Xenon Headlamp Fuse Location?

[Carl911]

As title, does anyone know where exactly the fuses are for these lights as I can't work out which ones they are and even Lexus were no help. In still suffering flickering lights which makes me think its either a loose earth somewhere or else a faulty fuse/ relay depending what it is.

Oh, and I have two new bulbs fitted, albeit from eBay.

Carl

[Mouser]

GSIC says: H-LP UPR fuse from the engine room No. 2 relay block.

http://i.imgur.com/r5B5yvX.png (note LHD).

This PDF might help you out a lot:

http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM53839U/pdf/sec_04_03.pdf

p423 has fuses & such.

[Carl911]

GSIC says: H-LP UPR fuse from the engine room No. 2 relay block.

http://i.imgur.com/r5B5yvX.png (note LHD).

This PDF might help you out a lot:

http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM53839U/pdf/sec_04_03.pdf

p423 has fuses & such.

Cheers, that's spot on. I did see them in the box but wasn't sure if they were correct or not so that clarity's it.

Carl

[Carl911]

I checked fuses and they looked fine. I even swapped one over just to make sure.

It seems both my main lights Xenon are only popping on intermittently. If I turn off then back on they fire up and may stay on for the remainder of my journey. This is obviously no good as sometimes its hard to tell if they are on or not wothout getting out and checking.

What's the likelihood of both ballast being faulty at the same time.

[Exdee]

Your ballasts were not faulty to start with but they could be now. Consider this a lesson learned the hard way.

For other people reading this thread who may find themselves in the same boat later on. You guys have bought yourself such a nice car. It is important not to cheap out on its maintenance. Some items such as your Xenon bulbs require decent quality. Crappy bulbs are known to mess with the electrics of the car (what Carl is experiencing at the moment and I've read about power steering ecu failures as well). The headlight design of the is250 is such that the ballast in incorporated within the headlight. It's a real PITA to change and 90% of the people will find themselves buying new headlights. So it is very important that you guys try and do everything that you possibly can to ensure its long life. Using cheap aftermarket bulbs is basically asking for trouble.

Some general tips when changing your bulbs:

- Change them in pairs.

- Use alcahol prep pads to clean the bulb before inserting it in the headlight. Yes, clean your brand new bulb.

- Don't touch the bulb with your fingers.

- When inserting the bulb make sure the bulb does not touch the sides.

- Take your time, Pay attention to how the bulb was removed and reinsert it the same way. The bulb will fire up even if it is not seated properly or inserted correctly. Some signs of a bulb not seated properly are incorrect beam patters, unusual noise from the bulb and prolonged flickering.

- It is normal to get some flickering after you change your bulbs as they burn in. If it happens for more than 2-3 days you probably did not insert them properly or the bulbs are faulty.

- The denso ballast takes some time to adjust to your new bulbs. You may have to power cycle the bulbs a few times to get them working properly.

[Carl911]

Your ballasts were not faulty to start with but they could be now. Consider this a lesson learned the hard way.

For other people reading this thread who may find themselves in the same boat later on. You guys have bought yourself such a nice car. It is important not to cheap out on its maintenance. Some items such as your xenon bulbs require decent quality. Crappy bulbs are known to mess with the electrics of the car (what Carl is experiencing at the moment and I've read about power steering ecu failures as well). The headlight design of the is250 is such that the ballast in incorporated within the headlight. It's a real PITA to change and 90% of the people will find themselves buying new headlights. So it is very important that you guys try and do everything that you possibly can to ensure its long life. Using cheap aftermarket bulbs is basically asking for trouble.

Some general tips when changing your bulbs:

- Change them in pairs.

- Use alcahol prep pads to clean the bulb before inserting it in the headlight. Yes, clean your brand new bulb.

- Don't touch the bulb with your fingers.

- When inserting the bulb make sure the bulb does not touch the sides.

- Take your time, Pay attention to how the bulb was removed and reinsert it the same way. The bulb will fire up even if it is not seated properly or inserted correctly. Some signs of a bulb not seated properly are incorrect beam patters, unusual noise from the bulb and prolonged flickering.

- It is normal to get some flickering after you change your bulbs as they burn in. If it happens for more than 2-3 days you probably did not insert them properly or the bulbs are faulty.

- The denso ballast takes some time to adjust to your new bulbs. You may have to power cycle the bulbs a few times to get them working properly.

To add to this saga, this afternoon I changed the two bulbs over for another two new ones as I had two pairs.

Upon removing the driver side bulb I noticed that the pin on the back of the bulb which the ballast sits over was badly burnt, partially melted. The ballast itself also had a partially melted terminal that would sit against and contact the bulb pin. I imagine for whatever reason some arcing has occurred to cause this damage. I cleaned up both parts as best I could and checked the bulbs came on. They did albeit with a slight flicker as you have mentioned.

On top of all this I now have the VSC light warning on my dash along with poor idling.

Now I did dis-connect the negative Battery terminal whilst fitting the bulbs just to be sure.

I reconnected the Battery before refitting the air box and its sensor which may have been the cause of the warning light as I have never had it on before today.

I reset the Battery again and the VSC light had gone off. The car was however running a little rough on tickover t around 500rpm.

Within about 8 miles drive the idle appears to have gone back to normal leading me to think that removing the Battery terminal had reset the ecu. Do these ecu re-learn as would seem to have occurred here?

Anyway, all in all not a good day.

Quite possibly the bulbs have caused the arc which has damaged the contacts although I cannot be sure other than to say it was not burnt prior to fitting the cheap bulbs.

I have a spare ballast which I bought to fit so may replace the damaged one long with fitting two new bulbs from Lexus.

Carl

[Exdee]

Yes, disconnecting the negative terminal does reset your ECU. The behavior you are experiencing is normal as the transmission relearns how you drive the car. I personally reset my ECU too last week and drove it very gently when the car was relearning. As a result the car has gone so smooth now. Even the kick-downs are very smooth.

Good luck getting the headlight sorted.

[Diane clinton]

Yes, disconnecting the negative terminal does reset your ECU. The behavior you are experiencing is normal as the transmission relearns how you drive the car. I personally reset my ECU too last week and drove it very gently when the car was relearning. As a result the car has gone so smooth now. Even the kick-downs are very smooth.

Good luck getting the headlight sorted.

We also have the same problem ,have changed bulbs and ballasts still no good do you think it could be fuse?

[Diane clinton]

We also have this annoying problem,have changed bulbs and ballasts ,someone try fuse in headlight ,what do you think?