How to change interior overhead light bulb

[Stanley]

I thought there's a way to press on the lens so it pops open. Not working though.

[jfa.series1]

The complete light unit has to popped out of the overhead panel and bulb swapped out from the back.  Its a tight area - tough to do up near the roof, you might want to unplug the light and do the swap on the bench.

[siteunseen]

It's a little nerve racking but it's the only way I found too.  There's four tabs two each side. I think I used small screwdrivers and got one side down at time.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2018 by siteunseen

[psdenno]

This topic is starting to sound like a variation of an old joke...."How many Datsun Z owners does it take to change a light bulb?"

Looks like at least three, so far. 

Dennis

[siteunseen]

My joke is how many times does a Z owner change the same bulb?  Twice.  I bought one of those cheapo LEDs first and like me it's not very bright so I get the good one with the panels, no cover.

No good,

Good, 

 

[Zed Head]

I posted this before but be careful when pressing on the lens.  Mine lost its last bits of flexibility in just a few years.  Shattered in to bits.

Here's one factory bulb change procedure.  They didn't have it in the early FSM's.  Found it in 1976.  Might be different for earlier.  Looks like it just pulls out then has to be unplugged.  Spring retention.

[Stanley]

Thanks, I remembered removing the lens by pressing it a certain way but now it occurs to me it was in the old Chevy truck, not the Datsun. Site, do you remember the source for the LED? I found it a while back but never got around to ordering it. If not I can probably find it with "Search".

Yesterday I tried pulling on the housing, was afraid of breaking something though. Tried turning the light off and on after hooking up the new battery, and it worked a couple of times and then didn't work. Maybe it needs some deoxit. Also, I checked the amps through the system at the neg. battery terminal with everything supposedly off and got 15 milliamps. After messing with the light I got zero, which should mean something.

 

46 minutes ago, psdenno said:

This topic is starting to sound like a variation of an old joke...."How many Datsun Z owners does it take to change a light bulb?"

Looks like at least three, so far. 

Dennis

Yeah, a little embarrassing. I figured the reason it wasn't in FSM was because it's so easy.

[siteunseen]

I bought one off ebay but there is another supplier we've talked about on here, ledbrights.com or something like that.

I found it. Superbrightleds

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=kUTGW4ijG4LezwLWooDYDg&ins=false&q=led+bulbs+classiczcars.com&oq=led+bulbs+classiczcars.com&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-hp.3...2934.27983..28055...6.0..2.440.7627.0j11j12j4j3....2..0....1.......3..0j41j0i131j46i131j0i7i30j0i7i10i30j0i30j0i8i30j0i7i5i30j30i10j0i13i30j0i8i13i30j33i299.XYe4EkOF-4s

[Stanley]

It was easy, thanks Zed, Site. The bulb fell apart as I was removing it, carefully I thought. Gone between the seats.

First drive since the battery died, still not sure why but suspect the interior light was on. Meter shows zero milliamps now with everything off and no changes except removing the bulb. I took the old battery to O'Reilly's, they charged it overnight but it was toast. They gave me a new one since it was bought in July this year.

Car runs much better now without blown-out AT modulator puking ATF into the balance tube.

[w3wilkes]

I did all my lights in LED except the dash a year ago and am quite pleased with the outcome. Here's the list of bulbs including the dome light I put in another thread;

 

[heyitsrama]

@siteunseen can we get an interior picture with the LED on? ?

[w3wilkes]

Here's an interior picture with the LED dome light on and no flash.

Edited October 23, 2018 by w3wilkes