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Xenon Light Intermittent Problem.


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I came home last night and noticed my passenger side front Xenon light was not on.

I switched lights off then back on and it was on again.

Any ideas what this means, is it a dodgy light bulb or the ballast?

Is there any way of telling which is at fault?

Carl

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I'm thinking you mean HID not Xenon as they don't require a ballast being halagen bulbs filled with Xenon gas.

Chances are the bulb is on its way out so the initial arc donesn't strike. Don't buy from Lexus unless you have money to burn buy a decent one,preferably pair from eBay.

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I've got the same problem with mine. When it rains heavily my drivers side bulb goes off. As soon as conditions improve its fine. I iniatilly thought it was the bulb, but my mechanic reckons its the ballast.

Any thoughts anyone ?

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Yeah I think I read somewhere that the ballast is in the light itself so you have to take it apart which is a pain. Perhaps someone can confirm?

Also I read only to use Philips or osram bulbs as the eBay ones are not very good. This may be old threads from years back when maybe the eBay bulb quality wasn't so good.

Perhaps someone could confirm about the bulbs also as the price difference is quite large.

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Must admit my first thought was the ballast.

Could always swap the bulbs when cool/cold and see if the problem moves too.

I have seen a Youtube vid put up by one of our USA cousins who took the headlight apart to change the ballast which was indeed indside the unit.

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95% chance it's the bulb but you can double check by switching them like Normski suggested. You should ideally replace them in pairs.

I had the same problem not too long ago and replaced mine with a pair of 5K D4S Morimoto Xengreens and am pretty satisfied with the result.

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Yes, I think the bulb is the simplest option so I will invest in a new pair and see if that cures the problem.

Can anyone recommend some bulbs that are known to work and be properly compatible with the Lexus oe system!

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  • 1 month later...

Not on the lexus but I swapped out an oem fitted Xenon on a mini and replaced it with a retrofit ballast and bulb, worked a treat at a fraction of the cost bmw wanted. Be careful on eBay though as there is so much rubbish... Even AC kits for £30-£40 quid which I image would be dangerous! I used www.hidcity.co.uk as saw them at the classic show at the NEC. Next job is replacing the halogen dip beams on the IS250.

Carl911 - sounds to me like the ballast as they control the bulb and are most prone to failure

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Not on the lexus but I swapped out an oem fitted xenon on a mini and replaced it with a retrofit ballast and bulb, worked a treat at a fraction of the cost bmw wanted. Be careful on eBay though as there is so much rubbish... Even AC kits for £30-£40 quid which I image would be dangerous! I used www.hidcity.co.uk as saw them at the classic show at the NEC. Next job is replacing the halogen dip beams on the IS250.

Carl911 - sounds to me like the ballast as they control the bulb and are most prone to failure

I have a feeling that ballast will be to blame but given its location which requires stripping the headlight, I thought I'd try everything else first.

It might be coincidence but taking the lights off the auto light switch and on Manually, the bulbs did not switch off. On auto the one switched off but ths might just be pure coincidence. I can't think of any reason that the auto lights could cause intermittent lights.

Carl

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