Hipp

I've done research, I've done problem solving, I did a lot of work with zero progress.. Please bare with me..

So I have an 08 starfire pearl IS 250 and have had zero problems in 5 years putting over 100,000 miles on the car since I've bought it. Until recently.. My driver side Head light keeps going out... Now heres the thing. I've seen people with similar issues but their lights usually go out right away when they turn them on. So I figured I had a bad ballast after just some short research. Now if You've changed a ballast you know just how much work is involved.. I did it flawlessly.. I have the new ballast in place. I fire my lights up and everything works great for like 5 mins. Boom light goes off, so i turn the lights off and on and the light comes back on again. and then turns back off.

Now I figure ok maybe the light is bad, so i change the HID bulb.. turn the light on and the same exact result.. Keeps on for a short time and then shuts back off...

Has anyone had any problems after changing all this? If so, any resolution to this particular problem?

The350Girl

back in the day my 2008 IS250 was my 1st Lexus, i had exactly same problem with HID light like yours, i had to turn off and on every 5 mins to keep the headlight awake when night driving, some mechanic said ballast might be bad good mechanic said light bulbs, ya bulbs for IS was very expensive at that time from dealership, driver side right ? ya my driver side was bad also, i replaced the bulb the problem persists, drove me crazy, a friend worked for Lexus in BC tells me to replace BOTH SIDE, yay replaced both side worked amazing.

Lexus Ballast don't go out that easy they designed to last as long as the car lasts unless you've played or messed with it, always replace bulbs 1st and both side, Amazon sells for 30 bucks a pair. or you can buy from vendor on this forum. The reason i got rid of 250 because of carbon build up and least power. Lexus IS GS and ES are the most reliable car in this world. Transmission isn't smooth but they don't break down or let you down. Remember it's Lexus and Electronic don't go out that easy.

Bichon

I have to disagree with your conclusion. Though you are correct that bulbs typically fail sooner than the ballast, ballasts certainly do fail. A simple bit of troubleshooting will show you which is bad. Just switch the bulbs between sides. If the problem jumps to the other side, you have a bad bulb. If the problem remain on the same side, it's the ballast.

Although some on the forum have been satisfied with inexpensive HID replacements, others have been frustrated by cheap bulbs that fail quickly or don't work straight out of the box. That can happen even when people think that they are buying legitimate product, but end up with those same cheap Chinese bulbs counterfeited to look like Philips, Toshiba or Osram bubs -- fake HID bulbs are rampant in the marketplace, so if the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I bought my Osram CBI replacements from XenonDepot (one of our sponsoring vendors, and an authorized dealer)

The350Girl

I agree nothing last forever but most of the time ballast fails due to mod or messed with it, switching bulb is one of the old trick that people does ever since, i replaced 1 side and it happened again after 1 week before they told me to replace both, dealer's bulbs cost around 180$ before tax here in Canada, i bought a pair from a mechanic shop in Vancouver for 200$ free installation lasted me 2 years until i traded for IS350 bulbs were fine and all passed safety from dealership, my friend driving 2009 IS250 he bought from Amazon 30$ usd for a pair last year they still fine, i asked him about counterfeit bulbs and bulb die right after people replace them, he said THE REASON WHY THAT HAPPENS BECAUSE PEOPLE TOUCHED THE LENS of the bulbs when they replacing them, yet he's a master Tech from Infiniti Canada. I mean it's a Lexus and Made in Japan not USA so it lasts as long as the car even though they do break down but 10 out of million ? in Canada Lexus IS drivers don't MOD their IS i asked all the shop they said they don't see any IS comes for Ballast only bulbs. Perhaps i'm the lucky one and i still insist that Ballast fails that easy.

Hipp

well I hope it isn't ballast as i literally baked the headlights tore them down installed a new ballast and the problem is still happening. I guess I will try the switching the bulb trick and see if it works. However I had a spare bulb laying around and put it in the headlight thats been having trouble and it still happened.. So I will post after trying the swapped head light bulbs

IamLexus

Same thing happen to me like last winter, I thought it was the ballast so went the other route instead of baking the headlight I solder a new one in and still have the problem. I decided to replace the bulb it it worked but couple days ago it starting to die again. I'm going to assume its because I bought cheap bulbs (KENSUN BRAND).

iJDMTOY

iTrader: (5)

Occasionally with this issue it's your battery. On my IS350 the headlights wouldn't stay on and we kept on changing the ballast. After nothing worked we changed the battery and voila. Everything is perfect.

Hipp

So just to update this. I found my problem.. unfortunately for me I replaced the ballast for nothing. The one I took out looked better than the one I put it. After reinstalling everything, The light still didnt work, so next step was for me to switch the bulbs and see if that was the issue.. After switching the bulbs from right to left I still had the same problem so I was sure I installed a bad ballast.. So instead of taking everything out I tried one more thing. I had the stock bulbs that came in the car laying in my tool box. I installed both old lights in the headlights and BOOM all the lights work and they dont shut off either.

Now for me to justify this, I'm honestly thinking that if you do upgrade your bulbs to buy them in pairs. It seems that if the voltage is different in the bulbs it shuts one side off. Now that I have to matching pairs even though they are stock they are working. I will be buying a new set of HID's next month to get back to the color I like but I hope this helps other people out in the end as I did WAYYYY more work than I should have.

Zmon

iTrader: (2)

Question... are those replacement bulbs D4S or D2S? If D2S, your ballasts will not run those bulbs properly and will exhibit the symptoms you were having.

If they were afternarket D4S, junk bulbs then. Stocks are D4S which should always work.

Hipp

They were D4S but they were aftermarket.. Supposedly a better brand of aftermarket and they have worked great for the time I have had them in until going through all of this recently! lol
The brand is Garax 6000K

The350Girl

back in the day my 2008 IS250 was my 1st Lexus, i had exactly same problem with HID light like yours, i had to turn off and on every 5 mins to keep the headlight awake when night driving, some mechanic said ballast might be bad good mechanic said light bulbs, ya bulbs for IS was very expensive at that time from dealership, driver side right ? ya my driver side was bad also, i replaced the bulb the problem persists, drove me crazy, a friend worked for Lexus in BC tells me to replace BOTH SIDE, yay replaced both side worked amazing.

Lexus Ballast don't go out that easy they designed to last as long as the car lasts unless you've played or messed with it, always replace bulbs 1st and both side, Amazon sells for 30 bucks a pair. or you can buy from vendor on this forum. The reason i got rid of 250 because of carbon build up and least power. Lexus IS GS and ES are the most reliable car in this world. Transmission isn't smooth but they don't break down or let you down. Remember it's Lexus and Electronic don't go out that easy.

Did i tell Hipp to replace pair ? what do you say now ?

The350Girl

Friend of mine both a pair for 30$ on Amazon and they are 2 years now and still working

B00M3R

iTrader: (1)

I just started having this problem with my 350, I am going to replace both bulbs with morimoto bulbs as I have dealt with them for many years and never had any issues.
Thanks for posting this up, I am sure I would have swapped one bulb only and would probably still have the same issues as many of you.

wbwufpack

Did they just start going out all of the sudden or were there warning signs? The reason I ask is because mine (2009 IS350) have developed a very slight flicker. It is very slight, I just happened to notice it sitting in traffic one night because I was behind a truck with a chrome bumper. Sometimes it is the driver side and sometimes it is the passenger side. I am not sure if it occurs when I am moving or if it is just when I am stopped because I really have to be in somebody's a** to tell. I have not seen them both flicker at the same time which makes me wonder if it is a battery or alternator issue causing a lack of power. Any thoughts?

MIA_LEX

iTrader: (4)

Why are you guys baking the headlights open to change the ballast. All you have to do is take apart the connector of the ballast and you can fish the wires out throught the headlight. But i had same issue asOP on friends 06 250. Swapped in a new set of Garax bulbs and still no issues.