Headlight problem

Much cheaper to replace them yourself. Total cost is between $15 and about $90 depending on the bulbs you choose.

The HIDs are adjustable but be careful you do not raise them too high or you'll blind oncoming traffic. The fact that Toyota used a reflector style housing instead of a projector makes aiming them properly even more important. The HIDs in the 2004-2009 Prius are pretty bad.

To aim them you have to use the adjustment screw located on the back of the headlight. It is a small white screw (8mm).



To properly/legally aim your headlights you'll need a tape measure at least 25ft long, an 8mm socket, masking or other dark colored tape and a dark area that has a solid wall that you can park 25ft away from.

1. Use the tape measure to measure 25ft away from the wall and park your car facing the wall with your headlights at the 25ft mark.
2. Measure the distance from the ground to the middle of your headlight bulb.
3. Turn on your headlights so that they shine on the wall. Now go to the wall and measure from the ground up. You will now use the measurement you took of your headlight bulb height and place a strip of tape approx 2 inches less than your headlight bulb height. So if your headlight bulb height was 26 inches then place the strip of tape, horizontal, at 24 inches upon the wall. This will help guide you as you aim your headlights.
4. Now go back to the car and use the socket to adjust the headlight height. You want your cuttoff to sit level with the tape on the wall but not above that line. Anything above that level is illegal and could blind other drivers.

For information regarding how to aim your headlights and remain DOT legal click the following link:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

HOW TO: aim HID headlights

The attached pdf may be easier to understand.

 

I have a 2005 Prius with one burned out headlight and the other one intermittent. The Oakland Toyota dealer said "we have to remove the front bumper for that" and quoted $385 for one headlight bulb replacement, and only $190 more ($575) to do both!

While reading the headlight woes stories on priuschat.com I saw a recommendation for Luscious Garage in San Francisco. Greg on the phone quoted me $130 per headlight for parts and labor. I had an appointment that evening and really needed it done. Greg said it would take about a half-hour total and they could see me that afternoon. I made the appointment and am now an ecstatic customer!

He not only replaced the HID Xenon bulbs from inside the engine compartment (without removing the bumper - 10 min/side!), but also replaced the side parking light bulbs for free. And he replaced a broken fog lamp for just the $9 cost of the bulb.

The garage I usually use in Berkeley didn't know off-hand what bulbs to use, or what procedure to use for changing them. Greg said he had already replaced 6 Prius headlamps that day! These guys REALLY now what they're doing.

Total cost including tax, $270 and total time was just under 30min. I'll be going back to them for all my Prius maintenance. What a great garage!

 

Had 1 headlight replaced on Saturday (they only had 1 in stock, luckily) after keeping my car 30 hours for diagnosis - $99 for diagnosis, $79 for the bulb, $69 for labor. Amazon delivered 2 bulbs Tuesday, less than $40 for a pair of D2R's They were bright white like my originals, and not yellowish like one I got from the dealer, and real D2R, not D2C or D2S as some have gotten.

I was convinced that it was the bulbs (which were cloudy white in the center) because the right side was only lasting a few minutes and hadn't gone out since -- and there was a good description on the forum about this being the typical failure pattern - light goes out but turning it off and back on relights it for a while (mine once relit for 4 hours).

Took me 25 minutes to replace one, 5 minutes to find one of the clips and about 15 minutes to get the weather cover back on. I couldn't match the lady from Luscious Garage on You Tube who did it in 3 minutes. Maybe next time. You Tube videos were helpful, some with good close ups and photos.

 

Seems the bulb manufacturers have a broad spectrum of leeway for quality control since bulbs are considered a maintenance item and its hard to pen them down on just how long they are supposed to last in order to claim a full refund.

Seems some real trash is being put in the market place.. whether from ebay or from the dealer.... pretty much all equal ground.

I find some bulbs seem to last forever, while others start up with problems in a couple of weeks of being installed.... quite frustrating.

About all you can do is consider the relatively cheap cost of ebay bulbs and order extra and take your chances.

Seems going to all the trouble and hassle of dealing with the dealers "does not" decrease the odds of having future issues again.

Unless HID manufacturers can wake up, they will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and HID bulbs will be considered a failure for future use in mass produced consumer goods and items such as cars etc.

While they are a vast improvement from the Halogen of old, with the introduction of computer built reflectors to match the bulb with the reflector to maximize lack of waste of lumens into space and to the sides, LED's and Halogen's are now stealing the show.

Its a darn good thing they haven't had such issues with the main traction battery as Toyotas reputation has been stained so much from this, I wouldn't be surprised if they would balk on those too claiming they are a "maintenance" item.... this whole HID bulb issue has gotten ridiculous a long time ago....

Toyota should offer to replace the whole headlight assembly with Halogen and a new reflector to match and write it off as a loss.

They had a loyal crowd that would follow to Golgothas Hill.. but this whole episode has really strained the relationship between Toyota and customer.

 

I just spent about an hour reading through this topic and I want to thank everyone and Windstrings in particular.
I was stopped and ticketed in my (beloved) 2009 Prius on the Pacific Coast Highway last weekend for a passenger side headlight out. Decent cop gave me the yellow warning thing and I have to get it fixed and go get it signed off. I stopped going to the dealer at about 75,000 miles. Just too much money for too little service.
My private, independent mechanic said the righthand bulb is $150 and I authorized the purchase. But he called earlier and said that when he talked to Toyota to pick up the bulb, somebody over there told him the bulb is not the problem. It's a computer chip or a ballast or something. The guy at Toyota Parts seemed to know all about the problem. My mechanic is telling me to go to Toyota because he almost cost me $150 for a bulb I didn't need and he's out of his depth.
This is not a complaint about a forum where so many intelligent people have tried so hard to learn and proceed, but I've read almost the entire thread and I don't know what to do. Nobody seems to be sure what the problem is, or how to fix it without placing oneself at the (non-existent) mercy of the Toyota Corporation. Many people who've posted have replaced one bulb, or both bulbs, from eBay, or Amazon, with varying results. Lacking any further suggestions I plan to drive over to the Highway Patrol, turn the headlights off and back on, go inside and get signed off based on the (temporary) situation where I have both lights on for however long, and go about my business, turning the lights off and back on whenever I can see that the right one is off again.
But because I realize that I'm simply having an adolescent reaction to the way Toyota is bullying and deceiving and overcharging people, could someone please give me the part number or the model number of the HID headlamp for my 2009?
And thanks, really, for everything.

 

The problem is well understood, and discussed in detail on several threads. The underlying problem is the D4R bulbs. Toyota switched to D4R bulbs for environmental reasons (no mercury), but mercury is there for a reason. It makes the bulbs easier to strike and increases the light output.

The D4R bulbs are fussier, and Toyota shipped a bunch of Prius with dodgy D4Rs. They worked, but were perilously close to not working, even when new. As they aged, they became harder to strike, as happens with all HID lamps. Unfortunately, since they were bad to begin with, they reached this end of life intermittent condition quickly.

The solution is to replace the bad D4R bulbs with good ones.

Note that you can also have a failed ballast, which is the "chip" that your mechanic mentioned. It's unusual for the ballast to be the problem. In the early days of this problem Toyota was shotgunning the fix by replacing everything. The Toyota tech that talked to your mechanic is relaying outdated information.

Tom

 

You are correct, of course, when you say the problem is well understood and discussed. It's the solution I'm hoping for, before I spend the sums enumerated in posts above, and your certainty around the bulb replacement idea seems unsupported. Thanks for your effort.

 

Why unsupported?

The 06-09 HID equipped Priuses went with D4R bulbs seem to be less reliable than the D2R bulbs (which have mercury) that went in HID equipped 04-05 Priuses (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...s-owners-w-hids-how-long-did-they-last-3.html). One HID on my 06 started getting flaky last year and I had some trouble DIYing (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...d-tank-trying-replace-passenger-side-hid.html) but eventually got the job done. I was a bit past the 5 year/50K mile warranty extension provided by the class action lawsuit settlement. My local dealer wasn't willing to submit a claim after being out of warranty so I bit the bullet and did it myself, at the cost of $55.23 per Philips D4R (at the time) from Amazon.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...toyota-will-pay-hid-repairs-i-got-letter.html points to the dealers previously unnecessarily replacing the ECU (ballast).

Toyota Prius HID Headlight Class Action Settlement - Consumer Class Action Attorneys - Girard Gibbs LLP is a class action lawsuit that involved 06-09 HID equipped Priuses. I received my settlement check recently (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ion-settlement-award-letters.html#post1458323), after pleading my case in the paperwork I submitted.

Usually, the problem can be in 1 of 3 places: bulb, ballast or wiring. It's cheaper and easier to replace the bulb first (and keep the old likely bad bulb) before mucking w/the rest. If there's still a problem after replacing w/a known good bulb, then you can try to tackle the others and keep the "bad" bulb as a spare.

I bought my replacements Philip D4R bulbs from Amazon w/Amazon as the reseller (not some random 3rd party reseller there), however, after reading the great article at http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...-all-hid-bulbs-created-equal.html#post1438374, I can't be 100% confident that the bulbs I got weren't fakes (see post #6).

See http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Xenon-Headlight-Bulb-Pack/dp/B00480J4J6 for the link. [ame]http://www.lighting.philips.com/us_en/automotive/where_to_buy.php?main=us_en_automotive&parent=0&id=&lang=en[/ame] does list Amazon as an online reseller, so hopefully Amazon gets them straight from Philips or one of their authorized distributor vs. some shady place.

 

Good job Qbee on the mercury notes...makes sense too.
Seems I remember a few folks using the mercury bulbs by filing a notch off so they would fit ...seems that could be a solution.

However the reflector is customized for the stock type so the beam it cast could be slightly altered.

I also agree its to the advantage of the mechanic to target the more expensive parts such as ballast rather than a simple bulb replacement .

I somehow think Toyotas recommendations as to how to fix it would be quite different if it was a covered warranty item.......don't you somehow think they would recommend common sense bulb replacement first to?

Its bold of them to act like its a confirmed issue that needs a ballast replacement when so many have proven them wrong?

Isn't it also funny that part of the ballast replacement procedure is to replace the bulb?

Seems so many companies make more profit from service than sales?....its no wonder why.

 

I ordered a Phillips D4R HID bulb from Amazon for about $61 including a quick delivery fee. It seems this is the first step in any process leading to the restoration of the working headlight and the calming of the Malibu Sheriff's Department.
BTW: Why does Toyota lie about their liability in this matter and collect exorbitant fees for the unnecessary removal of bumpers and replacement of ballasts from both consumer and corporate? For the same reason dogs lick their own genitals. Because they can.
Thanks to all, and especially to cwerdna who culled through the thousands of words on this topic and presented the information anyone would need to move forward with as much confidence as can be mustered in these troubled times. IMNSHO, cwerdna's post, two above, should be copied like gateposts to anyone arriving on this thread.

 

Thanks.

BTW, I've only glanced thru the service manual and don't recall a specific procedure for replacing HID bulbs. There is a section about removing the headlight assembly which then discusses how to replace the bulbs and ECU, after the assembly is out. Not everyone can get there hands in there to replace the HIDs w/o removing the bumper. See http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...e-replacing-hid-headlights-2.html#post1250838.

For me, as I mentioned in one of my links, my attempt to replace 1 HID w/o removing the bumper turned into a disaster as the clip came off and I couldn't get the washer tank out to make enough room so I could see, to get it back on. I ended up having to partly remove the bumper cover.

 

Money, Money Money and lazy efforts as all attention is focused forward to where the money is at.

How many times do we have gigantic entities capable of fabulous fests that can't even do the simple and the basic?

Besides if they are accurate on what the problem is.. not only to they make less money in repairs, but they accept and admit there is a problem and therefore risk liability and lawsuits....

Playing dumb and making more money in repairs is the American way!.. too bad Toyota has recently picked up the bad habit.

 

I guess you all have never had to pay out of pocket to replace a hybrid battery before 100K, like many Honda owners, or had the spark plug threads strip out on your Ford Triton motor, or had the oil pump wear a hole in the magnesium case of your Chevy/GMC NP 261 transfer case, or had your 41TE Chrysler automatic trans bomb, or any number of very expensive design flaws that all automakers experience. Toyota is not immune to major issues, such as engine sludging and transmission ECUs that blow up transmissions.

In retrospect, the HID bulbs in 04-05 have proved exceptionally reliable. The switch to mercury free bulbs in 06-09 caught Toyota off guard with the subsequent problems. The first TSB came out in April of '08, with diagnostic tips that strongly discouraged replacing the ballast. The second TSB came out in November of '09 and was aimed explicitly at 06-09, with additional information for identifying bad bulbs and explaining the failsafe feature of the ballast (light goes out after a few minutes).

Toyota has done a barely passable job (i.e. C- grade) in getting the information out to technicians for diagnosing and repairing the problem. Unfortunately, the "replace the ECU" myth persists, as do high parts and labor charges. Toyota is willing to pay 1/2 hour of labor to diagnose and replace each bulb, so that means that most dealers will charge between 1 and 2 hours of labor to a non-warranted customer to replace the pair, unless the tech does the bulb changes in 15 minutes and instructs the service adviser to charge less.

I do fault Toyota for charging, and continuing to charge, an exorbitant sum per bulb. $150-$175 is around 6x wholesale. Effectively, they have a design defect, and will be able to make enough money to pay off the class action with future sales of bulbs for non-warranted cars.

But this is by no means the worst behavior that I have seen from Toyota, and certainly other automakers have done much worse to their customers.

 

I'm not sure why you think it's unsupported. We have dozens of these HID failures reported on PC, and all have been bad or failing D4R bulbs.

Diagnosing system failures is a statistics game. Lacking hard diagnostic information, you start with the likely, inexpensive, and easy to change items first, and then work your way toward the obscure and expensive. Bulbs are your first and most likely option, and they are a lot less expensive than new ballasts.

Tom

 

^^^
Yep. And for some, the HID bulbs can be changed w/o removing the front bumper cover. Whereas replacing the ECU/ballast w/o doing that is impossible.

 

I have a 2004 loaded Prius. Sometimes the left headlight goes out, sometimes the right, and sometimes BOTH go out at the same time. Scares the living............ I flip the switch off and on and they USUALLY come back on, but sometimes more than 10 sec or so. I'm bringing it in knowing they'll want to charge me for an acknowledged problem.
Bummer!

 

How many miles on that '04? Note that the bulbs in 04-05 have a MUCH LONGER lifetime.

Be prepared, you will be charged $350 for bulbs and possibly $200 for labor, if you visit a dealership.

 

My 2004 Prius 225,000 miles

 

It is not an acknowledged problem on the 2004-2005 model. The problem was on the 2006-2009 models with the D4S bulbs not the D2R bulbs that come on earlier models. With 225,000 miles I would would say you have reach the end of their useful life and then some.

You can try changing to new bulbs. If that doesn't solve it then purchase new ballasts as well. A decent HID kit can be had for as little as $40. A quality kit will run $150-$200.

 

On 06-09 models, the HIDs were D4R.

From an 06 owner, 225K miles on original HIDs is incredible. One of my D4R bulbs started getting flaky a bit past 5 years and 50K miles, so it's not surprising there was the class action lawsuit given the prices some dealers wanted for parts and labor.

gwharp should add his data point to http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ius-owners-w-hids-how-long-did-they-last.html. I wouldn't be surprised if there are almost no 06-09 owners w/150K miles w/both original D4R bulbs still working properly (not flaky).