IS300 headlight washers

br1anstorm · September 20, 2022

My IS300 SportCross recently suffered a minor impact which cracked the nearside corner of the main front panel. That whole bumper-panel has to be replaced - which is not too big a task.

But there are two other bits of damage which seem minor but might prove expensive. I've noticed that although the headlight looks fine, the plastic 'bracket' piece at the top inner corner, where it bolts to the bodywork, has cracked or sheared (see photo). I suppose I could try to re-glue it with JBWeld or something similar but I am not sure that will be strong or stable enough. The alternative may be to replace the entire headlamp unit - and a new HID unit costs some £265 unless anyone can suggest a better, cheaper source....

The other headache is the headlamp washer on that side. The cap has gone, and the pop-up spray nozzle thingy to which the cap was fixed has clearly been damaged. From a study of various parts-lists and websites, it looks as if, when the bumper panel is removed, I may need to replace the "actuator sub-assembly" (p/n 85208-53020, I think), the little plastic bracket or frame in which the cap or spray-nozzle sits (8572-53020) and the cap itself. It seems as if the actuator sub assembly may be hard to find and/or very expensive. I might simply do without the washer facility and cap the hole in the bumper. Is that possible? It seems that even finding the cap, and the frame or bracket into which it fits, may be a challenge. Can anybody offer thoughts/advice? I read this very old forum post which dates from 2009, and I'm not sure whether the parts can still be found....

ColinBarber · October 29, 2022

On 9/20/2022 at 12:09 PM, br1anstorm said:

I might simply do without the washer facility and cap the hole in the bumper. Is that possible?

Technically you need washers because the vehicle is fitted with HIDs. You could potentially fail the MOT without them being there and working.

br1anstorm · April 16, 2023

Haven't been on the forum for a while, so I've only just caught up with this thread. Thanks, @ColinBarber for that advice and warning. I think I had also discovered that little technical point in something else I had read....

Anyway, time for an update. I have a really good local bodyshop so I turned to them. And (though it wasn't exactly cheap) I managed to source headlamp, washer, actuator, nozzle etc from Lexus Parts Direct aka Fish Brothers down in Swindon, who were very helpful. So my SportCross is restored to a decent state again. Now that the winter is over I'm getting it ready for some serious travelling in the coming months....