2013-2015 headlamp replacement - HID low beam (3 Viewers)

[nicoparren]

I just finished this job, here are steps as I remember. I only did passenger side for now. This took me about an hour this first time, could probably do it in 15 mins next time. When I have to do the drivers side I will probably remove the battery to have extra room.

1. Turn the cap counter clockwise 1/4 to 1/2 turn until you can remove it
2. Disconnect the wire connector from the cap
3. Turn ballast to disconnect it from the bulb, in pic below you can see how the bulb seats in
4. Pinch the clip tops together while move towards rear of truck, these are hinged and keep the bulb in place
5. Pull the bulb out
6. Put the new bulb in, on mine the filament pointed down to seat correctly
7. Reinstall bulb retention clips by pinching and putting back in the up position
8. Attach ballast to bulb with a clockwise turn to seat the pegs
9. Reinstall cap with clockwise turn
10. Reattach wire connector

OEM (I think) bulb:
View attachment 3305371

Ballast with new Phillips bulb attached:
View attachment 3305378

Ballast installed:
View attachment 3305379

From reading this, turn it first before disconnecting the power right?

 

[Skiime]

Hi! How did you ever get the power connector out? I'm having this problem right now and I'm afraid I'll damage it if I force it.

Are you referring to the round metal housing that you have to unscrew to remove? The trick for me was to drive it for a while and get the engine bay warm. After I did that, the metal assembly was very easy to remove.

 

[nicoparren]

Are you referring to the round metal housing that you have to unscrew to remove? The trick for me was to drive it for a while and get the engine bay warm. After I did that, the metal assembly was very easy to remove.

Counter clockwise while facing the cover right? So you’re turning it into the vehicle?

 

[Skiime]

View attachment 3969362Counter clockwise while facing the cover right? So you’re turning it into the vehicle?

Yes, from this angle you are correct, turn to the left. I about lost my mind the first time I tried to get it to budge, but once the engine was hot (might have to run it for a while), it should screw right off. You can use the tabs as leverage.

 

[bloc]

@nicoparren when you are reassembling, it is difficult to see but be sure you get the ballast pressed evenly into the headlamp bucket before rotating it to tighten. Somewhat often people don't get the lower tabs engaged and this allows moisture and dirt into the assembly.

 

[nicoparren]

Yes, from this angle you are correct, turn to the left. I about lost my mind the first time I tried to get it to budge, but once the engine was hot (might have to run it for a while), it should screw right off. You can use the tabs as leverage.

I actually feel like I damaged my hand while turning it yesterday. But now I know I was turning it the wrong way. I was trying to do the passenger side and I was turning it to the right i.e. away from the vehicle

 

[nicoparren]

@nicoparren when you are reassembling, it is difficult to see but be sure you get the ballast pressed evenly into the headlamp bucket before rotating it to tighten. Somewhat often people don't get the lower tabs engaged and this allows moisture and dirt into the assembly.

Thank you for this advice. Can't wait to try again later.

 

[Skiime]

@nicoparren when you are reassembling, it is difficult to see but be sure you get the ballast pressed evenly into the headlamp bucket before rotating it to tighten. Somewhat often people don't get the lower tabs engaged and this allows moisture and dirt into the assembly.

Yes, this, and also there is a rubber gasket you need to make sure goes back around the housing correctly.

 

[bloc]

Yes, this, and also there is a rubber gasket you need to make sure goes back around the housing correctly.

Great point.

 

[Boston Mangler]

For those with these lights…

I put these on my 2010

Used all OEM parts, housings are perfectly secured to spec

I feel the bulbs may be moving inside the housing when I go over bumps. The beam bounces a fair amount, both sides

Anyone experience this?

Thanks

 

[nicoparren]

Update: replaced both sides tonight. Doing the passenger side first was sound advice. There is much more room to work on that side and you can get a better idea of how to go at the driver side.
Note: (for driver side) I removed the washer fluid filler neck and moved the battery over a couple inches. I went with the Toshiba HIDs mentioned above from Amazon and they fit well and appear to deliver quality light.
Thanks again for your insights.

Hi! How did you remove the washer filler neck? Planning to do it this way when I will get to my driver’s side.

 

[bloc]

Anyone experience this?

Happens to mine. And from years of reading in this section, lots of other people too.

Appears to be “normal” behavior.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Happens to mine. And from years of reading in this section, lots of other people too.

Appears to be “normal” behavior.

Roger thanks. I kind of remember you mentioning this awhile ago

It kind of drives me nuts. Any fix ideas? Spacers or maybe pieces of rubber in between spring and bulb?

 

[gaijin]

Roger thanks. I kind of remember you mentioning this awhile ago

It kind of drives me nuts. Any fix ideas? Spacers or maybe pieces of rubber in between spring and bulb?

I see this on my 2013 LC200 also - as @bloc said, it appears to be normal behavior.

It bothered me at first, but after reading several posts about it here I decided that I'd go with the idea that if they all do it, then Toyota must have done it on purpose. But to what purpose? I don't remember where I read it, but someone here suggested it might be designed to limit shock to the HID lamps - better a few smaller jitters than a larger, sharper jolt - thus extending the life of the HID lamps. A stiffer mount, or "spacers or maybe pieces of rubber" which reduce or eliminate the "jitters" that are there, may actually be detrimental to the life of the lamps.

I've learned to live with it - and every time I observe the jitters, I admire the ingenuity of the Toyota engineers who designed that feature.

HTH

 

[Boston Mangler]

I see this on my 2013 LC200 also - as @bloc said, it appears to be normal behavior.

It bothered me at first, but after reading several posts about it here I decided that I'd go with the idea that if they all do it, then Toyota must have done it on purpose. But to what purpose? I don't remember where I read it, but someone here suggested it might be designed to limit shock to the HID lamps - better a few smaller jitters than a larger, sharper jolt - thus extending the life of the HID lamps. A stiffer mount, or "spacers or maybe pieces of rubber" which reduce or eliminate the "jitters" that are there, may actually be detrimental to the life of the lamps.

I've learned to live with it - and every time I observe the jitters, I admire the ingenuity of the Toyota engineers who designed that feature.

HTH

Ok. That sounds like a valid point and i will leave as is.

Thank you

 

[Inside Out]

I finished this job this weekend -- here are a few notes (most of which are found elsewhere in the thread).

-- Ordered the Toshiba bulbs off Amazon. $103 for the pair. They arrived in non-descript boxes with no labels...but the bulbs themselves matched what others had posted. So, I went with them. Hopefully they hold up.
-- I was swapping out the battery at the same time, so I removed that prior to getting started.
-- I did the passenger side first. To loosen the cover, rotate "toward" the engine. Realized after I finished that I forgot to disconnect the wiring once I had the cover off (made this mistake on both side -- seemingly no ill effect and the wiring is long enough to rest on the bottom of the engine compartment). Had to loosen the screw holding the spring clip by maybe 1/2 turn, again "toward" the engine. (This is a small Phillips screw.) Filament down when putting in the new bulb.
-- Driver side was a little trickier as the access is limited, even with the battery out. To loosen the cover, rotate "away" from the engine (which is the same direction as the passenger side). This would not move with a cold engine bay so I hit it with a heat gun on low-medium for a few minutes, and then it gave way. On the driver side, I did not need to loosen the screw to move the spring clip. But you would need a screwdriver less than six inches long if you had to use it -- one of those stubby ones would work well.
-- All in, this was about an hour and change of working time for me. It could definitely be done more quickly. It's not difficult; hardest part is loosening the covers if they're stubborn and finagling the swing clips.

Thanks to the many posters in this thread for the tips and pictures.

 

[reddog90]

Has anyone had trouble with the 9011 bulbs burning out prematurely? I installed new housings, Philips xtreme vision gen2 D4S & Philips 9011 HIR bulbs a year ago. I had one of the 9011s go out in January and replaced with another of the exact same bulb. Both burned out recently. I say they're burned out because the fuses are good but I have no DRL or high beams. I think I'm just going to go back with philips vision or vision plus 9005s this time.

 

[Blackford Oakes]

Has anyone had trouble with the 9011 bulbs burning out prematurely?

I had a Philips 9011 go after a few months. I took them out and put the OEMs back in.

 

[bloc]

Has anyone had trouble with the 9011 bulbs burning out prematurely?

7+ years and over 100k miles on mine without issues. They don’t get used every day or anything though.

 

[reddog90]

What am I missing here? Wouldn't they be on as DRLs every day (that you drive that truck)? Why have I had such bad luck with mine?