98 Camry shift console light replace

Has anyone tried to change bulb in shift console a/t? It seems to a sealed unit and not accessible.

Has anyone tried to change bulb in shift console a/t? It seems to a sealed unit and not accessible.

Replaced mine on my 1998 Camry XLE. Should not be too hard
but finding info is difficult. This is for the floor gear box on the
auto transmission.

Here are the procedure:

Remove trim (woodgrain) which is around shifter. Grab trim that
faces cigarette lighter and pull hard up. Watch your finger nails
since you need to tug hard. This trim is attach with the small
carpet mat in front of cigarette lighter and comes out in one
piece. The trim is held by steel clips. Lift trim up over the
gear shifter. The trim doesn't lift out past the gear shifter but
thats ok. Next remove one philip screw on the top left that holds
the gear housing. Almost there and the next step involves
removing the the gear housing box. It is held by 4 plasic clips.
You need a flat head screw driver to pop it up from the left bottom
corner. The trick is that is held snugly so once you pop it up you
must reposition it towards the cigarette lighter direction to move
it up and out. Just wiggle it up but is doesn't come out if you just
pull up straight. Now the easy part is once that housing is out there
is a wire underneath which is the bulb holder. Twist the end and
the bulb will come out. Replace bullb and reinstall everything.
Resinstalling should take few min. The bulb is a type #74. You
can get at Canadian Tire or Toyota dealer. It cost $1.30 from
Toyota dealer.

I did it too and all I did is remove a good part of the center console between the front seats to have easier access around the shifter, then twised the bulb out with a pair of narrow grips.

If you open the center console lid, there is some kind of mat underneath it and screws under the mat, it's not a hard job to do.

Hello there:

I just replaced the bulb light on my fiance's 98 XLE and used a combination of the listed methods to remove the shifter plate and access the bulb. But when I went to unclip the bulb and install the new one, it was not the #74 size listed in the first thread, but a #194. I ended up having a long life 194 in my garage, so installed it and everything went back together smoothly. Now, I just have to return the other bulbs and on to the driver's side front window regulator which needs to be greased.