DC-Bob

After 11 years in service the left low-beam headlight went dark on my 1997 SC300 (how's that for Lexus/Toyota longevity?).

I want to replace both headlight bulbs with high performance after-market bulbs but want to stick with something that just screws in (no HID conversion kits please).

Any suggestions? Anyone have experience with the Sylvania Silverlight Untras?

The second question is how do I replace them. It looks easy but I notice that each bulb has a metal ring surrounding it with two philips screws in it . Do I have to remove that ring or do I just push in and twist the bulb assembly to release it from the headlight body? I hope the latter as getting a screwdriver in will be tricky given the tight quarters.

Thanks in advance.

Bob in Washington DC

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lighting-128/

durtysc300

welcome to CL Bob! putting new bulbs in is ridiculously easy..
1. Open hood and locate the low beam harness and clip..should be like a light red/orange..
2. Unplug harness.
3. There is a little rubber dust shroud..turn it i think clockwise and it should unscrew and pull that off
4. Turn the bulb either clockwise or counter clockwise i can't remember which one
5. Put in your new lights in the exact opposite order.

i had some silverstar ultras in my car for a while but i recently just updated to HID let me see if i can find some pics.
Silverstar Ultras:

topdog849

iTrader: (1)

wear gloves or socks on your hands so you dont get oil on your bulbs and have them burn out

Blurr

I agree. The hardest part is not touching the bulb itself. On a scale of 1 to 10..10 being the toughest job. I give this a 1.

DC-Bob

OK OK Enough already!

I know this is a simple job but I just wanted to err on the side of caution. If I break off something the Lexus dealer will charge me an arm and leg to fix it.

They quoted me $60 for an OEM halogen bulb! On top of that there is the $105 per hour for labor and a percentage surcharge for "shop supplies."

I can buy a pair of Silverlight ultras for less than $50 which gets reduced by the $10 rebate from Sylvania. My guess is that I can replace both in less than 30 minutes once I know what to do.

Sounds like I just have to push and twist to disengage the bulbs, right? No screw removal required?

Thanks guys.

Bob

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, just twist no screw removal, but after 11 years the bulbs are going to be on there pretty tight.

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

Goodluck with the one behind the battery....that one is always a pita to get to. It's an easy procedure in general though.

felixsc300

iTrader: (5)

My Silverstar Ultra's don't look like that. I need to bake my headlights and clean them.

Ryeno

iTrader: (3)

I would just get hids. First mod i did on both my scs were 4300k hids. Plus the sc has projectors stock so the hids will still give you a good cut-off line, have minimum glare, and look oem.

Its as hard as attaching 1 cable to the neg bat terminal and 1 to the pos bat terminal. Then on to the driver side connect the stock bulb socket into a cable. And attach both ends of the new cables to the hid kit. On the passanger side right behind the air filter is a perfect gap to put the ballest in. And on the driver side, i just zip tied the ballest down next to the battery.

Its what like 50 bucks for brand new bulbs. Vs like 60-150 for an hid kit with relay harness online. But its 3x brighter for an hid kit.

I just can't image going back to halogen bulbs, they are soo dim.

Here is my 4300k hid sc300:

t70 supra

iTrader: (-4)

is retarted to buy silvaniaya bulbs when u can get hids for 20.00 mre from ddm tuning they come with a lifetime wrrenty and have tons of colors 12000k

DC-Bob

SUCCESS!

Actually, it was so easy I'm ashamed at how timid I was.

Interesting finding: the bulbs in there were Sylvania HB4 51 watts (which I replaced with the Silverstar Ultras that are 55 watts). I expected to find the Toyota or some other Japanese brand.

Also, the car has only been serviced by Lexus dealers throughout its 11 year life (it has only 64,000 miles on it) so it may be that one of them put these in. I don't recall ever paying for headlight replacements.

kyoso23

I used to run Silverstars in my Legend all the time, and although they were great as far as light output they seemed to burn out very quickly (like in about a year). The first chance I had, I put HID's (5000k) in my SC and highly recommend them to anyone. Even with the stock projector I have a very clean cutoff and the light output is miles away from the Vision Lighting 5000k hologen style bulbs I had in there before. HID kits are so cheap these days and I'm positive the bulbs will way outlast the Silverstars (they already have in my experience), making it actually cheaper in the long run. Installation of an HID kit is rediculously easy as well. I'm glad it worked out for you getting them changed out, but why the reluctance to convert to HID?

RaynArt

was at the dealer last year picking up some small parts and got curious since they were washing the car, the price for low beam bulb replacement. quoted me $90 lol, made my day.

anyways wound up with HID's and 10mins of putting them in and finding a place to mount the ballast.

glad u got urs done but +1 as to why not go HID?

FormosaSC

Haha, good job man, it's always a good feeling doing your own work. I think changing a bulb is the easiest job you can do, easier than picking up coins that you dropped under your seat.