2009 RX450h headlights

[DanD]

After washing my car late one afternoon last week, I noticed that one of the headlights had stopped working. Since I was travelling to the continent the following day at 5am, I had no choice but to live with it. However, the following morning, I found that the light was working again... and it has not failed since. Not sure what happened, although I suspect water may have something to do with it. Somehow.

My car is a SE-I. HID low beam with halogen high beam. The bulb that (temporarily) failed was the HID.

My questions are as follows:

- What is the life expectancy of HID bulbs (my car is a 2009 with 105,000 miles)?
- Are replacements a DYI or dealer job?
- How much are replacement bulbs?

[rayaans]

3 hours ago, DanD said:

After washing my car late one afternoon last week, I noticed that one of the headlights had stopped working. Since I was travelling to the continent the following day at 5am, I had no choice but to live with it. However, the following morning, I found that the light was working again... and it has not failed since. Not sure what happened, although I suspect water may have something to do with it. Somehow.

My car is a SE-I. HID low beam with halogen high beam. The bulb that (temporarily) failed was the HID.

My questions are as follows:

- What is the life expectancy of HID bulbs (my car is a 2009 with 105,000 miles)?
- Are replacements a DYI or dealer job?
- How much are replacement bulbs?

Life expectancy of HID bulbs is 3000 hours or roughly 90k miles. 

Replacement bulbs can be found at Euro car parts or elsewhere. You need a D4S Xenon bulb. I would probably change both - most likely the other one is on the way out too and bulbs have different light outputs and temperatures.

Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited D4S bulbs are around £45 each - link below

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Lexus_RX+450h_3.5_2011/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/lighting1/car-bulb/?48177223N&1&272d388ad80dea4501492ee117ec19ac6e1e7e05&000384

 

This link will show you how to change the bulbs yourself - of course, use gloves so you don't get oil on the bulb as it will reduce longevity. It takes a while to go through but it works

https://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2010_Lexus_RX350_3.5L_V6/lights/headlight

[TimS320]

I had this happen with my IS, one bulb going in and off. It's a sign that it's about to fail. Mine did, at 4am on the M1!

With regard to the RX450h bulbs, I was wondering if there is any decrease in light over time? The car that I have just got has covered 90k over 8 years. Driving home tonight, although they work perfectly well, on dipped beam it felt decidedly dark and I was struggling to see. Maybe these are the originals?

[DanD]

Thanks Rayaan, much appreciated.

Tim: interesting comment... I have wondered the same. I will get both bulbs replaced over the next couple of weeks and report back on whether or not there is a noticeable difference.

[rayaans]

12 hours ago, DanD said:

Thanks Rayaan, much appreciated.

Tim: interesting comment... I have wondered the same. I will get both bulbs replaced over the next couple of weeks and report back on whether or not there is a noticeable difference.

Having said that though, I just re-read your post and the bulb going off and coming back on is odd. bulbs usually blow completely, they wont turn off and then on again.

Perhaps there is a loose connection somewhere - would certainly be the case if the car has been scraped or had bodywork done recently.....

[DanD]

Hmmm... given that my front bumper was replaced a few weeks ago... I wonder...

[sorcerer]

I may be wrong but as far as I know, HID bulbs don't suffer from diminishing light output as they get older but they do 'colour shift'.

Instead of a glowing filament, HID bulbs produce light by making an electrical current arc between two electrodes in a sealed capsule, which also contains halide salts. It takes somewhere between 20-25kV to strike the arc and as it strikes you see that characteristic bluish tinge to the light. As the arc continues, the temperature rises and the salts are ionised into a plasma which emits the light we want, and some witchcraft happens in the ballast that lowers the voltage to normal working levels.

The size and shape of the electrodes can deform over time causing the plasma region to emit an extra blueish glow, which has the effect of giving a cooler colour to the light output. I think I remember reading somewhere that if the car was fitted with 4300K bulbs, five years later those bulbs would look almost like 6000K ones.

At least I think that's how it works.

[DanD]

I'm holding off for now, as I have had no recurrence of the light no working.

[DanD]

On ‎30‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 7:42 PM, TimS320 said:

I had this happen with my IS, one bulb going in and off. It's a sign that it's about to fail. Mine did, at 4am on the M1!

With regard to the RX450h bulbs, I was wondering if there is any decrease in light over time? The car that I have just got has covered 90k over 8 years. Driving home tonight, although they work perfectly well, on dipped beam it felt decidedly dark and I was struggling to see. Maybe these are the originals?

The issue happened again last Thursday. I saw from the car's reflection in the van that I was following that the bulb went off... although it came back on a while later after a re-fuelling stop. I contacted my dealer to arrange for both HID bubs to be replaced on Saturday morning, ahead of our drive from Winchester to Cheltenham for New Year.

In response to @TimS320's above comments, I can confirm that the lights are definitely a lot brighter as well as a lot whiter. (FYI, my car has covered 106k miles and was on its original bulbs).

Cost was £156.00 for both bulbs. The dealership did not charge for fitting which took around 30 minutes.

 

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, DanD said:

The issue happened again last Thursday. I saw from the car's reflection in the van that I was following that the bulb went off... although it came back on a while later after a re-fuelling stop. I contacted my dealer to arrange for both HID bubs to be replaced on Saturday morning, ahead of our drive from Winchester to Cheltenham for New Year.

In response to @TimS320's above comments, I can confirm that the lights are definitely a lot brighter as well as a lot whiter. (FYI, my car has covered 106k miles and was on its original bulbs).

Cost was £156.00 for both bulbs. The dealership did not charge for fitting which took around 30 minutes.

 

Sounds about right - they usually have 90-100k life anyway.

They probably included the labour price in the price as the bulbs are about £60

[TimS320]

Well on dipped beam mine are utterly useless and quite terrifying. the contrast between dip and main is huge. Suspect these are the originals so will get a price when it goes in to the dealer tomorrow to be dried out and leak checked.

[DanD]

You might want to ask if the beam can be adjusted up. Since my bulbs were swapped, the beam seems to be higher, therefore with a longer range, while not blinding oncoming traffic.

I guess that since 2009/2010 the bulbs are likely to have improved too, providing better performance.

[TimS320]

Enquirer today and they are the original ones. However I also have a new CT as a courtesy car, so when I drive home tonight I should be able to compare.