touchmenot

The passenger side Head light (HID without AFS, but it has AUTO LEVELING) was not working on my 2004 RX330. I saw a lot of condensation / water inside the head light assembly.

Took it to a mechanic and he said the ballast is gone. So did some research on the forum and ordered one from eBay (OEM). It seem to work well. But now I want to replace the head light assembly because when the mechanic open the assembly to replace the ballast, the cover was filled with water and the ballast was rusted. I do see a lot of people have similar issues. I am out of warranty. So not sure if there's any point going back to the dealer.

I dont want to fry up another ballast. So did some research on cheaper alternatives for the headlight assembly.

Here's the question I have.

I believe the AUTO LEVELING motor is part of the head light assembly but does not come with the assembly it self. So does this mean that I can reuse the existing leveling motor on the new head light assembly? If I get an after market headlight assembly, should it be compatible to fit the auto leveling motor? Or is it recommended to go with the dealer. The dealer did say that the head light assembly does not come with the leveling motor and its separate. So not sure what added value I would get for the high price (around $700 compared to $200 for after market).

Looking forward for the advice / expertise / comments from you experts.

Thank you

JLSC

An inexpensive option that I chose was to buy a Denso ballast from Auto Electronic for $100 and a used headlight assembly for $75 (didn't include the ballast but did include all the other components) from Alpha Automotive through eBay. The headlamp was in great condition, but did have the repair tabs which I was aware of when buying it. After a couple of years the ballast still works fine and there's no condensation.

touchmenot

Thanx for your response, JLSC. Yes, I have bought the Denso Ballast and it works ok. I am confused on the head light assembly replacement options. My 2004 RX330 has the HID without AFS but with AUTO LEVELING.

Reading thru the forums, I see that there are head light assemblies with out the AUTO LEVELING too. So I am not sure if I order the one without AFS, will I be able to replace the current one? Since the one I have has AUTO LEVELING, would it have a different wiring? i am not sure. Any advice on this?

JLSC

My knowledge on the various headlight configurations is limited. I didn't know that it was possible to have a headlight assembly that could have auto leveling and no AFS. The manual for my vehicle distinguishes between halogen, HID, and HID+AFS. I was sent the headlight assembly based on number of pins in the connector for the motor. Mine has 4 pins.

RoverBoi88

hmmm my vehicle along with a lot of other RX's have this issue... Recall much??

touchmenot

Here's more info on what I found. All HID ones come with AUTO Leveling and this has 6 pins. The HID+AFS has 4 pins.

BTW, thanks much for the referral on ALPHA Automotive. I got the headlight assembly replaced by ordering a used one from them. I am happy with what I received. But time will tell if the condensation issue exists.

But, the HEAD LIGHT (HID - low beam) on the passenger side is still not working. All other lights work fine. Here's what I am experiencing. The HID lights up (but it flickers and the brightness is no way close to the driver side) and after about 30 - 40 seconds, it shuts-off. I got an used ballast from eBay. But here's what is confusing me. Since the ballast i got from eBay was not working, I tried the old ballast (which the mechanic said was fried) and its behaving the same as the one from eBay.

The eBay merchant says it was tested to be working OK. But since both the ballasts are showing the same behavior, I am not sure if something else could be wrong. Is there anything else that could be wrong? My mechanic says the fuse looked good and the only thing that controls the HID is the ballast.

Any thoughts on what else could be wrong or need to be checked before i go for another ballast?

JLSC

Perhaps try swapping the bulb with the one on the side that does work properly. If it still doesn't work properly then my guess is that the ballast is the problem.

touchmenot

JLSC,
Thanx again for a quick response.

Sorry, I forgot to mentioned that I did try swapping the bulbs. The bulb that flickered on the passenger side worked fine when I plugged it on the driver side.

So a faulty bulb is out of the picture I would say.

I am concerned about the unknown fact. I do not know if anything else could be wrong other than the ballast. I understand it may be difficult to guess :-). But if the ballast is the only thing that controls the HID, then I have something to go with confidence. Appreciate your advice. Thanks.

touchmenot

Just an update. The problem was with the ballast. Replace the ballast and the lights work fine now. But have another issue come up. The AUTO-LEVELING warning light is on all the time. I am not sure if this is a big deal. I checked the level at which both the lights are pointed and they seem to align up. They are pointing pretty much at the same level as it used to be before i changed the headlight assembly and the ballast.

Any advice is appreciated.

Weighit

Did you have to pull the bumper cover to get the headlight asm out?

touchmenot

You dont have to remove the bumper cover completely. But you do have to pull it a bit to remove one of the bolts that holds the assembly in place.

There are 3 bolts that holds the assembly. 2 on the top which is easy and one at the side which is kinda above the wheel (like 2 o'clock position). So to access it, the bumper cover will need to be pulled. Not that difficult. Its just removing a bolt and a few plastic locks.