I have an '04 RX330 with factory HIDs. Like many of you, I have been bitten by the LED bug, and have been slowly swapping out various incandescent bulbs with LEDs, with much success.

Until tonight...

While in the process of swapping out the parking lights with 9-LED replacements, I dropped one into the lighting housing, and it is now rolling around inside the clear housing for all the world to see!!

When you get done laughing, can anyone help me by telling me of some trick way of getting at this bulb and removing it, WITHOUT removing the entire lighting assembly and taking it apart? Specifically, I'm wondering if any of you McGivers out there have a slick way of inserting something through the bulb hole and down to the bulb, sticking it, and then gently pulling it out.

Otherwise, I guess I'll be off to the dealer to get laughed at by those guys as well....

Thanks in advance for any ideas you can offer...

P.S. Let this also serve as a cautionary tale to anyone else thinking of doing the same thing. Make sure the bulbs are very firmly seated before reinstalling. I may very well take some electrical tape to all my vulnerable bulbs.

 

i won't laught, coz' i have seen that happening in someone else's car

get a cloth hanger, cut and bend it into whaetver shape you want/need. get some duct tape or so and wrap the tip so it becomes sticky. now use your skills and "stick" the bulb out

 

Nice man Definitely a McGiverism

 

just to clarify, i meant to use those metal wire cloth hanger, not the plastic ones

and maybe it's gross, but if the tape doesn't work, get some gum on the tip of the stick. just make sure you dont' end up dropping the gum in the housing!

 

Yeah, tape and clothes hanger will work - BUT be careful about the end that you don't scratch up the inside of the headlight housing. Pepboys sells these extendable magnet things which might work... believe it or not I've used a chopstick with great success in the past.

 

wow man, now that's some awesome skill with the chopsticks

 

Touche! Awesome demonstration of skill

 

No no no, no Mr. Miyagi here LOL

What I meant was, I put a wadded up duct tape or double sided tape at the end of a chopstick and used that instead of a clotheshanger becuz the chances of scratching the inside of the housing is much less (wood vs. metal).

wax on, wax off

 

don't they have small vacuum that will suck it right up. i know you may run the risk of breaking the led but it's better than taking the whole headlight out.

 

that's not a bad idea actually!

 

i had the same thing happen to me.. i wished i knew other techniques on how to remove the bulb. i had to remove my headlight and dump out the bump.

 

Thanks for all the great ideas. I wanted to try the vacuum idea, but didn't have anything appropriate readily available. So I tried the hanger with duct tape, and it worked!!

It took about ten minutes of fiddling around, and I went in through the high beam hole, but the bulb is out.

Thanks again. Although I'm sure this problem doesn't come up too often, I can certainly endorse and vouch for the solution.

 

congrats on taking out the bulb, that's good to know. and glad that our solutions help

 

goto a mechanic and have him lift up only the front o fthe car until your car is perfectly vertical, then it should just roll out. This seems to be the easiest way.