Headlight problem

[F8L]

Originally Posted by ozarkretiree

Same problem on 07 pkg 6 with 114K miles. Toyota paid to replace auto leveling box last year. I paid ($225 at NW Arkansas Toyota) for a new driver side bulb last week. My lights have always been too low and need about 4 degrees up adjustment. I usually drive on high beam and never have been flashed. Are the HIDs adjustable?

Much cheaper to replace them yourself. Total cost is between $15 and about $90 depending on the bulbs you choose.

The HIDs are adjustable but be careful you do not raise them too high or you'll blind oncoming traffic. The fact that Toyota used a reflector style housing instead of a projector makes aiming them properly even more important. The HIDs in the 2004-2009 Prius are pretty bad.

To aim them you have to use the adjustment screw located on the back of the headlight. It is a small white screw (8mm).



To properly/legally aim your headlights you'll need a tape measure at least 25ft long, an 8mm socket, masking or other dark colored tape and a dark area that has a solid wall that you can park 25ft away from.

1. Use the tape measure to measure 25ft away from the wall and park your car facing the wall with your headlights at the 25ft mark.
2. Measure the distance from the ground to the middle of your headlight bulb.
3. Turn on your headlights so that they shine on the wall. Now go to the wall and measure from the ground up. You will now use the measurement you took of your headlight bulb height and place a strip of tape approx 2 inches less than your headlight bulb height. So if your headlight bulb height was 26 inches then place the strip of tape, horizontal, at 24 inches upon the wall. This will help guide you as you aim your headlights.
4. Now go back to the car and use the socket to adjust the headlight height. You want your cuttoff to sit level with the tape on the wall but not above that line. Anything above that level is illegal and could blind other drivers.

For information regarding how to aim your headlights and remain DOT legal click the following link:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

HOW TO: aim HID headlights

The attached pdf may be easier to understand.

[hartsook]

I have a 2005 Prius with one burned out headlight and the other one intermittent. The Oakland Toyota dealer said "we have to remove the front bumper for that" and quoted $385 for one headlight bulb replacement, and only $190 more ($575) to do both!

While reading the headlight woes stories on priuschat.com I saw a recommendation for Luscious Garage in San Francisco. Greg on the phone quoted me $130 per headlight for parts and labor. I had an appointment that evening and really needed it done. Greg said it would take about a half-hour total and they could see me that afternoon. I made the appointment and am now an ecstatic customer!

He not only replaced the HID Xenon bulbs from inside the engine compartment (without removing the bumper - 10 min/side!), but also replaced the side parking light bulbs for free. And he replaced a broken fog lamp for just the $9 cost of the bulb.

The garage I usually use in Berkeley didn't know off-hand what bulbs to use, or what procedure to use for changing them. Greg said he had already replaced 6 Prius headlamps that day! These guys REALLY now what they're doing.

Total cost including tax, $270 and total time was just under 30min. I'll be going back to them for all my Prius maintenance. What a great garage!

[cpotts50]

Originally Posted by seilerts

If I remember correctly, the D2R MSRP is $175, while D4R is $150. But yes, please do buy them anywhere other than a dealer for DIY.

Had 1 headlight replaced on Saturday (they only had 1 in stock, luckily) after keeping my car 30 hours for diagnosis - $99 for diagnosis, $79 for the bulb, $69 for labor. Amazon delivered 2 bulbs Tuesday, less than $40 for a pair of D2R's They were bright white like my originals, and not yellowish like one I got from the dealer, and real D2R, not D2C or D2S as some have gotten.

I was convinced that it was the bulbs (which were cloudy white in the center) because the right side was only lasting a few minutes and hadn't gone out since -- and there was a good description on the forum about this being the typical failure pattern - light goes out but turning it off and back on relights it for a while (mine once relit for 4 hours).

Took me 25 minutes to replace one, 5 minutes to find one of the clips and about 15 minutes to get the weather cover back on. I couldn't match the lady from Luscious Garage on You Tube who did it in 3 minutes. Maybe next time. You Tube videos were helpful, some with good close ups and photos.

[windstrings]

Seems the bulb manufacturers have a broad spectrum of leeway for quality control since bulbs are considered a maintenance item and its hard to pen them down on just how long they are supposed to last in order to claim a full refund.

Seems some real trash is being put in the market place.. whether from ebay or from the dealer.... pretty much all equal ground.

I find some bulbs seem to last forever, while others start up with problems in a couple of weeks of being installed.... quite frustrating.

About all you can do is consider the relatively cheap cost of ebay bulbs and order extra and take your chances.

Seems going to all the trouble and hassle of dealing with the dealers "does not" decrease the odds of having future issues again.

Unless HID manufacturers can wake up, they will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and HID bulbs will be considered a failure for future use in mass produced consumer goods and items such as cars etc.

While they are a vast improvement from the Halogen of old, with the introduction of computer built reflectors to match the bulb with the reflector to maximize lack of waste of lumens into space and to the sides, LED's and Halogen's are now stealing the show.

Its a darn good thing they haven't had such issues with the main traction battery as Toyotas reputation has been stained so much from this, I wouldn't be surprised if they would balk on those too claiming they are a "maintenance" item.... this whole HID bulb issue has gotten ridiculous a long time ago....

Toyota should offer to replace the whole headlight assembly with Halogen and a new reflector to match and write it off as a loss.

They had a loyal crowd that would follow to Golgothas Hill.. but this whole episode has really strained the relationship between Toyota and customer.

[Eric B]

I just spent about an hour reading through this topic and I want to thank everyone and Windstrings in particular.
I was stopped and ticketed in my (beloved) 2009 Prius on the Pacific Coast Highway last weekend for a passenger side headlight out. Decent cop gave me the yellow warning thing and I have to get it fixed and go get it signed off. I stopped going to the dealer at about 75,000 miles. Just too much money for too little service.
My private, independent mechanic said the righthand bulb is $150 and I authorized the purchase. But he called earlier and said that when he talked to Toyota to pick up the bulb, somebody over there told him the bulb is not the problem. It's a computer chip or a ballast or something. The guy at Toyota Parts seemed to know all about the problem. My mechanic is telling me to go to Toyota because he almost cost me $150 for a bulb I didn't need and he's out of his depth.
This is not a complaint about a forum where so many intelligent people have tried so hard to learn and proceed, but I've read almost the entire thread and I don't know what to do. Nobody seems to be sure what the problem is, or how to fix it without placing oneself at the (non-existent) mercy of the Toyota Corporation. Many people who've posted have replaced one bulb, or both bulbs, from eBay, or Amazon, with varying results. Lacking any further suggestions I plan to drive over to the Highway Patrol, turn the headlights off and back on, go inside and get signed off based on the (temporary) situation where I have both lights on for however long, and go about my business, turning the lights off and back on whenever I can see that the right one is off again.
But because I realize that I'm simply having an adolescent reaction to the way Toyota is bullying and deceiving and overcharging people, could someone please give me the part number or the model number of the HID headlamp for my 2009?
And thanks, really, for everything.

[qbee42]

The problem is well understood, and discussed in detail on several threads. The underlying problem is the D4R bulbs. Toyota switched to D4R bulbs for environmental reasons (no mercury), but mercury is there for a reason. It makes the bulbs easier to strike and increases the light output.

The D4R bulbs are fussier, and Toyota shipped a bunch of Prius with dodgy D4Rs. They worked, but were perilously close to not working, even when new. As they aged, they became harder to strike, as happens with all HID lamps. Unfortunately, since they were bad to begin with, they reached this end of life intermittent condition quickly.

The solution is to replace the bad D4R bulbs with good ones.

Note that you can also have a failed ballast, which is the "chip" that your mechanic mentioned. It's unusual for the ballast to be the problem. In the early days of this problem Toyota was shotgunning the fix by replacing everything. The Toyota tech that talked to your mechanic is relaying outdated information.

Tom

[Eric B]

Originally Posted by qbee42

The problem is well understood, and discussed in detail on several threads. The underlying problem is the D4R bulbs. Toyota switched to D4R bulbs for environmental reasons (no mercury), but mercury is there for a reason. It makes the bulbs easier to strike and increases the light output.

The D4R bulbs are fussier, and Toyota shipped a bunch of Prius with dodgy D4Rs. They worked, but were perilously close to not working, even when new. As they aged, they became harder to strike, as happens with all HID lamps. Unfortunately, since they were bad to begin with, they reached this end of life intermittent condition quickly.

The solution is to replace the bad D4R bulbs with good ones.

Note that you can also have a failed ballast, which is the "chip" that your mechanic mentioned. It's unusual for the ballast to be the problem. In the early days of this problem Toyota was shotgunning the fix by replacing everything. The Toyota tech that talked to your mechanic is relaying outdated information.

Tom

You are correct, of course, when you say the problem is well understood and discussed. It's the solution I'm hoping for, before I spend the sums enumerated in posts above, and your certainty around the bulb replacement idea seems unsupported. Thanks for your effort.

[cwerdna]

Originally Posted by Eric B

You are correct, of course, when you say the problem is well understood and discussed. It's the solution I'm hoping for, before I spend the sums enumerated in posts above, and your certainty around the bulb replacement idea seems unsupported. Thanks for your effort.

Why unsupported?

The 06-09 HID equipped Priuses went with D4R bulbs seem to be less reliable than the D2R bulbs (which have mercury) that went in HID equipped 04-05 Priuses (04-05 (NOT 06-09) Prius owners w/HIDs - how long did they last?). One HID on my 06 started getting flaky last year and I had some trouble DIYing (can't remove washer fluid tank, trying to replace passenger side HID) but eventually got the job done. I was a bit past the 5 year/50K mile warranty extension provided by the class action lawsuit settlement. My local dealer wasn't willing to submit a claim after being out of warranty so I bit the bullet and did it myself, at the cost of $55.23 per Philips D4R (at the time) from Amazon.

Toyota Will Pay For HID Repairs, I got the Letter! points to the dealers previously unnecessarily replacing the ECU (ballast).

Toyota Prius HID Headlight Class Action Settlement - Consumer Class Action Attorneys - Girard Gibbs LLP is a class action lawsuit that involved 06-09 HID equipped Priuses. I received my settlement check recently (06-09 Prius HID class action settlement award letters), after pleading my case in the paperwork I submitted.

Usually, the problem can be in 1 of 3 places: bulb, ballast or wiring. It's cheaper and easier to replace the bulb first (and keep the old likely bad bulb) before mucking w/the rest. If there's still a problem after replacing w/a known good bulb, then you can try to tackle the others and keep the "bad" bulb as a spare.

I bought my replacements Philip D4R bulbs from Amazon w/Amazon as the reseller (not some random 3rd party reseller there), however, after reading the great article at Not all HID Bulbs are created equal, I can't be 100% confident that the bulbs I got weren't fakes (see post #6).

See

Amazon.com: Philips D4R Xenon HID Headlight Bulb, Pack of 1: Automotive

Amazon.com: Philips D4R Xenon HID Headlight Bulb, Pack of 1: Automotive
Amazon.com: Philips D4R Xenon HID Headlight Bulb, Pack of 1: Automotive

[windstrings]

Good job Qbee on the mercury notes...makes sense too.
Seems I remember a few folks using the mercury bulbs by filing a notch off so they would fit ...seems that could be a solution.

However the reflector is customized for the stock type so the beam it cast could be slightly altered.

I also agree its to the advantage of the mechanic to target the more expensive parts such as ballast rather than a simple bulb replacement .

I somehow think Toyotas recommendations as to how to fix it would be quite different if it was a covered warranty item.......don't you somehow think they would recommend common sense bulb replacement first to?

Its bold of them to act like its a confirmed issue that needs a ballast replacement when so many have proven them wrong?

Isn't it also funny that part of the ballast replacement procedure is to replace the bulb?

Seems so many companies make more profit from service than sales?....its no wonder why.

[Eric B]

I ordered a Phillips D4R HID bulb from Amazon for about $61 including a quick delivery fee. It seems this is the first step in any process leading to the restoration of the working headlight and the calming of the Malibu Sheriff's Department.
BTW: Why does Toyota lie about their liability in this matter and collect exorbitant fees for the unnecessary removal of bumpers and replacement of ballasts from both consumer and corporate? For the same reason dogs lick their own genitals. Because they can.
Thanks to all, and especially to cwerdna who culled through the thousands of words on this topic and presented the information anyone would need to move forward with as much confidence as can be mustered in these troubled times. IMNSHO, cwerdna's post, two above, should be copied like gateposts to anyone arriving on this thread.