Dashlight dimmer

hi all,i bought a 1992 starlet a few weeks ago & upon a sum night driving i noticed the dash lights & the clock were very dim,ive hunted high & low to find an ajustment knob but to no avail,can anyone help?

It may not have one. There's probably a blanking panel where it should be. If one is fitted, it should be in the location shown in the pic.

Early Toyota models I've driven had a rotary dimmer switch with the bulb symbol. IIRC only one base model variant of Starlet was available in the UK until the last gen mid-90s model which offered a 5-door variant for the first time. You did well to find a '92 Starlet. Maybe you could share some pics of it?

Thank you for your insight. New Zealand got a lot of the earlier starlet models, 2 & 4 door models & the turboed ones.

Are the 2 & 4 door models badged as a Starlet in NZ? On my travels, I have come across them badged as the Tercel, and later as the Echo (Mk1 Yaris saloon). Both were available in the 2 and 4 door variant with analogue dials for the Echo.

From the first starlets in the early 80s to i think about 95,they were badged as starlets,mines a starlet soliol,16 valve efi auto,it was owned by a 92 year old lady who had it for years i believe,apart from the faded paint its great & its only done 188000 kms in 32 years.

On 5/18/2024 at 11:52 PM, mrneil said:

hi all,i bought a 1992 starlet a few weeks ago & upon a sum night driving i noticed the dash lights & the clock were very dim,ive hunted high & low to find an ajustment knob but to no avail,can anyone help?

I have a 97 Starlet and the dash lights are very dim with no means of adjustment. You get used to it.

Still love the car.

Must be a common problem,i might just mount a couple of small lights in front of the speedo for sum more illumination

You could also try swapping the dash bulbs for LED's.

Ahh the Starlet... someone down my road has a JDM one (A Glanza). I don't know if it came like that, but it has a turbo and a hood scoop!  

Must be terrifying to drive!  

Another JDM model I've yet to see is the YC predecessor, the Starlet Remix. Looks the part too with the cladding and spare mounted on the tailgate.

Hi cyker,the glanza is one seriously quick little car,they were a hot seller in nz,i still see a few around & i believe they were a factory option👍

1.33,ive never seen one over here,looks similar to the honda crv

1.33,& a smaller version of the toyoya rav 4

Heres some more pics of my car,i got some of it polished today👍

Looks nice after a wash. Polishing can help remove some of the oxidation. The only difference between yours and the EU ones were the side repeat indicators on the front wings. It seems to have been well looked after and looks good for a 32 year old car.

It would've been interesting to have tried the earlier RWD versions, especially the coupe and estate station wagon versions. Some markets recently sold the Starlet as a Badge engineered Suzuki Baleno.

On 6/6/2024 at 6:34 PM, Cyker said:

Must be terrifying to drive!  

Weighing only 800-900kg and with a turbo, it could probably out accelerate most modern hot hatches.

I should have taken pics of the car before i started,im using macquiars  rubbing compound,before i started the whole car looked like the drivers side,all faded,once ive finished cutting the paint then ill hit it with polish then after that ill give it a ceramic coating for extra protection

On 6/6/2024 at 6:34 PM, Cyker said:

Ahh the Starlet... someone down my road has a JDM one (A Glanza). I don't know if it came like that, but it has a turbo and a hood scoop!  

Yes, the Starlet Glanza is legendary (well, in that sphere at least). Probably a response to the Nissan Sunny GTi-R.