Headlight problem

Thanks Windstrings. I did not know how the high and low beams worked. It appears that the service advisors in some cases do not either.

One final note on my headlights. The customer service rep from Toyota called back to find out about the 2nd fix. She said that now that they changed the part number, it may not be the ECU but a bad light. I clarified by asking if the bulb is a different bulb from the one I got a few days ago. She said YES. I should have asked her the part number. I think I will call her back next week.

Would this imply that the Toyota part was bad but maybe the OEM lights sold on ebay and such are good? Or does it possibly mean that the OEM lights should change in some way to match the new part number from Toyota?

Thanks
Michael

 

I don't know about part numbers, but I didnt' make much sense about something controlling the ballast or the bulb.
The bulb simply gets what the ballast gives it, and the ballast does what it does..... I"m not aware any computer controls the ballast in any fashion.

The bulbs on the other hand are not created equal.... and the most expensive seems to have little to do with quality.

This is still a relatively new technology and the bulb for the Prius 06 I apparently new for that year exclusive to at least the prius and the lexus.

Its all about supply and demand... .as long as companies can keep the price elevated, they make a more handsome profit, going to the world market messes up their game.

Its like going to a small town selling something no one else has to sell... the demand is great and people will pay much for the benifits of the new product, "until" someone else comes along that has access to the same supplier that will sell it for less.

I just can't see the logic yet "and no one has been able to explain or state reasons why" I should buy a bulb for 10 times the amount I can get it from ebay when it possibly last less time?

The cats out of the bag when their expensive bulb only last such a short amount of time.. don't you think?

These are not isolated cases anymore... .this has become a real problem.

At any rate, my ebay bulbs are still working great in both of my cars.

I still think all this is all about poorly designed bulbs toyota got for thier supplies in the beginning.

I also think some people end up getting ballast and lamps changed to because they can... .thus raising the price of parts and labor the dealership can collect either from toyota or the client.. which ever the case may be.

If anyone else has used the ebay bulbs and had them go bad.. I have yet to hear it.

I also have not heard of situations where people have replaced the bulb, only to go back and have to do the ballast too.

I think there is allot of crooked greedy money grubbing mechanics out there taking advantage of anyone and whatever they can.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I grow weary of people not telling it like it is.. I only seek truth and I'm not into political correctness...

Its absolutely rediculous to pay so much for a mere bulb... there is just not that much technology in the bulb to demand such a price... if there was, then why can the chinese do it for so much cheaper.... Are we that handicapped on technology in the great USA who use so much foreign cheap labor ourselves?....and should we forget, that those who sell it for much higher, usually get it from them anyway as thier source?

A good profit is just and reasonable, but rape and pillage is not.

 

We're having the exact problem with the driver's side headlight on our 2006 Prius. Please call TOYOTA EXPERIENCE 800 331-4331 and document the difficulties you are having. They give you a case number, call you back by the end of the next business day and research the issue.

 

For what it's worth, here's some info from page 2 of a TOYOTA Technical Service Bulletin.
T-SB-0030-08 REV1 April 11, 2008
"NOTE:
The HID bulb and the HID ECU service parts for 2004 -- 2005 model year are NOT compatible with 2006 and later model year vehicles. Installing a 2004 or 2005 model year HID Bulb or HID ECU on a 2006 or later model year vehicle may cause an intermittent operation/flickering of the HID bulb."

I'm wondering if my 2006 (we took delivery on Jan 1, 2006) came with a 2004 or 2005 bulb.

 

That's really interesting. We bought a used 2006 earlier this year and just started noticing the passenger side bulb doing this. I've also noticed that the hood and other body parts just slightly don't line up with the passenger side headlight assembly, so I'm thinking the car was in a minor accident (which of course wasn't on a carfax). So if it was in an accident right on that corner, the headlight assembly was probably replaced, and perhaps they used pre-06 parts to fix it....

 

That really IS interesting. And good evidence that Toyota is hearing a lot of complaints, too!

 

Curious. The passenger side light on my 2004 winked out last week and turning the lights off and on again fixed it. This happened 4 or 5 times on that trip. My wife said it was out when I drove up a few weeks before but it was about dawn so it wasn't obvious to me.

Prior to that, I have not seen this problem. It was quite obvious when the light went out. I have a weekly drive year round that involves at least some 'very dark' time except in June and July, this is clearly a new problem for my car. 71K miles and the headlights have been on probably 90% of the time the car was being driven. There is no color difference between the lights when they are on. Still sounds as if they are dying early if this is just an 'end of life' problem. I'm real sure they didn't put 2006 bulbs in my car at the factory

 

Are your lights Halogen or HID's?

Halogens are typical bulbs with Halogen gas... if it went on and off intermittently, I would say a filiment is broken and occasionally touches "and so works" or separates "and doesn't".
If this is the case your other filiment most likely works... meaning either the offending filament is your high beam filament or low beam which ever is the case. The Halogen bulbs are no more complicated than your household bulb that hangs over your dinner table.

However if its HID... then there is one bulb for low and high with a reflector that moves to give the low/high beam effect.
I cases of HID bulbs, its most likely the bulb as the problem, but it could also be the expensive ballast that provides the high voltage to the bulb.

 

FWIW, mine's HID (package 6). Now I'm just unsure about what will happen if I take it in and try to get it fixed under warranty.

"Yeah, I bought this Prius used from a dealer and think it may have been in a fender bender which required the headlight assembly to be replaced. I think they used the wrong parts."

"Sorry sir, that's not a factory defect, you need to track down who fixed it."

Yeah, like I'll be able to do that!

 

Add me to this sad club! My driver's side did this a couple of weeks ago for the first time (that I noticed) and now noticed my passenger side did the same. I was driving and noticed the lights seemed to flicker, was almost home so I drove up and parked behind a car and yep- the light was out! Turned them off and back on and kicked back on! Grrr! I am at 44k miles now; I do have an extended warranty but doubt they'll fix it. I called my dealer after I noticed the driver's side acting up and they said just the bulb was about $350. I figured at that price I could forget it for now..if I have to end up paying to resolve this problem I will just sell this car and get in line for a new one Mine is a 2006; I was hoping to keep it till the new Prius comes out but I am not going to pay a monthly payment AND pay for pricey repairs!

 

Thanks Michou!
Sunshine Yellow...my 2006 was picked up Jan02 of 06 and I'm intermittent. Does the service bulletin say how to determine if the "bad" bulb was pre-06 part number?
Thanks in advance and thx to all for the posts.
jfojoe

 

Both of mine were early Jan of 06 too

 

I ordered the bulb today and I can see that Michou's got the handle on an easier install than the shop manual says. If I am successful here fixing it, I'm thinking to get the dealer to give me a shop credit for the part and for his team not being able to fix it for under $600.
A question for you windstrings. I found several "OEM" sites online to get the bulbs for $251 and $232. Then I found a Sylvania "OEM replacement" for $98 each but with free shipping (I bought that with its 21 day replacement warranty). I did find several folks trying to sell me a xenon bulb for less but you seem to have found the bulbs for significantly cheaper. Are the ones you're buying xenon, sylvania...or what? thanks...jfo

 

Here is what I bought.

They are Xenon... thats the type of gas inside.. not the brand name.

And do you really want to pay more and give Sylvania another chance?... seems they have proved their quality to me already... thats what the originals were.

You want the "D4R" type.

 

Thanks for your note. I See that I could get those for $69 a pair as you say. I did already buy the OEM replacment sylvania so I reckon I'm in the middleground of this thread; saving hundreds but staying OEM. This is the very first part for my car which has 120,000 miles on it so I'm not going to complain with $98. I would be complaining if I'd paid the $600 at the dealer.

I've got a hunch that the service bulletin is talking about me since I got my car Jan2, 06. If you know the way to determine the difference between the pre-06 and 06-and-later bulbs, that'd be helpful because I'd then have an explaination why the bulbs "blinked" early.

thanks again for your help....jfo

 

Not sure about the Bulb per se, but theres a thread somewhere here I remember in the discussion about the tax incentive..... good luck!...

There was concerns about whose cars were made before a certain time so as to qualify for something... sorry, I can't remember.. maybe someone else will.... but it had to do with what vin # your car had.

The bin # of bulbs themselves may be another issue completely.....If I had already bought the sylvania, I would stick with them too... although I sure hope they did something different because tons of people are having the same problem???

Anyway.. I think the bulbs I bought were made in China maybe... but Isn't everything???... they just throw on the last couple of items here and call it "made in usa" LOL!

 

I have a 2004 under extended warranty

the bulb problem was diagnosed by the dealer to be a failure of BOTH headlight computers

he also said that these parts are on backorder

so clearly there is a problem with the headlight computers

eventually I would imagine that Toyota would have to remedy this, if it is a systemic failure that these units are having

 

yeah toyota have been pretty good with me about acknowledging there is a problem with the headlights and saying they would pay for new ones. But now I, too have to tell them about the ECUs. Hopefully they will be as good with this one. It's a warranty item but it's still going to wind up costing me about $400 of which I really should be paying $0

 

Maybe someone can shed some enlightenment here, but I was never aware of a computer just for the headlights?..... whats it needed for... the ballast controls everything?.. is that what they were talking about?

The auto leveling system is a separate "simple" system too that is not a computer.

I had "two" cars with those symptoms and I have only replaced the bulbs with ebay bargain bulbs and they both are still working perfect.

Unless someone can shed some light on this.... I suspect the dealers are milking the insurance or warranty service for all they can "as usual".

 

I have the same problem with the HID headlight on my 2006 Prius. The passenger side headlight problem started at 25,000 miles and was replaced at no charge at 30,000. They declined to replace the other one at that time. Now the driver side headlight is doing the same thing. I'm out of the warranty, but I do have the extended 100,000 mile warranty from Troy. I took it in to my dealer, and they immediately gave me the 800 number at Toyota to call and get a case started. I called today and got that going, so I'll update this post when I hear back. I have always had great service from the dealership, so I'm hoping that Toyota will take care of this.