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Hello. I am new to the forums. I hope I don't violate any TOS by including a link to the photos of my problem for comments or suggestion.
I have a 2003 LX470. I have purchased a HID light from XenonDepot's H1 Xtreme HID kit with the 4300K Philips Bulbs. Here is a link for more info if that will help understand what I purchased...http://www.xenondepot.com/Xtreme-H1-HID-Kit-p/xt-h1.htm.
I installed the kit as described. The lights work well as far as HID's are concerned. However, I am experiencing "Alien" looking reflections that shine up on buildings and trees. They are great for squirrel finding!
Anyway, Nothing was changed or moved as far as the projector alignment or anything else. All I did was plug in the bulbs as indicated and the rest was merely installing plug and play wiring harness.
I have been working with the seller who did look at the photos. They are thinking it may be the bulbs so they are sending replacements to try. In researching the net on this issue, I found some small discussions about the projectors have to be changed for the HIDs to work properly. However, that comment was from a company that sells the projectors. The selling company of my lights does not believe it is the projectors. One last note, at first, I thought it was a reflection caused by the headlight housing. However, if you notice in two of the photos with the light on, you see the "dots" in the projector. Is this coming from the bulb or projector? I think we are down to that question?
Here is a link to photobucket pics of the headlights with the "alien" looking light spots. Also note, the further away from a subject, the higher the light spots goes.
Those little spot of light you are seeing are normal. There are holes/slits in the projector cutoff shield within the housing for those as they are for helping light up street signs at a distance which are at a higher level than your lights normally are. These cars never came with HID's and with normal halogen lights these are not really noticeable but once you swap to HID's which are much brighter they become very apparent. Some folks block the holes/slits in the housing and that takes care of it but and others just let it be and not worry about it.
Thank you for your reply. Would the projectors in my year Lexus be the same as the HID projectors that are OEM projectors on the new models today? I am concerned because these holes/slits actually light up a second story window 3 houses down from me! Does this sound right based on the idea of lighting up signs, etc?
I read on another forum that it is suggested to purchase new projectors. However, I have found that this not an easy task to do!
Toyota/Lexus does not use HID lights in any of their full size SUV's, even the new LX570's do not have them so I assume those will also have the little slits to help see signs etc.
The projectors that came on the cars and smaller SUV's Lexus makes do not have these holes in them. This as well as having a projector that was originally made for HID lights which will have a better cutoff pattern is why some folks retrofit projectors from other models or manufacturers over to the lights but its a pain.
The easy fix is just to plug the holes. Doing a search will show you how a few folks did it but here is a link that popped up for me.
As for filling the holes, and getting a nice clean cutoff again... it's pretty simple.
-The hard part (not even hard.. ) is to remove the headlamp housings.
-Remove the bulbs.
-mix a little bit of 15 min JB Weld.
-Take a pair of disposable chopsticks and split them (raid your local Panda or Pick up stix)
-use tip of one of the chopsticks and dab it onto the mixed JB Weld.
-Dab the JB Weld onto the hole inside the HL housing.
-You don't need a lot... just a little to block off the hole. It fills in nicely.
-The JB Weld should be thick in 15 min... so let it sit. It's nice because it's strong,
sticky (bonds to the holes) and can handle the heat as well.
-then stick the bulbs back in and reinstall the lamps on your LX.
-Enjoy the CLEAN CRISP cutoff line from your HID's.
you can probably even do it with the lights still installed if you are careful but you will probably have to remove the battery to gain enough access to the back of the driver side light.
Ah, so that is what is doing it! Now for my really dumb question. I went out and looked at my HL housing. Did not remove the bulb yet, just tried to see if I can find these holes. I don't see them anywhere.
As you know, the projector has a gap (space) between it and the housing. Are the slits/holes/ in the projector or the actual HL housing. Again, looking at the HL housing from the outside, I don't see this! Unfortunately, the posts on the link that explains this, the photos have been removed. Once I pull the bulbs, where am I going to find these?
once you remove the bulb and look into the housing it will be quite apparent.. Its the only one round small round hole in there.
here is a pic I grabbed from another helpful thread and circled said hole that you need to plug.
Here is the full thread and that forum is also pretty good place to search and find data on these cars as they are essentially the same thing as a Land Cruiser 100 series.
Well I had the same problem. I went a lil further with my lights. I actually opened my lights up & shaved the squirrel holes & covered with foil tape. Installed a clear lens & when I put all back together I got amazing results. No alien spots, light evenly distributed, nice wide beam pattern & sharp cutoff close to sc430 & S2000. Light up 5-6 lanes. Can barely see my fog lights on they so bright
Very nice Silverbul. So you did go through the process of baking the lights in the oven to loosen the glass?
I'm not sure what you mean you "shaved" the squirrel holes & covered with foil tape? Also, my headlight glass is clear. Not sure what you mean about installing a clear lens.
Yes I baked my headlights in the oven to open them up. Once open, where the squirrel holes are is a lip inside that needs shaving flush so the foil tape can be flat on the cutoff shield. & far as the lens. Its called tsx-r clear projector lens.
Right now you have what is called a fresnel lens. It puts out a soft light output. Where as the clear lens let more light out. Makes your cutoff line sharper
03-22-15, 12:50 PM
HID Help!
