How to Replace Interior Lights with LED Bulbs in Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV?

[Lissa_FireNC]

I recently decided to upgrade the interior lights in my Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV to LED bulbs, but I ran into a bit of a challenge. removing the bulb covers! I didn’t find much detailed info on how to safely take off the covers without damaging anything. 😑

the rear seat reading lights, you’ll notice they have very small covers that can be tricky to remove. I found that using a small, sharp tool worked best to carefully pry them off. You’ll need to be gentle to avoid scratching the surrounding area.

for the main driver's light, you can remove the cover using just your fingertips. this is great because it reduces the risk of damaging the light assembly. make sure you’re careful not to grab the white plastic base underneath the cover, as that part is fixed. The cover simply snaps onto the base, so you only need to lift it gently.

 

[AndyInOz]

Hi there.

You can get small plastic tools called 'spudgers' from places like Amazon that are ideal for this kind of small, fiddly work, where you don't want to scratch anything.

Similarly, you can buy sets of plastic 'trim removal tools' from car supply chain stores.

I recommend having both of these kinds of things in your collection.

(But for interior lights, the trim removal tools may be too big.)

For interior lights, lots of vehicles use a 'squeeze the diffuser' method for getting to the light bulbs. The diffuser is the plastic bit directly over the bulb.

The first thing I always try, is to squeeze the sides towards the centre, and if that fails squeeze the top and bottom towards the centre.

If these things don't release the diffuser, they will often reveal the location of retaining tabs or demonstrate that the sides are an integral part of the diffuser, and you need to find clips associated with the sides/frame of the diffuser.

 

[Phev2016]

I agree the rear light covers can be fiddly. Be very, very careful to remove only the clear lens and DO NOT pull the outer, beige plastic down as it needs the headlining to be partially removed to refit the metal clips!!!! Don't ask how I know.
Also, I found that some cheap LEDs don't work very well as they partially stay on due to (I think) the low voltage CANBAN signals flying around.