Calling all 2000 Taco owners.......

I recently purchased a 2000 Tacoma DLX, 2.4, A/T. Nothing fancy but given the miles on it, a reliable truck so far.

One of the problems I'm trying to resolve is there were no lights on the heater/AC panel. I popped the panel off and there was ONE bulb socket that was empty. Got a replacement bulb for it, installed it and it works fine.

HOWEVER, I do not find a 2nd bulb socket. I DO see a hole where a socket might go but I have not been able to locate that socket. I went to Toyota yesterday, provided them the VIN and while they put in a bit of time to find a socket OR a part that has the socket on it to sell me, they came up empty.

I am including a (somewhat blurry) picture of the front with the panel removed. Seems that 2000 might be unique as other year models seem to have a slightly different config.

I hope the answer is staring me right in the face and someone can point it out to me.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

The 2000 is the same as the 95-00.

You’re missing the socket on the left. Are you sure it’s not pulled out and behind the climate control unit?

 

yep, you confirmed my suspicions. Not sure how the socket would get behind the unit unless all the tangs broke off. Kinda looks like it would come out the front if anything and there's not a lot of room in there for something to get behind the unit unless it was done intentionally.... I will look again but in case I don't find it, any thoughts on how to get a replacement socket??

 

It's pretty easy to push the socket through the panel when trying to install a new bulb. I did it on mine and it was a pain to get it back through because of the limited space and short wires limiting movement. The socket is just a standard 74 bulb socket which you can find pretty easily. Though I can't confirm that the clips on the socket that hold it in place aren't something specific to this use. I also wouldn't want to deal with making the connections required to wire the new socket in in the small space that is accessible to work in.

 

Found a picture of the heater/ac unit on Ebay and the unit shows the sockets/bulbs come with it. Unless I can find the socket somewhere........ Anyone got a good used heater/ac unit (with the sockets) they want to get rid of?

 

Check out part outs on here you can send messages just not post.

I might have sockets finding them would be like a archaeological dig

Napa might have universal sockets

 

As I said, I don't know that this will fit correctly, but you can find 74 sockets pretty cheap. You'll need to confirm that it mounts in the hole correctly, but it's way cheaper than replacing the entire HVAC control unit.

Edit: Before spending more time on this I really do recommend pulling things again and just checking to see if you already have the socket and it has just gotten pushed behind the plate it mounts in. It would be very unusual for it to be completely missing.

 

I did pull everything off and looked, prodded, poked around and didn't find anything. Then I decided to remove the top cover of the unit and found the socket with bulb still wired up inside. Put a new bulb in it and it worked. Just need to get some superglue to hold the socket back into the hole. It feels fairly tight as-is but I think a dab of glue would go a long ways to keeping it in place.

I was really perplexed at the situation but am glad you persisted into checking into the missing socket which gave me the motivation to take the cover off and dig around a bit more.

REALLY appreciate the good advice.

 

Nice find.

I wouldn't use superglue. Would make for a major PITA to service that socket if need be.

Get some thin tape, some of that 3M squeak reduction tape or something like that to put between the socket and the unit. Hold it in place with friction rather than bonding it to the unit.

 

Silicone works wonders and easy to remove. My go to holds things in place you might need to remove.

 

I just pushed my left side socket through while attempting to change the bulb. Is there anyway to get access without removing the whole unit?

 

I encountered this situation as well. See my post immediately above on how to access the bulb.

texan626[OP] said: ↑
I did pull everything off and looked, prodded, poked around and didn't find anything. Then I decided to remove the top cover of the unit and found the socket with bulb still wired up inside. Put a new bulb in it and it worked. Just need to get some superglue to hold the socket back into the hole. It feels fairly tight as-is but I think a dab of glue would go a long ways to keeping it in place.

I was really perplexed at the situation but am glad you persisted into checking into the missing socket which gave me the motivation to take the cover off and dig around a bit more.

REALLY appreciate the good advice.