Driver side HID lamp replacement

If you are able/willing to do the labor yourself, you can save a bunch.

Check this:

Luscious Garage | {title}


There are also other sources (e.g. Ebay) to find the bulbs for much less than the dealer price. I would caution that there may be different degrees of quality with the aftermarket bulbs, so the cheapest may not always be the best deal, but you should be able to find reasonable quality for less than the dealer.

 

My drivers side bulb just started acting up. I've got a 2006 with 60k and I noticed the other night when I was driving that it wasn't working so I turned my lights off and then back on again and it worked fine. Now every now and again it's just not working and I have to turn the lights off and turn them on again for it to work. Is this common when they start to burn out? I have the extended Toyota 100k warranty. Any idea if this is covered? Sorry for the threadjack.

 

Yes, unfortunately this is common with the Prius. Normally a replacement HID capsule will fix the problem, but is not covered by any normal warranty. Some members have had success getting Toyota headquarters to pay for this repair.

Tom

 

Thank you for the quick response. I'll find out who to complain to. I bought this car new a year and a half ago. There's no reason these should be burning out already.

 

So true. Do a google search on this site for HID and you can find the information.

Tom

 

I have a new hypothesis on the HID problem. I started having HID problems on the passenger side about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I have a 2004 with 108,000 miles on it so I assumed the bulb might be burning out but have been putting off replacing it since you can get the HID to come back on by turning the lights on and off again and the cost is just crazy.

Well, last night, my Prius wouldn't start. I tried a number of times and then noticed that my clock was very dim. My headlights were on at the time so I turned them off and tried to start it again. Thankfully, it started and I was able to get home. In searching the forum this morning on this problem, I noted a suggestion to check the 12v battery voltage. It should be ~12.6 volts, but mine is at 10 volts.

I suspect my 12v auxilliary battery just started to weaken. Couple that with the fact that I just started to have HID problems and the fact that I could start my car on the weak battery with the lights off suggests that the HID problem might possibly be related to the weak battery. I plan on replacing the battery and will report back what happened. I'd be curious if others having the HID problem also detect a low voltage on the auxilliary battery.

 

Interesting hypothesis. I replaced my 12V about a month ago when it died HARD without any known abnormal drain (i.e., no lights left on, etc). I replaced my HID bulbs a few months ago when I had the passenger side 'wink out' issue that started in June. I still have the old bulbs and even marked the 'bad' one. Might be telling if they work now with the new 12V. It would be another '12V is dying' warning, like:

1. Beeping when I got out of the car even though I had shut down and left no lights on, etc.
2. The "There's a problem with the transmission 'P' lock mechanism. Park you car on a flat surface, and fully apply the parking brake." message.

I've not had either 'warning' since I replaced the battery.

The test will have to wait though. It is WINTER now, high of 24F today, will be below 10F tonight. It is a lot easier to change the bulbs when you can feel your fingers and it is NOT a job to be done with gloves on. It is tight enough in there with bare hands.

 

Replacing the HID bulbs is NOT VERY HARD and is certainly NOT a $200 job. Anyone with even the smallest amount of 'do it yourself' ability can replace the bulbs. There is no need to remove the bumper, although a lot of people have posted that Toyota service people say you do. Check here on PriusChat. There are threads related to the problem with HIDs on 2006's dying early and pointers to much cheaper replacement bulbs on EBAY (NEW). Just make sure you get the right ones, the bulb for the 2004/5 is NOT the same as the bulbs for 2006+. I've not had any problems with my replacements that cost ~$75 for TWO.

 

Well, I think this may be the issue. While I had intended to replace the battery before it died hard, I procrastinated (bad habit). It died hard on me a week and a half ago. I replaced the battery on the 22nd and haven't had the light go out on me since. Prior to the battery dying hard, the light was going off multiple times on the way to and from work.

Of course, now that I've reported this, watch the light start going off again .

 

You are correct. The job does not require genius level intelligence. It does require someone with the patience and know how to handle it. I remove the bumper skin only if I am replacing both sides of the HIDs. It allows me to remove the headlight assemblies without chancing scratching the paint on the bumper. The bumper skin can be removed in less than ten minutes without even raising the vehicle.

Step 1. Gently pull back the wheel well black plastic cover and expose the 10mm screw on each side just where the bumper meets the body. Remove the screws.

Step 2. Using a phillips head screwdriver, remove the two rubber hood bumpers on the top edge of the bumper skin where the leading edge of the hood contacts the bumper. Also, remove the three plastic clips that hold the bumper skin.

Step 3. Grasp the edge of the bumper skin just in front of each tire and give a good pull outwards to disengage the plastic clips and then pull the bumper skin forwards and let it hang gently down in front. This will give you adequate room to get to the bolts holding the headlight asssemblies.

Step 4. Remove the three bolts from each headlight assemby and pull them gently out to expose the wiring connectors. Disconnect the wiring and the headlights are ready for disassembly.

Step 5. Find the large round cover which is over the HID bulb and twist it off. Disconnect the wiring and remove the bulb.

Installation is done in reverse order.

Good Luck!! BUT REMEMBER!!! DON NOT TOUCH THE BULB GLASS WITH BARE SKIN!! BODY OILS CAN CAUSE THE BULB TO OVERHEAT AND FAIL PREMATURELY!!

 

Thank you Bear68 for your description of how to "move over" part of the bumper to be able to move and get to the headlight casing easily. For me, your description and method was MUCH EASIER than the "go from behind and use a mirror" method.

For novices like myself, two of the three bolts to remove the headlight from step 4 could use an additional description. The three bolts(per headlight) look exactly the same, so if you remove one that doesn't match and isn't required to move the bumper-like I did-just put it back. And both the bumper bolts and the headlight bolts are 10mm. The headlight bolts have a finer thread.

The easy one is that first bolt at the top of the headlight, can be taken out at any time.

The second is after moving the bumper over from the tire sidewell. There's a bolt/screw just between the bumper separation near the outside lower edge of the headlight that's easy to see - that ISN'T it. Separate the bumper a little more and using a flashlight you'll see another bolt just below and slightly recessed from the obvious one. THAT'S the one to remove.

The third is near the inside lower edge of the headlight underneath the topmost fender edge and in-between an obvious plastic "screw" and the rubber circle with screw that is also used as the rubber that the hood falls onto(one on each side). Fit a flathead in-between and remove the plastic "screw" which is really a plastic clip. IF YOU CAN, use a good phillips screwdriver to remove the rubber circle with screw. On one side I was able to remove that one as well, and it was a breeze to remove the entire headlight casing. On the other side, I wasn't able to. So instead, bend back the fender(really bend/fold it) between the removed plastic clip and the STUCK rubber circle with screw and you can get that third headlight bolt removed. It will require more attention and wiggling to both remove and replace the headlight casing, but it still goes back together just fine.

Good luck and have fun, it all really does go back together well.

BTW, I paid $18.99 USD on EBay with free shipping to alanyes888([email protected]) for 2 HID bulbs 4300K, I asked for D2R 4300K and received D2C 4300K. It looks like the D2C has an additional notch to be plug-compatible with both the D2R and the D2S, otherwise the bulbs appears the same. The light output is much better than the 6 year old D2R bulbs that I removed with the same color (the 4300K part). In my garage the new bulbs' brightness and color look exactly as I remember the original HID lights on my 2004 in this same garage back in November of 2003. I am very happy with my $18.99 D2C bulbs(as in under $10 each) and the 4 hour do-it-yourself job. In the future, this will now take 15 minutes each side for me as well. Hopefully, the above notes will help someone else do this much more quickly than I did.