Toyota RAV4 2011 AWD and 2WD Maintenance Schedule

 Engine and Electrical System

Fuel System, Chassis and Body

Body and Chassis Continued

Maintenance Service Times

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Replacing Vanity and Cargo Lights – Toyota RAV4 2011

It seems to be easy to replace the internal lights of your car if you would like to do it your self. Recently I did change my Halogen lights to LED. Following steps are for a 2011 Toyota RAV4, but some of the steps may be applicable to other vehicle models as well.

Vanity Lights

You can remove the vanity light by inserting a flat head screw driver or a panel remover tool from the left side of the light. If you are using a screw driver, you can use a cloth to minimise the damage caused. Be careful not to try from the right side, since the wire connections are there on the right side. So if you try forcing it out from the right side, it will break. You will get the idea from the below images.

Cargo Area Light

Cargo light is the light on the back door of the RAV4, this can be easily removed by inserting a tool from the side where the switch is located. Do not try from the other side since it will break.

Once the light assembly is removed you need to remove the plastic cover to access the light. If you are replacing the globe with a LED, remember to turn the LED to the other side, so the light will emit to the cargo area. You will be able to get a better understanding by the following pictures.

Replacing Dome Lights – Toyota RAV4 2011

Recently I did upgrade the interior lights of my car, since there are not much articles with the steps,  thought this will be helpful to the other readers.

1. Use a car trim remover tool or a flat head screwdriver to gently remove the light cover. If using a screwdriver, it is better use a cloth to reduce the damage to the plastic components.

You just need to insert the tool in the below marked areas to get it undone. Note that we re only removing the lens cover, not the entire dome light assembly. So insert the tool between the lens cover and the plastic.

2. You will be able to pull the existing bulb without much effort.

After replacing the globe, remember to check before fitting the cover.

Samsung Galaxy S4 not Connecting to Car Audio Fix

Few months back suddenly my Toyota refused to connect to my Samsung Galaxy S4 without any reason. Earlier I could listen to music, dial calls and answer calls without issues.

But suddenly the connection between the car and the phone broke and the worst thing is I lost entire Bluetooth screen from the car audio system (Normally I have FM1, FM2, Bluetooth and AM). I thought my audio system is malfunctioning so I went to Toyota, but they said it is a known error and Galaxy S4 is having new Bluetooth version and it is not compatible with most of the car audio systems and I will not be able to use the phone with the car. This was very disappointing to me so I asked for them for the audio system update but they said no updates are available.

Then I thought to try out few things and get it fixed by myself, good news for anyone having the same issue is I solved the issue. But it is not always reliable but 95% of times it will work.

To get your S4 (or any other new device) connected into your car audio follow the steps below, they might help you.

1. First we need to get the missing Bluetooth mode (screen) back in the car audio, for this I removed all the registered devices I had in the car audio.
2. Then I registered my old Windows Mobile phone to the audio system using the settings screen (since the Bluetooth mode is not available). Any old phone like an iPhone 4G or below, Samsung Galaxy S2, Windows Mobile phones will be ok. If you get the device properly registered you will get the Bluetooth screen back when you restart the car audio system.
3. Then register your Galaxy S4 with the car audio system, and change the connection behaviour immediately. Normally the car audio will try to connect to the phone, but since the phone is having new version of Bluetooth car audio will not recognise the commands transmitted by the phone. So the system will think there is no device.

To over come the issue you need to configure the phone to make the connection. In my Toyota this is done by selecting the connection settings after the Bluetooth connection is made using the Bluetooth mode (screen). Because latest phones are intelligent they will detect that the car audio is having older version of Bluetooth and it will change the instruction set accordingly and start communicating with an instruction set which is recognised by the car audio, making everything back to normal again.

After making my phone to connect to the car, I could play my music, answer calls and dial calls without any issues.

Hope this will help you to get your car audio connected to your latest phone.

Benz Show 2009

Recently I managed a project which targeted iPhone and SharePoint server. This was a project for Dimo who are the dealers for Mercedes Benz in Sri Lanka. Total software services were provided by IronOne Technologies.

When we finalized the technologies I thought that this project will be an interesting one.
But the real interesting part was on the day when I saw all the Benz models present on the day. Even though I have seen international car shows before this, this is the first time I have seen this much of cars of the same manufacturer on the same place live.
You will agree after you see the photos.