Replacement HID bulb flickering again on my IS 250

[Slucky]

Its been 2 months since i replaced my flickering HID lights with OSRAM D4S ones and now the driver side is flickering again and cuts off after 5 seconds. Don't really want to be buying another set. There must be a fix for this. Anyone had this issue before, or found a fix. Would appreciate any feedback. 

Thanks

[NemesisUK]

Sounds like there's a problem with the headlamp unit itself, possibly the ballast and /or igniter.

Might possibly be a deteriorating earth connection, check connectors and chassis earth leads. 

[madasahatter]

I have seen the ballasts get water contamination maybe its that. If it is its a pain to replace.

[Slucky]

I saw this DIY job on youtube. Looks like a lot of work.

 

[madasahatter]

Yes the ballasts are in an awkward place on the lexus. 

[Beamish]

Hi Slucky,

I also replaced the HID bulbs on my "new-to-me" 2006 IS250 with Osram D4S items a few months ago and so far they seem to have solved the problem of the lights turning off intermitantly. When researching the problem I came across multiple warnings about the number of counterfit Philips and Osram HID bulbs on the market which apparently are prone to early failure. I mention this just in case you cannot vouch 100% for the seller from whom you sourced the bulbs - you do not want to go to the trouble of replacing the ballast only to discover that the problem was your "new" bulb!!

Dec.

[is200 Newbie]

20 hours ago, Beamish said:

Hi Slucky,

I also replaced the HID bulbs on my "new-to-me" 2006 IS250 with Osram D4S items a few months ago and so far they seem to have solved the problem of the lights turning off intermitantly. When researching the problem I came across multiple warnings about the number of counterfit Philips and Osram HID bulbs on the market which apparently are prone to early failure. I mention this just in case you cannot vouch 100% for the seller from whom you sourced the bulbs - you do not want to go to the trouble of replacing the ballast only to discover that the problem was your "new" bulb!!

Dec.

Have seen this also - the fake bulbs were featured on the Watchdog program in the UK and a lot of these were the Phillips brand

[madasahatter]

On 1/24/2018 at 10:32 AM, Slucky said:

Its been 2 months since i replaced my flickering HID lights with OSRAM D4S ones and now the driver side is flickering again and cuts off after 5 seconds. Don't really want to be buying another set. There must be a fix for this. Anyone had this issue before, or found a fix. Would appreciate any feedback. 

Thanks

Have you tried changing the bulbs over to see if it persists. If it does then that would rule out the bulb wouldn't it. 

[Texas]

55 minutes ago, madasahatter said:

Have you tried changing the bulbs over to see if it persists. If it does then that would rule out the bulb wouldn't it. 

Logical fault finding- I fully agree, 

1, don't always assume new parts are good! 

2, try and swap known good parts to eliminate other components

3, rare but don't dismiss the fact you may have in fact TWO faults, this can happen in modern cars full of sophisticated electronics whereby the catastrophic failure of one (normally high powered) component can impact on another. It is human nature to want one fix but  it may if fact require more than one component, hopefully not in your case.

paul m.