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Just saw this tonight. not happy about it at all. is this a big deal? should i be worried and actively trying to fix it? This is the first time i’ve noticed it. i have owned the car for all of two weeks it has a little under 64,000 miles on it. any thoughts/advice is greatly appreciated.
Also with this being a 2015 is350 F sport i believe these are LED headlights which doesn’t leave me a lot of options to service this? i’m not quite sure how to go about remediating this issue. i was hoping to avoid paying a substantial number at the dealership to fix it. any help is appreciated thanks all!
I've had this happen to the drivers side on my 2014. Unlike other cars, the owners manual says water in the headlight of the 3IS does not mean your headlight is broken, but does recommend you see the dealer if it happens repeatedly.
The first thing to do is to look to see if the headlight is broken. On the 14 and 15 models there was a design defect where the top back tab of the headlight area would crack. See if you have this damage. If so, decide if you want to try and seal over it, or replace the headlight.
I got water into the driver's side on my 14 after a really heavy rain where I ran though a pretty deep puddle. To fix it, I removed the turn signal bulb (easy) and used a heat gun to dry it out. I used a couple pieces of 1/2 and 3/4 copper pipe and fittings to make a nozzle from the heat gun to the turn signal bulb opening. I ran the heat gun on low for like 60 minutes and then removed to the pipe but left the bulb out over night. After drying it out, it has stayed dry.
There is a high probability that the tab is cracked as mentioned above.
I would find the crack, dry out the headlight, and seal the crack. That would be the easiest and most cost effective solution.
You could replace the light, but the bumper has to come off to do that, plus the cost of the headlight is not inexpensive.
If you remove the plastic that covers the top of the headlights and radiator, you should be able to see if the tab is cracked on the leaking headlight.
In addition to searching for a small crack on the headlight housing, check the seals around the headlight itself. If you notice any small gaps or pinches around an area of the seal, it could definitely be the culprit especially if your car was driven through rain or just been through a car wash. All moisture would need is a small hole to get into and there's where you have condensation in your headlight.
It says “this bulletin applies to vehicles produced BEFORE the Production Change Effective VINs
shown below” does that mean they’re only covering those vehicles built prior to those vin numbers or that the issue was rectified if your vin is built after those?
It says “this bulletin applies to vehicles produced BEFORE the Production Change Effective VINs
shown below” does that mean they’re only covering those vehicles built prior to those vin numbers or that the issue was rectified if your vin is built after those?
To answer your questions, it's yes and yes.
Because the TSB covers 2014 and 2015 vehicles, the VIN numbers shown in the chart represent a point in the 2015 production that the issue was correct on the line as the vehicles were being built.
ALL 2014 could have the issue in the TSB and would be covered for the period the TSB indicates.
If you vehicle was built after the VIN's in the chart, it should not have the issue, therefore the TSB will not cover it.
With mine being a 2015 and having 64,000 miles i’m guessing im SOL on having them fix this issue for me correct?
I would say this:
1. Confirm your vehicle VIN is before the production correction VIN in the TSB...if it's after, then likely this is not the cause of the condensation
2. If it is before the VIN in the TSB, confirm that the TSB condition is actually occurring on your vehicle. It's fairly easy to check yourself before going to the dealer
3. If you're a year or so over your 48 month warranty, and you have a fairly good relationship with the dealer (meaning you take the car there for most services), then speak to them about "Goodwilling" the repair
Sometimes the dealer and Lexus corporate are willing to "Goodwill" a repair whereby all parties split the cost. Corporate pays a third, dealer pays a third, and customer pays a third...as an example.
1. Confirm your vehicle VIN is before the production correction VIN in the TSB...if it's after, then likely this is not the cause of the condensation
2. If it is before the VIN in the TSB, confirm that the TSB condition is actually occurring on your vehicle. It's fairly easy to check yourself before going to the dealer
3. If you're a year or so over your 48 month warranty, and you have a fairly good relationship with the dealer (meaning you take the car there for most services), then speak to them about "Goodwilling" the repair
Sometimes the dealer and Lexus corporate are willing to "Goodwill" a repair whereby all parties split the cost. Corporate pays a third, dealer pays a third, and customer pays a third...as an example.
i did find a crack in that area. the dealer didn’t seem to cooperative and gave me the number to corporate. So idk of corporate would override them but i’ll give them a call.
Update: lexus corporate has agreed to help with 25% of the repair. as of now my dealer has not signed onto help with anything (pending return call). Both headlights have cracks in the spots called out by the SB. only one is letting moisture in the other is fine. I think i’m at the point where i need to replace at least one headlight as my attempt at sealing it hasn’t worked. My question is what’s the most cost effective way to repair this with new parts? do i have to use OEM headlights? do i really need to replace the computers on the one that gets condensation? any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated as i’m looking at quite a bit of money thru the dealership at this point if i go that route even with the help from corporate. thanks all this forum is a huge resource for me.
10-24-19, 06:22 PM
Condensation in passenger headlight
