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How to Install License Light Housings 2010-15 Toyota Prius

Created on: 2018-04-06

How to repair, install, fix, change or replace a broken, damaged, cracked, faded, cloudy, or chipped signal light on 11 Toyota Prius.

  1. step 1 :Remove the Tailgate Panel
    • Pry off the top panel with a trim tool
    • Pop the side trims off with a trim tool
    • Pop off the bottom trim with a trim tool
    • Pry off the middle trim with a trim tool
  2. step 2 :Removing the Outer Trim
    • Remove the 10mm nuts from the outer trim
    • Pry out the outer trim with a trim tool
    • Slide the handle out of the outer trim
  3. step 3 :Removing the License Light Housing
    • Disconnect the wiring harness
    • Pull the socket out
    • Press the tab on the housing
    • Remove the light housing
  4. step 4 :Installing the License Light Housing
    • Lock the socket into the housing
    • Insert the socket into place
    • Connect the wiring harness
  5. step 5 :Installing the Outer Trim
    • Line up the studs on the outer trim with the holes on the hatch
    • Press the outer trim into place
    • Tighten the 10mm bolts to the outer trim
    • With soapy water and a pick, pull the weatherstripping out beneath the window so it's realigned
  6. step 6 :Installing the Tailgate Panel
    • Press the middle trim into place
    • Press the lower trim into place
    • Press the side trims into place
    • Press the upper trim into place

Tools needed

  • Soapy Water

    Socket Extensions

    10mm Socket

    Ratchet

    Trim Tool Set

    Pick

Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!

To remove the rear hatch trim, we'll have to start at the top piece here. Use your plastic prying tool. You can buy these from 1AAuto.com. Slide it underneath here. Pop it out. It's going to snap. Just get it started. Got four clips. If a clip stays behind, it’s not a big deal. You use this part of the tool or this part of the tool. Slide it underneath here. Pop it out, and it can be reused by simply pushing it back in here. Put that aside. Now we pop this side trim off. This will be the same for both sides. You usually get started like this. It'll pop right off. Un-clip it from this lower one. The same for the other side.

The middle piece is not the next piece. It's actually last. We can do the bottom part here. Use a plastic prying tool, a narrow one. There's a small cutout slot here. I'm going to get in here underneath it. Pop it off the clips. Pull it down. Work your way around it. They're in here. With some significant force, you got to put on it to pull it out. Work your way all the way around, using the plastic prying tool to help you take them off. Do the same on this side. Pry it down. Separate it from this middle panel. Try to pull forward and up with a good amount of force.

You're trying to separate it from these little pull handle cups, going to slide behind the metal. Pop it off from this panel here. This seemed to have broken off, but it really didn't. You can just push it back into place because, once it's inside, the panel holds it up against it, and then you reach in and grab it so it won't come apart once it's in there.

Now, with the lower and the upper panels removed, we can get to the center panel. Start to pull it down. It just un-clips it. Just un-clip it. These clips are, some good tension to them so I'm going to really pull on it. With all these trim panels off, you can get to the rear washer nozzle, you can get to the rear wiper motor.

These are your connections, where they defrost on this lower piece of glass and then the defrost on the upper piece of glass, you need to make repairs there. You can also reach the rear connector for your door handle and all the bolts and the nuts for your rear trim panel. The plate lights are accessible through openings in the trims. You don't have to take off the trim, but you can see them in here and, of course, all your wiring harnesses that are in here.

To remove this trim here and get to your license plate lights and your hatch electric handle, lift up the opening and, with the trim removed, there's a stud here with a 10-millimeter nut on it and another one on the other side. There's also two nuts and two studs right in the center by the door lock handle. Remove those. Remove this nut. The same for this side. Use my plastic prying tool. You can get this from 1AAuto.com.

Going to pry the trim off because it's clipped on. Lot of dirt under here. Work my way across. You work your way across. You pull it off the clips. I'm going to slide the whole thing out. Should have actually put that on the inside, but this handle will slide off these studs here, just like that. Panel off.

To replace the plate light housings, we're going to plug them by pushing in the lock on the top, disconnecting it. The socket just comes out.

To change, it there's a locking tab right here. Take a plastic prying tool. You can get this from 1aauto.com. Go in here, pry against the metal and against the plastic tab, pry it in, and then push it out. It's going to come right out. Carefully lower this down and grab it right here. This one will be exactly the same way. There it is. The socket which goes inside here, locks in place.

To reinstall license plate light, hook this side and then push it in place. It will lock in. Just plug the connector back in. It will click when it locks in place. Put this down. Put the trim panel back on. So these two studs need to go in these two openings here and then these two over here. The clips will just push in. I'm going to line up these longer ones first in the middle and get the other ones lined up. Push through.

There's a rubber piece of trim here. It's okay. Get them lined up, clip them in, just like that. Pull this rubber trim back out, a little bit of glass cleaner. Use a right angle pick and just carefully start this rubber weather strip. Pull it out. Using some soapy water and carefully using the right angle pick just pull this weather strip out. Reinstall the 10 millimeter nuts. Do the same for all four of them. Reinstall the middle trim piece first. There's four clips on the inside here. Slide it up. Put it in position. Clip it in place.

Reinstall the lower part. It does have some tabs here and here. They're going to fit into the openings here and here on the center trim piece. These pull handles that are on the panel, they come up and they hook into the sheet metal here. Get it into position. I'm going to go in this way with it, slide them in, push it back in on the clips. Trim panel is reinstalled. Reinstall the two side pieces. These install the same exact way for both sides. Line them up into here. Just clips into place. Do the same for the other one. Reinstall the center piece. It's key there's a wide part that fits in this wide opening here and then two pieces here that fit over here so you don't try to install it backwards. It won't fit. These will need to line up with the corresponding openings. The trim is reinstalled.

Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.


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