dctex

My 2007 (215,000+ miles) LS460 lost a parking light on the passenger side. I got the green light icons on my dash panel and at first didn't see it was the little "Nike Swoosh" light that was the culprit. Looking on the net and youtube I couldn't find anything on exactly how to replace it with pictures. I did find this link which was useful for the main bulb(s).
Parts:
I had intended on replacing the original light with an LED bulb, but as you'll see later that didn't work out so well. I used the 194 bulb and it worked fine. I got a pack of them from Amazon for pretty cheap.



Here is my step by step for the passenger side including pics.

Step 1: remove all the top plastic engine covers. I took them all off except for the main silver one. Also, there are two bolts on the top holding on the silver grill... take those out. Take off the grill by pulling up lightly on the tabs show in the pic..I found the ones on the bottom to be the tightest. I drew a red arrow showing one. You just lightly pull up and the lip pops off.



Step 2: On the passenger side you have to pull back the thin plastic cover with foam. It bent very easily so no fear of breaking it.



Step 3:
When you pull back the foam and plastic cover you'll see a big thick wrapped wire bundle held in place with a tab. I had to pop that out so I could move the wires and get to the light.



Step 4:
There are 2 large clips connecting the 2 main wire bundles blocking your view of where the light socket is, so I had to unclip them and move out of the way.



Step 5:
After you get everything out of the way you'll be able to see where the light bulb is held in place with the housing and wire. I have a pic with the red arrow pointing at it. I was barely able to get my fingers in there and turn it slightly counter clockwise... maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch but could not get my fingers in far enough to pull it out.



Step 6:
I used some extra long needle nose pliers I bought at Harbor freight. With these I could grasp the base of the housing and turn a bit more counter clockwise and lift out the light bulb and housing. I could then pull it out so I could reach with my hands.



Step 7:
The housing pulls right out of the wire harness with a small locking tab you push in. The bulb itself just pulls straight out.



Step 8:
I initially tried to install an LED bulb I got from Amazon... I think I paid $5 for 2 bulbs. I didn't matter though because the bulbs are way longer than the original 194 bulb and when I was trying to put the bulb back into the light housing there wasn't enough room and I accidentally knocked the bulb out of the housing and it fell waaaaay down into the front of the car where no matter what I did, I couldn't reach it. I tried magnets and everything, but it was wedged waaaay down in the body. I gave up (ego bruised) and just put in a normal 194 bulb and being shorter it went right in using the needle nose pliers. I'm sure someone could make it work but by then I just wanted to get it over with.



Step 9: I reconnected the two wiring harnesses and then turned on the lights to make sure the new bulb worked as expected before putting everything back together. Whole thing took me about an hour but that was because I tried going through the wheel well and just couldn't access the light from that angle. You can get to the main bulbs as the youtube vid shows, but that Nike Swoosh light wasn't accessible.

Last comment: I did look at the driver side side and that looks like it might be a little harder to get too, but since that bulb isn't burnt out I didn't try and replace it. I'm assuming its a similar process.

Hope this helps others... not sure what Lexus charges for that little light, but at least on the passenger side you can easily do it yourself with some patience and long needle nose pliers.

Peace!

drew05

Did u try reversing the polarity?

LR3vsLS

Im confused, why would he do that?

johnnyg66

Did you see this thread too??

I followed this one a year ago no issues. All still working well.

The LEDs have only one way to insert to work at all.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...lb-swap-2.html

dfkd

LEDs often have a "correct" polarity so it may be necessary to reverse the connector in the socket for them to work.

LR3vsLS

But he didn't say that it didn't work, he said that it fell out...

dctex

I never tested the led bulb...I just used the old school 194 bulb.

Cristian17

DavidinCT

Thanks for this. This really helped me do mine. Thanks !

NotFasty

Bumping this old thread... has anyone used this successfully on a 2010+ LS460? I have a larger and virtually immobile wiring harness in the way (or where I think the Nike Swoosh bulb is) and I can't really move it to access.

I've reviewed this thread and this guy too (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...bulb-swap.html)

99rx

iTrader: (6)

Would also like to know if anyone has done this for 2013+ models. Apparently my passenger side "swoosh" is slightly dimmer than my driver's side.

awol63

I just completed this today on my 2007. Great DIY -thank you.

FWIW - I used a flat head screw driver to twist the bulb housing and popped it out.