My Experience with Replacing HID Headlights

Cars are very commonly designed that way, not just the Prius or just Toyota...

The dealer didn't design the car, or the procedure for replacing the headlights.

 

Great video! Thanks for posting!!!

 

I doubt that Toyota intentionally sourced or specified problematic HID headlights or knew they'd be a problem, at design time. Given that the 2nd gen Prius began shipping in October 03, the design was likely completed WELL before that.

 

After watching both videos, Ive decided that I can attempt to do this when my time comes. I will probably do a little from each video until I find the method that I'm comfortable with

 

Astoundingly cumbersome design by Toyota.

Looking through 3'rd gen Owners Manual: bulb replacement looks much more traditional. At least for the regular bulbs. LED bulb replacment is recommended as a dealership item.

 

The thing that I love about PriusChat is that you can find out a range of options to select from. By staying informed you can take the path that is best for you. Some will do it themselves, while others will take it into the dealer. Neither is bad. They each have their pros and cons, but you can decide what works for you.

I am 6'5" and 240 lbs., with large hands. I purchased two replacement HID bulbs off of the Internet for about $40. I replaced them both myself in less than an hour after reading and watching the various resources that I found on PriusChat.

I had more trouble getting the cover off on the driver's side and wound up breaking off one of the tabs, but eventually got it off. Using one of my wife's makeup mirrors allowed me to successfully switch out the old bulbs for the new ones.

I felt good about doing it myself and saving the money it would have cost to take it to a dealer.

 

I responded to someone who claimed that Toyota used shoddy headlight bulbs. Most people report having to replace them at about 60k miles. I did a little back-of-the-envelope math and found that correlates well with typical HID bulb lifetimes (and can be attributed to normal wear and tear). Incidents where the bulbs burned out well before this are likely not due to wear and tear.

As much as I dislike Toyota and their overall terrible service departments (where most of us are forced to go due to hybrid lock-in) due to my repeatedly terrible experiences (and why I will never buy another Toyota that I have to ever bring back to the dealer), this is not one of the points where I think they are culpable. My theory is that before the Prius, most people had not ever owned cars with HIDs before and were suddenly confronted with the shock that these systems are expensive to operate and maintain.

I would recommend that you pull the front bumper at least once so that you can be clearly familiar with the way the bulb sets into the housing. It will also make replacing the foglights easy.

 

I see. My 04 350Z is at ~54K miles and past at the 7.5 year mark now and still on the original HIDs. Perhaps I should be prepared to replace them soon too. Not sure how easy/hard it is nor about the cost.

I was doing some Googling about Xenon headlight disposal and found out the D2R (used in the 04 and 05 Priuses) apparently contain mercury. With 06 to 09s, which use D4R apparently are have no mercury.

The 06-09 were the subject of the HID class action settlement. So, perhaps these newer mercury free bulbs are just crap. The failing D4R that came out of my car was a made in Germany Philips D4R as was what I replaced it with (bought from Amazon). Hope they've improved their lifespan...

Back to the shock about costs, those who lived in NY, NJ and 1 other state w/02-03 Nissan Maxima discovered that w/the damn thieves there. I posted about them at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-hid-lamp-failure-2006-prius.html#post1208338. So, I knew HIDs were expensive and figured bulbs would be too. I am somewhat happy that bulbs be bought for <$60 each now.

 

I used this video to remove the front bumper cover and headlight assemblies in order to replace the inverter pump and HID light bulbs.

Thanks!

 

Here is an easy way to remove the entire headlight assembly without removing the entire bumper, I can swap out both bulbs with-in 30 minutes.

 

You were speaking of your 350Z HID lights.... It appears that the only one having problems with them is the Prius. I haven't heard anything about problems with any other vehicle.

 

My '07 Prius with 61K had the sometimes on, sometimes off drivers side HID headlight. With the holidays coming I knew it would decide to go out the moment I passed a cop after having a rare drink out. Didn't want to give them an excuse to pull me over & find "other things." It was time for a change.

The Toyota stealer said they had to pull my bumper & wanted $300 to do ONE BULB. I freaked and began looking for alternatives. Thank God I found PriusChat. I bought bulbs recommended at this post: the Philips D4R Xenon HID Headlight Bulbs. Mine were $49.12 each on Amazon.

On the passenger side I had to get the washer fluid bottle out of the way to get my big German hands in there. It was one 10mm nut on a bolt with way too many threads for that bottle near the windshield side of it, but rather awkward to get to. It could use a 10mm with universal joint socket - if you could fit in in there - because there's not much height to work with. I struggled with a open ended wrench cocked at an angle on the nut. I unhooked the 2 bottom electrical connections and pushed the washer bottle up and out of the way just enough to get at the headlight cover.

The light covers are like a domed jar lid & took a powerful 2 handed CCW 1/8 or so twist with many unsuccessful attempts because it's hard to find a good grip in such a cramped place. They say a powerful jiggle helps break the seal. (Note, there's an O-ring inside and it is not attached. Make sure it's properly seated when replacing the cover. - My driver's side cover seal popped loose & needed readjustment...) The driver's side was a contortionist's dream, but I managed to do most of it by feel after removing only the fuse box cover. Much less space to work in than on the passenger side.

The springs that hold the lights in require just the right squeeze, push & release into it's seat. With no visual on it on the driver's side, it's all by feel, but after the slightly easier passenger side (that you could half-see if you cranked your neck & got the light just right) I knew what needed to be done on the 2nd one.

I decided to do both at the same time based on PriusChat recommendations, even tho the passenger side was not burnt out. BTW, the HID lights had some Toyota warranty issue, but they only covered it to 50,000 miles, so it didn't help me any. Took about 1 hour, but I was in no hurry. Wish Totota made it's wearable parts easier to change. Never had headlights so difficult to change. Glad that's over for awhile. So glad I found PriusChat because I save $200 on this job! Thank you to all you people who posted.

 

Replaced both sides a couple of nights ago. Originals lasted 5 yrs, 9 mos. or approx 72,000 mi. Replaced both sides without removing bumper or washer bottle, just the fuse box lid and the snorkle extension on the passenger side. Hardest part for me was getting the bulb orientation correct because of the limited ability to see the socket. If you are using the Phillips OEM D4R XenEco bulb, the writing on the base of the bulb will be oriented up so you can read it. Also, the wire on the outside of the glass capsule will be oriented down, but this is difficult to see when the bulb is in the headlight.

 

Thank you, Octane -- your advice of using persistent torque was the magic -- patience! I didn't think I was doing anything, but I kept track of the notch on the cap and it was indeed moving. Took me about an hour, and now I hope my blinking headlight days are over.

- Sung