SilverBolt

We recently had our car in for service at the dealer. A couple of days after picking it up we were driving at night and noticed the passenger side headlight was way out of adjustment. It was pointed way high. Oncoming traffic flashed brights at us, when we were behind a car it lit up the interior. So we get home and I park infront of our closed garage door about 3-4 feet away. Driver side looks good with a nice straight beam. The passenger side is about 2 feet higher. Not just the HID but also the daytime running light is also jacked way up. I cycled the lights of and on a few time and notice they do not go through the self leveling start up. When I turn the lights off the projector portion of the passenger side is visibly angled up compared to the driverside. Made an appointment and took the car in this morning. Dealer claims nothing is wrong and it all checks out fine. Anyone have any insight here? Any TSB's relating to the factory HID's? Obviously something is not right. Dealer claims they can't/won't do anything because it's fine. First time dealing with a Lexus service department and so far they are making BMW look like gods.

ULTiMaX99

iTrader: (5)

try another dealer for a second opinion?

istundra

iTrader: (2)

ask them you would like the lamps aimed to factory spec. it will be obvious that it is off. Plus.. it should be autoleveling. Does it move up/down with you turn on the car?

ba-b4

Isn't the passenger side supposed to be higher than the left? All cars headlights are that way I think starting like 4 years ago.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

There are no TSBs for AFS. Have you tried turning the AFS on and off to see if there is a difference in the initialization?

There should be a distinct raising and lowering when the lights are first powered on to adjust the beams. Do you see this, or does the light position (when striking a wall in front of you) appear to be static?

Troubleshooting the AFS is not exactly simple, but if the dealer has the correct diagnostic test tools, it isn't rocket science either. I've been perusing the manual this evening to see if there is anything obvious, but there isn't anything specific in the book to make a clear diagnosis.

It's possible you have a stuck motor, but this should show up on a diagnostic scan with a trouble code. The dealer should be able to connect their DTC reader and see this.

This also caught my attention:
It sounds like this feature could be stuck. I'd ask about it.

SilverBolt

The next closest dealer is a 2 hour drive.
According to the dealer the lights are aimed within spec. (no way). At 3-4 feet away from my garage door there is a huge difference. If I back out to 12-15ft the driverside remains close to the same and the passenger side lights up the top of the garage door about 6ft off the ground. The Passenger side is supposed to be slightly higher but only by inches. If I back out to the street the driverside illuminates about 3ft off the ground and the passenger side lights up the gutters on the house.

I see no auto leveling movement in the lights by either cycling the lights on and off or starting and shutting the engine off. No movement. According to the dealer they did a diagnostic test and everything was fine. The part that confuses me is the day time running lights being off as well. They should not be part of the auto level HID function. The beam pattern on the side looks like the entire headlight assembly is physically tilted up. I have measured and compared side to side and see no evidence that the light has been hit of moved at all. The only other option the dealer is giving us is to have a "tech" take the car home so they can try to duplicate the problem. WTF? No way am I going to let that happen. I showed them by shining the lights against their building but they are sticking to "it's within spec". Real sharp bunch at this dealer.

VikH

iTrader: (5)

Did you show them that at startup the passenger side does not auto-level? When you are at the dealer park next to another IS and start up both cars. That is a clear problem and if the dealer can't see that, then they are idiots. Who are you dealing with at the dealership? Ask for someone else or the someone higher up (manager).

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

So there's no difference in function when you turn AFS off? You did check to be sure it is turned on? (Not being condescending, just asking, I've done stuff like this and missed what others considered obvious myself).

The other route it to call Lexus and discuss the situation with them. Obviously the dealer is not prepared to solve this problem, and you should be able to take the car to any qualified light technician and validate the lights are not aimed within spec to back up your claim with Lexus. I don't know if Oregon has BAR licensed facilities for headlight aim, but we do in CA for sure.

The bad part is, without the Lexus scantool (or a Vetronix scantool and Lexus software) you will not be able to troubleshoot this system, nor will an independent shop.

It really sounds like that solenoid intended to move the reflector is stuck in the high beam position. At least, that's what I'd be looking at from your description of the problem.

SGT

Have you tried manually adjusting the screws per the manual to adjust the lowbeam and highbeam (DRL) headlight aim? You may also want to check the bubble gauges to see if they are out of spec.

al503

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Bolt. That really doesn't sound very characteristic of the service that I've been getting there for quite a while.

I would call Corporate and voice your concerns as this is definitely an issue that could affect your safety.

SilverBolt

Where are the bubble gauges located? I was looking for that. On our BMW the are right on top in plain site. I saw nothing on the Lexus. I will call Lexus and voice my concerns. I was really hoping the dealer would take care of this. I didn't want to have to dig into it myself. It's just very curious that it was fine when it went to the dealer for service and then after picking it up we noticed the problem. Things that make you go Hmmmmm. I can't understand why the dealer is being so difficult. Here is a customer with an obvious problem and not happy, here is the problem. Fix the problem and make the customer happy. Seems pretty basic to me.

eric_r_ho

iTrader: (9)

This JUST happened to my 08' IS250, I turned on my headlights and I noticed that the beam on the passenger side is lighting up the second story rooms of houses on my street!! This is DEFINITELY not operating as designed because it wasn't like that a couple days ago. There is 100% a malfunction as I am sensitive to these kinds of small changes to my car..

Did you ever get this resolved?

VikH

iTrader: (5)

Do they still self-level when you start up? If so, then it is a simple adjustment that is needed. This has happened to me before. I think I hit a large dip and my passenger side light was pointed very high. Follow the DIY instructions for adjusting the headlights on the forum.

eric_r_ho

iTrader: (9)

ACtually, looking AT the headlight itself from the front of the car, the fisheye is cocked upwards as if it were in the STUCK UP position..it isn't centered in the hole like the driver side fisheye is. I'm guessing the motor got stuck up there somehow..the only thing I can think of that did it was when I turned on my headlights while backing down my driveway that's on a steep incline. Because I know for SURE I did NOT hit a pothole..I just don't want to have to take the car to the dealer for something I can take care of at home.

THanks for your help bro!

VikH

iTrader: (5)

Took the car in today and they said it was a bad HID bulb. They replaced it under warranty. I was almost sure it would be a bad ballast since the light would come on for a second. However, they said that a new bulb worked fine. Now I hope both sides are matched in color since one is 1.5 years old and the other new


Thats exactly what mine looked like! Let me know if you have trouble adjusting. I would not trust the dealer with this because headlight level can be subjective.