rj12

Can a piece inside the HID be replaced. I noticed that my bulb was coming loose because every now and then the light would stop working. I'd open the hood tighten it and all would be good for weeks...sometimes months. Today it stopped and I opened it and this time it had a burning plastic smell. Can this piece be replaced?

rj12

This is what a good one looks like.

BinaryJay

You can probably splice a new connector in but it's probably a junk yard type of item I doubt Lexus sells just pigtails for that. At this point just getting new ballasts is probably better.

Also, ouch... aftermarket bulbs?

rj12

Yes after market bulbs. Lexus is quoting me $1200 for part alone.

tunedis95

Those pigtails are a pain in the but to swap out. You'll have to remove your bumper,(I would) so you can open up the location where the ballast is at. Remove the ballast, remove the plastic cover and de-solder or just splice it onto the original cable. If you were going to go this route, I would just wait till I figure out the LED situation, if your interested.

I'm currently having issues with my Passenger headlight, I've already changed out ballast and bulb. Light still goes out every now and then. I'm considering swapping out this HID D4S bulb for a LED D4S bulb. Wish Xenon depot had the D4S sized bulb, I might have to get a different brand. I'm so done with HID's, and really like how LED fire up and are 100% brightness instead of warming up/buzzing. Just saying. I'll have this swap done when I get back home. I'm just going to unplug the power source going to the ballast(bottom of headlight) and solder a new plug that will directly plug into the LED wiring harness.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

do you know for sure if its the bulb or ballast thats bad? Pull out both bulbs, swap sides, and see if the problem follows it. I bought OEM phillips HID bulbs for my 2IS for $40 on ebay

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure those are OEM Philips? There are tons of very good Chinese fakes out there, with red "Toyota" part box and everything. I just can not imagine that a part that costs $165+ at a dealeship can be bought for $40. I understand that Lexus has HUGE profit margin, but still...

I just bought a pair of "genuine OEM Toyota" bulbs in a factory packaging for $68 and one of them went out after only 9 days. I should have been suspicious where I noticed that the seller sells only one type of item: Philips Toyota bulbs. Oh, well.

Take a look at this: http://www.hidbulbsrus.com/identifying-counterfeits/

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...Text=&_sacat=0

rj12

Does anyone have a write up on changing the ballast? I'm getting mine changed tomorrow. Do they have to solder or is there a simple way to take out the light and change the ballast? I keep on reading about soldering pieces.

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

Misspelled word "Bulb" on the sticker should be the first clue.

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

The bulb on the right is real Philips. The glass tube has a small dimple, visible on the right at the base. The ceramic return insulator is dark green in color.

The one on the left came inside the box with the sticker "HULB HID". It was bought on ebay as "authentic OEM German-made, etc" for $34.

tunedis95

I removed the bumper, removed the headlight with wires still connected. Sounds intimidating, but its quiet easy to remove the bumper. Unscrewed the ballast(4 phillips screws), that leaves your ballast exposed. Then removed the ballast, cord, and bulb plug. Had to snake the plug through as it a very tight fit in there. Once I pried off the vanilla colored cover, I used a flat head screw driver to pry the wire from the contacts on the ballast, then soldered the new wire fixture and re-assembled. If I got down and done it quickly, probably take an hour or so.