I had an issue from when I first got the car. The passenger side xenon light will turn off but a quick off/on of the headlight will get it to come on. They replaced the bulb and it seemed to go away. But every so many years this issue comes back. It's not a bad bulb as it would either work or not work,right? Considering they replaced the bulb in the past, and I'm out of warranty already, What else can I check?

 

You can check the ballast. The easiest way to check is to swap the bulb from the passenger to the driver side and see if it follow. If it stays on the same side, replace the ballast.

 

How many years is "every few years"?

The bulbs do wear out and get out of tolerance. Our ballasts are picky when it comes to bulbs and might not work with the ballast. I have had bad experiences with aftermarket bulbs and they would flicker or go out. I have my Philips d4s bulbs in my car for over a year now without issues.

As mentioned above, try swapping bulbs from the opposite side and see if the problem follows the bulb or not.

 

It’s the ballast module. Replace it!
My car had the exact same issue. I purchased a OEM replacement from Amazon and had my technguy do the install. Had it done last summer and the lights have performed wonderfully.

 

 

 

OK. um so I dunno if it's the ballast. I finally got around to swapping the two bulbs around. And I'm pretty sure it's the bulb. As the side with the junk bulb will turn off after being on for a minute or so.
So comes to my next question.
My lens look a bit on the yellowish tint. I sanded it and polished it. Now it's only a bit yellow. Here's the thing, the "good" bulb when on for a few minutes, it's yellowish light. Kinda like halogen bulbs. The side that is bad, glows whitish to a light blue. Almost like what new car bulbs look like. Then of course, it goes out.
Is the original stock bulb yellowish or was it whitish? Because if it was whitish I want it back to that. Should I just buy two replacement bulbs? Or if it was really yellowish, then I should just buy one?
Hope that makes sense.

Update: I actually noticed my signature at the bottom. I had a shot of my car when I first got it and replaced the fogs with HID and I had the top light on. But it was 10 years ago and the digital camera back then didn't have much detail. Still can't tell if they were white or yellow.

 

About the bulbs. Is one D4S (pretty sure that's what was in the Lexus) same as another? Or can I buy them with different color grade? Or is it the ballast that somehow does it? I've been out of modding for a LONG time so I don't remember a lot of things.

 

I finally found someplace that had the bulbs in stock. Yup it was the bulb. I got a pair of Philips 6k HID bulbs for $80. That was worth it. Not only are they brighter than my old (or so it seems) but at 6k, it's more white than stock. Looks like what the new Lexus HIDs are like.

 

Becareful of fake bulbs on ebay, if $80 bucks is the going rate for them then yes, but if you got a super good deal on them. Theres a high probability there fake. Same thing with "oem" spark plugs on ebay.

 

Thanks. Dunno how to tell if fake or not. Was bought locally. Was just in a white hid cardboard box. The bulb said philips on them but I suppose that can be faked.

 

had the same issue on my 02 es300, was ballast

 

Starstreak, can u post a link for the bulbs?