Change reversing bulb on 2019 IS300

[Mick911]

Hi

Newbie because I'm stuck.

So my reversing bulb has blown on one side, I can't find a how to video for my year /  model.

I got the clips off the boot lid liner, the lamp assembley is bolted to the boot lid, the bulbs are not accessible.  I've taken the lamp assembley off the car and it has 4 screws appearing to hold two halves of the assembly together (but I couldn't get them to part).

So how do I get to the bulbs to change them?

Thanks for a share of wisdom.

Mick

 

 

[scudney]

Silly question but are you definitely 100% sure that your car has 2 reserving lights one on each side and not just 1, a lot of cars now tend to come with just one 🤔

[wharfhouse]

34 minutes ago, Mick911 said:

Hi

Newbie because I'm stuck.

So my reversing bulb has blown on one side, I can't find a how to video for my year /  model.

I got the clips off the boot lid liner, the lamp assembley is bolted to the boot lid, the bulbs are not accessible.  I've taken the lamp assembley off the car and it has 4 screws appearing to hold two halves of the assembly together (but I couldn't get them to part).

So how do I get to the bulbs to change them?

Thanks for a share of wisdom.

Mick

 

 

There is only one reversing light on the nearside - the offside has the fog light. 

[Mick911]

Ok, now that's a very good point, never thought of that.

I was told by a neighbour that I only had one light on, I'll see what it says in the manual.

 

Thanks

[Mick911]

Thank you, you're absolutely correct, I do only have one reversing light and the other side is the fog light.

Thanks Again

Mick

 

[wharfhouse]

1 minute ago, Mick911 said:

Thank you, you're absolutely correct, I do only have one reversing light and the other side is the fog light.

Thanks Again

Mick

 

IIRC for future reference the reversing light has a normal bulb that can be replaced but the fog light has a red LED that is more difficult to replace. 

[LenT]

6 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

IIRC for future reference the reversing light has a normal bulb that can be replaced but the fog light has a red LED that is more difficult to replace. 

I replaced my reversing light bulb with this LED upgrade.  Your newer IS may already have an LED bulb - which your Manual should confirm if that’s the case - but if not then I would certainly recommend it.  This bulb has a wedge base and is a simple push fit into the bulb holder.

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/955-w16w-white-philips-ultinon-pro6000-led-bulbs-single.html

[wharfhouse]

10 minutes ago, LenT said:

I replaced my reversing light bulb with this LED upgrade.  Your newer IS may already have an LED bulb - which your Manual should confirm if that’s the case - but if not then I would certainly recommend it.  This bulb has a wedge base and is a simple push fit into the bulb holder.

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/955-w16w-white-philips-ultinon-pro6000-led-bulbs-single.html

Is this significantly brighter than the normal bulb? If so looks like it might be a worthwhile change (mine is a 2014 IS 300h and so is a normal bulb, so not LED as far as I know).

[LenT]

12 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

Is this significantly brighter than the normal bulb? If so looks like it might be a worthwhile change (mine is a 2014 IS 300h and so is a normal bulb, so not LED as far as I know).

It is indeed significantly brighter Phil
I thought the original bulb was as illuminating as the fabled Toc H lamp - if you’re old enough to remember them?

It was a poor effort even in comparison with my previous Honda Accord and required me to put the indicator on as well in order to have some clue as to what was lurking behind the car.

Unfortunately, having just the one reversing light - and it being located on the nearside - is always going to be a disadvantage.

If your bulb is the same fitting, then I think you’ll find the modest outlay very worthwhile.

 

[wharfhouse]

24 minutes ago, LenT said:

It is indeed significantly brighter Phil
I thought the original bulb was as illuminating as the fabled Toc H lamp - if you’re old enough to remember them?

It was a poor effort even in comparison with my previous Honda Accord and required me to put the indicator on as well in order to have some clue as to what was lurking behind the car.

Unfortunately, having just the one reversing light - and it being located on the nearside - is always going to be a disadvantage.

If your bulb is the same fitting, then I think you’ll find the modest outlay very worthwhile.

 

Thanks - I'll give that a go - was trying to reverse down a very dark driveway last week and the current bulb didn't illuminate very much... 

[LenT]

19 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

was trying to reverse down a very dark driveway last week and the current bulb didn't illuminate very much... 

It was the difficulty in reversing down my OWN drive that finally persuaded me to do something about it.  Now I feel I can rely on the view in the reversing camera.

Mind you, I still think a ‘Quality Car’ such as the Lexus should have two reversing lamps!  You can’t even retrofit them.  🙁

[LenT]

20 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

but the fog light has a red LED that is more difficult to replace. 

It might interest you to know that this bulb is also available in red!

So provided it has the same wedge-base fitting, it can replace brake and fog bulbs.  However, there is a BUT.

These LED bulbs do not currently have ECE Approval and should therefore only be used off-road.  I discussed this with my bulb Supplier and their explanation was that this was an example of legislation not keeping up with technology.  When the Standards Committee met to draw up the legislation, no-one envisaged the development of an LED bulb in that fitting.

My possible objection to using them in brake and fog lamps is that they might simply be TOO bright and potentially dazzling - especially in poor weather conditions.  This is all too apparent when autos are stopped at traffic lights and held by the foot brake.

They’re not a problem for the MoT as the Tester is only required to confirm that a lamp has a working bulb of the correct colour at the time of the Test.

[matt8]

52 minutes ago, LenT said:

It might interest you to know that this bulb is also available in red!

So provided it has the same wedge-base fitting, it can replace brake and fog bulbs.  However, there is a BUT.

These LED bulbs do not currently have ECE Approval and should therefore only be used off-road.  I discussed this with my bulb Supplier and their explanation was that this was an example of legislation not keeping up with technology.  When the Standards Committee met to draw up the legislation, no-one envisaged the development of an LED bulb in that fitting.

My possible objection to using them in brake and fog lamps is that they might simply be TOO bright and potentially dazzling - especially in poor weather conditions.  This is all too apparent when autos are stopped at traffic lights and held by the foot brake.

They’re not a problem for the MoT as the Tester is only required to confirm that a lamp has a working bulb of the correct colour at the time of the Test.

But would you just do it and use them anyway? Unlikely it’ll cause any issues for you. 

[LenT]

1 hour ago, matt8 said:

But would you just do it and use them anyway? Unlikely it’ll cause any issues for you. 

No Matt, it’s not something I would do - although I believe that it has been done!

I actually think that, unlike the single reversing lamp, the paired brake lights and the single fog light are actually up to the task.  Unlike the reversing light, following drivers are more likely to be exposed to the dazzling effects of these brighter bulbs if used in brake and fog lights - which will always be irritating and occasionally dangerous.

[wharfhouse]

According to my manual it says that a number of the lights are LED already:

LED Lights
The lights other than the discharge headlights (if equipped), front turn signal lights, rear turn signal lights, back-up light and outer foot lights each consist of a number of LEDs. If any of the LEDs burn out, take your vehicle to any authorized Lexus dealer or repairer, or another duly qualified and equipped professional to have the light replaced.

I've just bought the LED to replace the reversing light (back-up light in Lexus language) as per @LenT so hopefully that will give me some more light when reversing. 

[LenT]

2 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

According to my manual it says that a number of the lights are LED already:

It says that in my Manual too!  Some models did have some LED bulbs, the replacement of which you were supposed to leave to ‘qualified technicians’.  Mine were all halogen, however.

22 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

I've just bought the LED to replace the reversing light (back-up light in Lexus language) as per @LenT so hopefully that will give me some more light when reversing. 

I hope so too, Phil!  🤔

I take it that your lamp is also located in the boot lid, and the Manual does illustrate bulb removal - after a fashion.  It’s a bit fiddly and I found it easiest to remove almost all the lining clips to get at the bulb fitting.

Good luck!  😊

 

 

[wharfhouse]

18 minutes ago, LenT said:

It says that in my Manual too!  Some models did have some LED bulbs, the replacement of which you were supposed to leave to ‘qualified technicians’.  Mine were all halogen, however.

I'll have to look into that further then. 

19 minutes ago, LenT said:

I take it that your lamp is also located in the boot lid, and the Manual does illustrate bulb removal - after a fashion.  It’s a bit fiddly and I found it easiest to remove almost all the lining clips to get at the bulb fitting.

Yes according to the manual it's in the boot lid and shows bulb removal so will give it a go next week. Thanks for the tip about removing the whole lining. 

[wharfhouse]

Changed the reversing light bulb this morning for the new LED one and all is working fine - no CAN Bus errors. Certainly looks a lot brighter in daylight now so will see how it is in the dark later. The glass in old bulb I took out was a little bit smoky like old incandescent bulbs get so that certainly won't have been helping with it's brightness. Thanks @LenT for the suggestion. 

[LenT]

 

20 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

Changed the reversing light bulb this morning for the new LED one and all is working fine - no CAN Bus errors. Certainly looks a lot brighter in daylight now so will see how it is in the dark later.

Well that’s a relief…to us both!

Did you get it from Autobulbs Direct?  I’ve always found them very helpful.  (Other retailers are available!)

You might be interested to know that I also upgraded my main headlight bulb with one of these Xenon bulbs - it served as both main and dip in my Lexus.

It was a D4S fitting in my case.  The resulting improvement was even more dramatic than the reversing lamp.

I got my Lexus Dealer to fit it, which only took minutes, because the Manual refused to reveal how to do it, claiming it was a dealer-only operation.  So I included it with a Service visit.

Interestingly, although the main beam improved it was the better controlled, brighter illumination of the dipped beam that I found most useful down our narrow country lanes as the verges so we’re so much better defined.

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/d4s-osram-night-breaker-laser-xenarc-220-bulbs-next-generation-pair.html

[wharfhouse]

13 minutes ago, LenT said:

 

Well that’s a relief…to us both!

Did you get it from Autobulbs Direct?  I’ve always found them very helpful.  (Other retailers are available!)

You might be interested to know that I also upgraded my main headlight bulb with one of these Xenon bulbs - it served as both main and dip in my Lexus.

It was a D4S fitting in my case.  The resulting improvement was even more dramatic than the reversing lamp.

I got my Lexus Dealer to fit it, which only took minutes, because the Manual refused to reveal how to do it, claiming it was a dealer-only operation.  So I included it with a Service visit.

Interestingly, although the main beam improved it was the better controlled, brighter illumination of the dipped beam that I found most useful down our narrow country lanes as the verges so we’re so much better defined.

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/d4s-osram-night-breaker-laser-xenarc-220-bulbs-next-generation-pair.html

I actually bought it from amazon (direct, not a 3rd party seller) as I was buying some other bits and pieces at the same time from there and worked out same price once shipping is taken into account. I've used Autobulbs Direct in the past though and been happy with their service. The headlight bulbs look interesting as dipped beam isn't particularly good on the IS 300h (though full beam is OK, but as you say it's the same bulb for both, just a mechanical shutter that alters the beam IIRC) - also not sure how long the original fitment ones last (my car is 9 years old now) but as you say manual says dealer only fitment, but can't be too difficult - probably videos online showing how to do it.

[LenT]

22 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

but as you say it's the same bulb for both, just a mechanical shutter that alters the beam IIRC)

The Manual is rather ambiguous in this respect.  It lists the same bulb type for both main and dip - but didn’t make it clear (to me anyway) that it’s actually the one bulb serving both functions via a mechanical shutter.  I suppose this was on account of it also being listed as a Dealer only operation.

26 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

probably videos online showing how to do it.

Not knowing that only one bulb each side was required. I found a video with a lad replacing two bulbs - main and dip - on a similar Lexus IS250.

It was very entertaining!

It was clearly done over several days, in at least two different locations and involved several changes of T-shirts!  To do the right lamp apparently involved dismantling most of the front end, in the course of which he stripped some of the fixings, which he airily dismissed!  😀

It was at this point that I thought I would let the Dealer do it after all.  Had I known it was a one bulb, mechanical shutter system, I might have carried on looking for a relevant video.