juan01

First of all, thanks for trying to help me.. I really appreciate it.

Okay, that pic of the mystery bulb...You know how a regular 9006 looks like right? Top **** is narrow while side ***** are wide. The mystery bulb is just inverted of that.. Top **** is wide while side ***** are narrow.

And Robert, I will ask retrodrive.. If he doesn't know also, can you just ask your friend what bulbs he used for these lamps? Thanks bro!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

no problem man, i'd love to help. coz' i am frustrated too that you waited so long to get the bulbs and yet still can't fit it in would like to do anything to help. so stay with me when i am trying to understand more

i am referring to the pic where you showed "I'm not too sure, but looks like the sockets are cut:"

in that pic, at least from what i see here, all three **** opening are the same size and they are all big? no? coz' when i see you fit the mystery bulb in there, there seems to be a lot of "free" space around the two narrow *****. so i am thinking the two big ***** should fit there too?

i was trying to search around the web to see if anyone shows the base of the 9004, 9005, 9006, etc... but no luck

juan01

hehe, I was also searching the net for pictures, couldn't find any!

And it would seem easy for the Silverstars to fit because all three holes of the socket are big.. But they don't go in.. Here are more pictures:

Look at this one, I can't push them in and rotate... They just stay there.

juan01

Won't go in....

juan01

Here is another one of the major differences between the two bulbs..

The "top" ***** of both are different sizes...I think this is also another reason why the bulb won't turn and lock into the socket.

Where in the world is this bulb from????? lol

squarehat

Did you try putting a 9005 in the low beam socket? Perhaps the previous owner modded the socket to take the brighter 9005 for the low beams as well. I know a lot of people put 9005 in the low beam by modifying the tabs on the bulb itself, but this person may have chose to mod the light itself.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

umm...... this is weird man... let me think about it, it's just umm..... WEIRD!!!!!

squarehat

I looked at my spare 9005 bulb just now. The 9005 doesn't quite match the beige bulb, either. Could it possibly be one of the "HB" series bulbs (isn't the 9006 also known as the HB4 in Japan). Can't read Japanese, otherwise I'd search some Japanese lighting sites for you. The big automotive lighting company in Japan is called Koito, they make the lights for Lexus (you can see the Koito logo in several places in those pics you posted). They may have a listing of the HB series bulbs.

Mischievious GS

i had the same problem on my JDM headlights.

in a nutshell, the jdm headlights took a HB3 base while my usdm headlights used a 9006 base. basically, HB3 is 9005, so that should be your problem right there. the 9005 and 9006 bases are very similar except those tabs are in different positions. ALSO...on the base of the bulb where that little rubber grommet is, the 9005 has a 20mm base, while the 9006 has a 22mm base. that could be what is preventing the bulb from going in. if in doubt, you can do what i did, and buy a really cheapy bulb from kmart or something and try it. that how i found out about the base sizes. if you really want to rig and jig it, you can dremel the base of the bulb on the 9006 to 20 mm...

hope that helps...

*edit: i had a thread about the my bulb problem if you wanted to read into it with more detail... https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=92049

binelus

I was going to take those headlights !!! Damn...that's so wack..You know what I would do ? I would trim some of the plastic that is on the base for it to go in. I would remove just a lil bit of plastic for it to go in.

That would be my advice.

{-.-}

Thanks Mischief for helping him out....... I forgot you had the same problem.


Serrano007
The prior owner DID NOT modify his bulb set up they come stock that way. Since you have all the bulbs why isnt the headlights on your car yet? You can be working on the bulb issue while driving with the stock bulb set up.

juan01

heh, I tried shoving in my 9005 a long time ago, but I didn't think it was right because it did not fit "snug" into the socket.. I figured if I left it like that and I drove around, bumps/vibrations/etc... would eventually make it fall off. So I guess 9005 is the way to go?

And Robert, the headlamps are not on yet, because I did not want to have the hassle of trying to find the right bulb and then always removing it and whatever.. It just takes more work to put the lamps on and then try to shove in bulbs.. lol. Much easier if the lamps are on a desk for me to work with and take pictures of for help here on the forums.

Thanks guys for being so helpful. The lamps are going on today! Only problem is, I have to use Cool Blues for now while I get a new set of 9005 Silverstars. :

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well 9006 and hb4 should be exactly the same, so it should be ok.

juan01

Well, bad news... The 9005 bulb still won't lock into the socket, so I just decided to use the stock bulb that came with the lamps....

It's cool though, I'll live with it....Unless someone else has any better suggestions! hehehe.. My install was done this afternoon (of the new lamps), I will post pics in the ES forum later if yall wanna check it out.

Also, the parking lamps were burnt out, so my blinkers are blinking FAST! lol... My front signals look like strobes..

{-.-}

I talked to the prior owner............He said he had changed out the bulb once or twice but the dealer did it so he didnt know.

So I went to the auto store. They said your Highs are HB3 and your lows are 9006J and they dont have any aftermarket bulbs for the lows only the highs. Just to make sure they had the right info I went to the dealer. They told me those numbers were right.

Your best bet is the ones you have trim them down so they fit.