To those who have taken the delivery of the new IS,


Today I found that there are moisture inside the headlight assembly and the moisture are distributed heavily on the outer edges (ie, near the low beam/HIDs). I thought it is due to the heavy rain yesterday in my local area.

Things seem to be okay until tonight when I was outside and started the engine. I can see the HID are moving up and down once and then they are totally off. So it is quite scary as I only use the fog lights to see the road ahead.

I even turned the AFS on and off but it didn't help. Then occasionally the HIDs are on by themselves and then off. When I arrived home and put the car in the garage, I played around the headlight switch and I can hear the switching sound when switching to the low beam. But the normal "electrical" sound that goes with low beam is gone.

Anyone has ever experienced before?

I will take it to the dealership. Only around 600km.. and it is not good.

PS: I also have been having the "Check VSC" when I start the engine in the morning or after the car wash. I got the feeling that they are related to moisture problems.

 

Sorry to hear that you're having problems with your IS. I haven't had any issues with mine. However, I did have that condensation problem with the G35 I sold to get the IS. The dealership told me that there was nothing they could do about it because of the cold weather we were having at the time. I eventually got used to it and never followed up with it once the weather got warm. Keep us posted with what the dealership says about it.

 

unlike the sealed headlight of 20 years ago, modern headlight assemblies have vent holes to allow air expansion from the lamp's heat. It is not uncommon for condensation to occur after heavy rain or car wash, and it should clear up shortly. However, it sounds like your lamps might have shorted out from excessive moisure--sorry ot hear that.

 

I took the car to the dealership and it turned out that it is my own fault. I replaced the parking light recently and there are tabs on the plastic cover that covers the back of the parking ligh/high beam. The tabs should go under the metal holes to ensure complete seal. In my case, I misplaced the tabs over the metal holes which makes the seal not tight enough. This is very tricky because the plastic covers for the low beam and the covers for the high beam are perpendicular to each other. Unless it is under very bright light condition, you won't be able to see the metal holes.

The dealer still needs to open up the front bumper in order to figure out if the light ECU got busted or not.

The headlight seal for the new IS is much better than the previous IS. I didn't have this problem with the old IS since there is no plastic cover that covers the back of the lights.

So my advise to those who attempt to change the light bulbs. You really need to do it in very bright light condition.

 

"the sealed headlight of 20 years ago," = Glass, Good.

"modern headlight assemblies have vent holes to allow air expansion from the lamp's heat. "
= cheaper manufacture process, plastic fades/yellows, spider builds nest in. Bad

"light ECU" what happened to good reliable relays?

good luck Andy !

 

yeh but those old sealed beams are as bright as a flashlight, not to mention they severely limited both aerodynamic and artistic design of the vehicle (remember those "look nifty, but aerodynamically inefficient" raised headlights?). The amount of light from the IS's HID is astounding.