As with other vehicle lighting, the dome light bulb in your Tacoma will burn out over time, even if this bulb may last for years and outlive other bulbs, such as the taillight bulbs--which typically fail once every 24 months. The dome light bulb sees very little use, because it only comes on when you open the truck’s door. Other than due to a natural burn-out, the dome light will most often fail as a result of not shutting the truck’s door completely. You can remove the dome light cover to access the bulb right at home. The repair should take you no more than 10 minutes to complete.
Lift the hood on the Tacoma. Loosen the bolt that secures the negative battery cable’s terminal to the battery, using a socket wrench. Lift the terminal off the battery post. Place a shop rag around the terminal and lay the cable down along the side of the battery.
Open the driver’s door, sit down and observe the dome light cover before you attempt to remove it. The plastic trim around the cover contains a screw that sits beneath the cover. You have to remove the lens itself in order to replace the bulb, not the trim around it. The cover has two little tabs on the left and right side of it, closest to the switch. The bottom of the cover--across from the switch--has two little notches on it that fit into two slots on the trim around the cover.
Insert the tip of the 9/64-inch flat-head screwdriver into the small crack between the dome light lens cover and the trim on the left side of the switch. Pry downward on the lens cover until its corner pops out of place. Repeat the process on the right side of the dome light switch.
Grasp the side of the cover that you have popped out of place, using your hand. Lower the cover a quarter inch and then pull it toward the switch to disengage the two notches at the bottom of the cover.
