e-man

Hey guys. 2006 GS 430 with 97,000 miles on the ticker. Still under CPO warranty for another 3000 miles. Tonight when I got home from work I noticed that my driver side headlight was out. When I came back out later tonight, it is now back on. Is this typical for a bulb that's about to go out? The reason I'm concerned is because if it's just a worn out bulb, then it's not covered under CPO and I'll replace it. If it's something electrical though, that would be covered under CPO if the dealership can identify the problem.

Oh, and one last thing. I didn't get any kind of warning on the dash. Is there not an indicator on the dash when a headlight bulb goes out?

Thanks for the help.

e

ReyRey305

iTrader: (3)

Same happens to me, I thought it was the aftermarket bulbs , but then I put my stock lights back in and the same happens... Driver side turns off then back on after i switch the lights on/off ....

e-man

Did some searching. Should have done that first (sorry). I'll switch the bulbs to see if the problem moves to the other side. If so, it's the bulb. If the problem remains in the drivers side after switching the bulb, then I know it's the light assembly. I'll report back.

rj12

Same thing happens to me. Both were on when I left work. When I got home the bulb that was going out was back off.

e-man

Quick update. So I switched the bulbs side to side on Friday night. Of course, both sides have been working fine since then. I'm hoping that the right side will go out (which will confirm it's he bulb) but as of right now, I've got nothing, nada, zilch, zippo, nil, empty set.

burny

It a sign the bulb is failing.

ozjet400

Yeah, I have had this... did some research ... I replaced both bulbs with decent quality Phillips bulbs.... seemed to be fine for a while, but one goes out for a while, if I quickly flick them on and off , it comes back on for a while... I think it could be something else... so more research needed

e-man

This is what concerns me. I am under CPO warranty for another 2k miles. If it's the bulb, it's not covered. If it's the ballast or something else related to the functioning of the headlight, then it's covered.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Sounds more like the ballast than the bulb if you already tried the stock bulb and the same issue then most likely the ballast.

lofidelity

I had this when both my headlights were fogging up. The ballasts on both ended up going and had to fork out big bucks for the new ones.

On the replacement headlights with aftermarket bulbs I've had the problem for a few weeks, and then it went away months ago. I think it's not just the ballasts, but that the wiring and ballasts are very sensitive to moisture and what bulbs you use.

By the way, any recommendations on good (affordably priced) bulbs?

Neural0

e-man can you take it to the dealer and have them look at it? I would assume they could tell you if it was one or the other and whether or not it would be covered ?

Mine is having the same problem but with the daytime running lights. But then again that's a $10 fix for me and I don't think yours is...

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

If the problem doesn't come back... it could be possible the the driver side harness was just loose and not locked all the way into place. Happened to me. Light would go out over certain bumps, turn them off and back on and was fine... checked the bulb and the harness slid right off the bulb without effort. Could be as simple as that.

Lexo11

From the symptom you explained you may just need to replace both xenon lights.

e-man

Guys -- thanks for all the responses. Really helpful.

It's been a week and a half since I flipped the bulbs from side to side and the problem hasn't resurfaced. I'll take it to the dealer to have them look at it before my CPO warranty runs out (I have 1800 miles left). At the very least, I'll have made a record that the problem existed, Lexus will tell me that they couldn't duplicate the problem, and then if the ballast craps out post 100k miles, maybe they'll work with me on it.

I think it must be either: (1) the bulb is on it's way out; or (2) there was a loose connection between the bulb and the connector (maybe it loosened up over a bump or something) and by flipping the bulbs side to side, I fixed the issue with the loose connection. The only reason I don't think that's it is because the connector seemed to be on there pretty right when I removed it.

Anyway, I'll report back when I take it in to the dealer. Thanks for all the help.

e

e-man

It's been 2+ weeks since I switched the existing bulbs from side to side and neither side has gone out since. I don't get it.