sidemarkers and running lights
10-01-20, 10:57 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
sidemarkers and running lights
so ive had my 95 sc400 for about a year and the entire time the sidemarkers and the running lights in the headlights have never worked, I always figured the wiring was messed up and recently I replaced the entire wiring harness and it still doesn't work, does anyone know what could possibly cause this? any feedback would be really helpful
10-21-20, 11:39 PM
#4
Do you mean the ones that are beside the headlights? That small bulb? If so, then yes the size for the parking lights are 168/194. 168 is brighter due to higher wattage IIRC. Just look for the LED version on your favorite parts site.
Do you mean the ones that are beside the headlights? That small bulb? If so, then yes the size for the parking lights are 168/194. 168 is brighter due to higher wattage IIRC. Just look for the LED version on your favorite parts site.
Last edited by Slaker13; 10-21-20 at 11:39 PM. Reason: Quote
10-23-20, 10:01 AM
#5
Driver School Candidate
Parking and side marker lights
I just purchased a 2003 SC430. with 118k on the clock. It's gonna be my project.
Only one of the parking lights was working and none of the 4 side marking lights. Hoping you will find my experience of this repair useful. I have found a number of previous references and explanations of these repairs in Clublexus but have detailed what worked for me.
I changed all 6 lights to LEDs. I purchased . $7.99 for 6. I replaced each light by removing the wheel and releasing the fender liner. I didn't need to drop the bumpers or remove the headlight fittings.
In the front there are 2 bolts and one popper fastener on the liner front in the wheel well and a bolt under the corner of the bumper which holds the liner, bumper and rubber L shaped bar. I also removed the next 2 bolts on this rubber component to further free the liner. I also found it easier to remove three self tapping screws that hold the metal trim around the front upper wheel arch that hold the liner in place. I was then able to pull the liner back and access both the parking light and the side marker. The side marker is easy access. The parking light is a little more difficult and I found it necessary to cut the tape binding the plastic wire trunking to the frame in a couple of places and to cut a wire trunking clip. This frees up the wiring enough to be able to move the parking light back out of the head light housing and does not strain the thin wires to the bulb connector. After replacing the lights, instead of tape, I used 1/8 wide zip ties which do a nice neat job and is much easier than trying to re tape . Prior to inserting the LEDs I used a thin 1/16 blade screw driver to slip in the bulb socket behind the contacts to close them up in the sockets a little. I think mine had been set for 17 years in position and increasing the contact pressure ensured a snug fit for the new LEDs. Be gentle, you only need to move the contacts a fraction to make a significant difference to the contact pressure. The LEDs are polarity sensitive. So have the lighting on when you insert them to check they are in the right way. Leave the lights on when reinserting the bulb and socket as this helps to see when locating them in the receptacle for each light. The socket light holders are both 90 degree anti clockwise to release and clockwise to insert them into the receptacle.
I gave each screw and bolt a squirt of WD40 silicone when replacing the liner and bumper fixings to help them re seat smoothly and stop rust.
When I removed the screw holding the underside corner of the bumper I noticed it wasn't a firm grip. When I removed the nylon U fastner I found the boss that the bolt screws into was split. I repaired the fastner by running some epoxy around the outside of the boss and in the split and put a 3/16 wide zip tie around it to pull it together and make a really sound repair. Left it for 24 hours to set before installing.
In the case of the rear side marker lights it was a similar process. I only had to remove the fender liner bolts and a popper and the one screw under the corner of the bumper cover holding it to the liner and frame. I had to pull the bumper cover from below quite firmly to be able to pull the cover out enough to reach and turn, and release, the bulb socket and reinsert it. Again, leaving the light on made it much easier to locate the receptacle for the bulb holder when reinserting it.
One additional point to this exercise was that I found my wheels were torqued up to a ridiculous level. I could not release them with my wrench set to 150 ft lbs. I eventually had to use my 16 inch lug wrench with a 3/4 in 2 ft steel gas pipe extension to release the lugs. I'm glad I found this out with the car at home, so I had the tools to deal with it, and not on the side of the road. Two of the wheels were also seized on the rotor hub. I released them with a few hard taps with a rubber mallet on the backside of the tire. If you have to do this remember to keep a couple of lug nuts on loosely so the wheel doesn't flop off onto the ground or you. When replacing the wheels I smeared anti seize on the wheel's contact surface with the rotor to ensure they didn't seize again and torqued them to 76 ft lbs as per LEXUS spec. Note, do not put anti seize on rotor/hub or lug bolts or nuts.
Only one of the parking lights was working and none of the 4 side marking lights. Hoping you will find my experience of this repair useful. I have found a number of previous references and explanations of these repairs in Clublexus but have detailed what worked for me.
I changed all 6 lights to LEDs. I purchased . $7.99 for 6. I replaced each light by removing the wheel and releasing the fender liner. I didn't need to drop the bumpers or remove the headlight fittings.
In the front there are 2 bolts and one popper fastener on the liner front in the wheel well and a bolt under the corner of the bumper which holds the liner, bumper and rubber L shaped bar. I also removed the next 2 bolts on this rubber component to further free the liner. I also found it easier to remove three self tapping screws that hold the metal trim around the front upper wheel arch that hold the liner in place. I was then able to pull the liner back and access both the parking light and the side marker. The side marker is easy access. The parking light is a little more difficult and I found it necessary to cut the tape binding the plastic wire trunking to the frame in a couple of places and to cut a wire trunking clip. This frees up the wiring enough to be able to move the parking light back out of the head light housing and does not strain the thin wires to the bulb connector. After replacing the lights, instead of tape, I used 1/8 wide zip ties which do a nice neat job and is much easier than trying to re tape . Prior to inserting the LEDs I used a thin 1/16 blade screw driver to slip in the bulb socket behind the contacts to close them up in the sockets a little. I think mine had been set for 17 years in position and increasing the contact pressure ensured a snug fit for the new LEDs. Be gentle, you only need to move the contacts a fraction to make a significant difference to the contact pressure. The LEDs are polarity sensitive. So have the lighting on when you insert them to check they are in the right way. Leave the lights on when reinserting the bulb and socket as this helps to see when locating them in the receptacle for each light. The socket light holders are both 90 degree anti clockwise to release and clockwise to insert them into the receptacle.
I gave each screw and bolt a squirt of WD40 silicone when replacing the liner and bumper fixings to help them re seat smoothly and stop rust.
When I removed the screw holding the underside corner of the bumper I noticed it wasn't a firm grip. When I removed the nylon U fastner I found the boss that the bolt screws into was split. I repaired the fastner by running some epoxy around the outside of the boss and in the split and put a 3/16 wide zip tie around it to pull it together and make a really sound repair. Left it for 24 hours to set before installing.
In the case of the rear side marker lights it was a similar process. I only had to remove the fender liner bolts and a popper and the one screw under the corner of the bumper cover holding it to the liner and frame. I had to pull the bumper cover from below quite firmly to be able to pull the cover out enough to reach and turn, and release, the bulb socket and reinsert it. Again, leaving the light on made it much easier to locate the receptacle for the bulb holder when reinserting it.
One additional point to this exercise was that I found my wheels were torqued up to a ridiculous level. I could not release them with my wrench set to 150 ft lbs. I eventually had to use my 16 inch lug wrench with a 3/4 in 2 ft steel gas pipe extension to release the lugs. I'm glad I found this out with the car at home, so I had the tools to deal with it, and not on the side of the road. Two of the wheels were also seized on the rotor hub. I released them with a few hard taps with a rubber mallet on the backside of the tire. If you have to do this remember to keep a couple of lug nuts on loosely so the wheel doesn't flop off onto the ground or you. When replacing the wheels I smeared anti seize on the wheel's contact surface with the rotor to ensure they didn't seize again and torqued them to 76 ft lbs as per LEXUS spec. Note, do not put anti seize on rotor/hub or lug bolts or nuts.
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