evolve/devolve into arguments. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but the only three posts I can recall that I've commented on negatively were regarding: a poster who said he was scaring a biker by keeping up with him in his Legacy, a guy who said that there was a direct correlation between the number of cylinders and muffler tips, and now this; a VERY light-hearted, snarky reply to your apparently snarky post. It's not a big deal, and all conversations should be fun, even if argumentative.

 

/rant

[YeuEmMaiMai]

All this for a bulb? and a bulb in the trunk non the less.

Changing to LEDs appears to me to be another solution in search of a problem.

Maybe its just me, but its just a car.

 

replacing that puny bulb with a LED strip gives you significantly more light while using less juice...

[gathermewool]

replacing that puny bulb with a LED strip gives you significantly more light while using less juice...

 

I was very impressed with all of the LED replacements. For me, this was one of those instances where I regret not having done it sooner.

 

For those who are interested in this and plan on purchasing soon: make sure to wait for a sale. DiodeDyamics, for instance, will offer 20% off during just about every holiday.