zeppo

I have a 2008 RX400h that I bought around 2015. One headlight is out. Both housings are yellowed so I'll just replace the whole thing on both sides. I believe these are the original factory. I know it has AFS, and in the manual the it shows the low beam headlight bulbs are halogen.

I'll pay a neighbor mechanic with a lift put them in when he replaces the windshield wiper pump. I know nothing about this stuff.

Is there a recommended brand I should buy or source I should buy from (or avoid! )? A guy that works at AutoZone suggested looking on Amazon.

Thanks,
zeppo

MattRX

I'd just save your money and polish the housings. The Amazon ones are complete junk and will leak within a month and have chrome peeling off on the inside, at least that's my experience on my Highlander. If going aftermarket I would go with what the body shops use (Taiwan-made vs China) like: Depo, Eagle Eyes or TYC. They won't be as high quality as OEM but will work fine. I've got Eagle Eyes on my RX and they're holding up well so far.

High beam bulbs are 9005 halogens, low beam is a D2S HID. If you've got AFS you have the projector housings so they're HID, cars without HIDs have H11 low beams. Factory bulbs are 35w and 4300k, if you want something more white 5000k looks nice.

LeX2K

If you buy new make sure to get CAPA certified this ensures the light output matches original. Yes it is best to restore the factory units if at all possible. If restoring the finish on your headlights you must seal your work either with 2K clear or PPF.

I doubt you'll find new though don't think there ever was aftermarket with auto leveling.

zeppo

I searched through a few old threads before posting here and had to google AFS, HID, halogen, etc just to figure out what people were talking about. Then I read about the AFS button in the manual. There is a page in the manual that shows the low beams as being halogen, but I do have an AFS button. I'm just assuming it is working AFS. It is the drivers side low beam that is out. Looking at videos on youtube on replacing the driver's side low beam bulb made me think it would be easier to replace the whole assembly, not to mention the cost of the single bulb didn't seem much less. I'd actually rather have a yellowed light casing than a new one if the new one is going to bring me problems.

MattRX

Wow, that owner's manual sucks! Not only does it have blatantly incorrect info, it doesn't even tell you what bulb types the car uses! While you're in there I would replace all the other bulbs esp if you get a new housing. If you want cheap HID housings, 2004-2006 RX330 ones on Rockauto will work. That's what I have on my car. The fitment on all 04-09 models is the same. You would be giving up AFS though as like LeX2K mentioned they do not make aftermarket AFS housings.

A quick search on Lexuspartsnow shows that AFS projector headlights are standard on all 400h models. 330/350 base models like mine can come with the halogen housings.

Parking light - 194
Front side marker - 194
Front turn signal - 7440NA
High beam - 9006
Low beam - D2S

tomr51

fault could be the ballast, not the bulb. do you have condensation in the light? i would polish the glass and replace the ballast/bulb with a 2nd hand denso unit. chinese units are crap

Richyb1

I had mine polished for 100.00 worked great.

DH1

If you are interested in DIY, you can polish your own headlight lenses at home with fine rubbing compound or wet sanding. It's super cheap, very easy, and the results are very satisfying.

Just be aware that your lenses have yellowed due to UV exposure. The lenses come with some UV protectant from the factory, but it wears off over time causing the yellowing or clouding. Once you polish your lenses to your satisfaction, you need to apply either a UV protectant clearcoat paint, or film. If you skip this step, your lenses will look cloudy again in very short order.

zeppo

thanks for all the replies! I got distracted with some other things, but I appreciate those bulb numbers Matt! I guess the manual may be the same one used for the 350 and they just didn't bother with making a distinction for the 400h. Tom, I had to google 'ballast' to have a clue of what your were talking about, but I haven't noticed any condensation, and it's only the one bulb that has been affected, going on many years now. I just kept putting it off because I haven't had to drive very often or far at night. Still not sure what a ballast is but from google it appears it would typically have caused other problems by now. But I'll let my neighbor/mechanic figure it out. I've had youtube help me to do some things on my own before, but this one appears to be not time/cost effective enough for me to learn a new skill that I'll likely never use again. I can always count on this forum to help be make that determination, so thanks to all who replied!

I will try buffing out the yellow every 6 months with the clear coating as suggested, or pay my neighbor to do it since he does it with his. I saw a youtube video with the car guy who's shtick is waving his hands around, and he was pushing (how it works as both a protectant and a polish I don't know.) That is crazy expensive though compared to the others I see, such as

zeppo

Youtubing:

Maybe some of these links will still work if someone in the future is looking into the same thing:

This one may be the best . 2006 RX400h - points out HID low beam and halogen high beam. Talks about specific mistakes he made forcing and accidentally breaking a couple of tabs because he didn't understand what was holding them.

Points out which bumper bolts to remove. Also, where screws and clips are on headlight assembly. (see next video for bottom clip view) Shows pulling out HID low beam and also foglight.




This short one shows bumper and assemby bolts and assembly clip:




This one is 2008 RX400h, but he just discusses what he did after the fact, mostly in regards to bumper, which must come off to get off drivers side assembly. First half of video relevant:



This one discusses replacing ballast on 2012 RX350, which may be similar enough.




Ballast replacement with used OEM after cheap amazon one failed, showing bolts to remove assembly and bumper.




Not my model, but at 3:18 how to make room in order to feed out cable attached to ballast so it can be removed that I think is one way may work on with mine.



at 3:30 , this one shows removing electrical connectors to assembly:




Replacing all lights including HID on 2004 RX330 assembly (series of short videos)
(also shows putting in ballast)

Video 6: warns not to touch bulb glass with fingers or oil left on it will heat up and cause bulb to explode later




Just found one more for a 2007 RX400h, covering the same ground , but better lighting, different angles.




One more short and sweet on removing bumper and assembly (2004 RX330_

tomr51

you do not need to remove the bumper just remove the screws securing the bumper on the side you are accessing the headlight. it will drop down a couple of inches which is enough to give you access to remove the headlight assy. ( you can tape it up to the guard make it more secure after you have lowered it)

zeppo

Pecking around with a google search here are a couple of sources that are said to match the Lexus RX-400h.

https://www.finditparts.com/products...saAqAYEALw_wcB

https://www.bulbamerica.com/products...saAva4EALw_wcB

Any favorite sources for bulbs out there?

I know the Phillips 4800k doesn't match the 4300k stock that Matt noted, but hopefully it's not a jarring difference. ( Not sure I'd care even if it was, as I'd rather let sleeping dogs lie than unbuckle that passenger side assembly. This is really a "A to B" car for me. )

Fingers crossed that the ballast is okay, but given its only this one bulb that's burned out and it's been that way for a long time now, seems like a bad ballast would have affected more bulbs by now. But I'm not a mechanic -- maybe that's not how it works.

zeppo

and here is another on Amazon that looks like an exact match, however, they come in generic box without certificate of authenticity.


I've seen some that say D2S C1 . What is the difference with the C1 ? I don't know what that means.

MattRX

I have the 4300 but I prefer 5500k. Nice and bright white without looking like it’s super blue. 4800 or 5k would probably be almost pure white.

Maybe the C1 means they’re the Extreme Visions?

tomr51

ballast is only for the one bulb. it is mounted at the bottom of the headlight assy. if you get condensation in the assy, the moisture seeps into the ballast, causes corrosion and stuffs it