filmteknik

2008 RX350 237K miles

I had an encounter with a deer last night. (I think it was only stunned.) The left main headlight (HID) is out.

I have the adaptive HID headlights. Are there three types...halogen, simple HID, and adaptive? Or are all HIDs of the adaptive type with a motor that can change the aim slightly?

So what I am seeing online, they get the bumper cover and fender liner out the way to access the lower bolt, remove along with the upper bolts, hook it up, and if the ballast still works, bolt it back in and good to go? Or if adaptive and simple HID are in fact different things can I put in a simple non adaptive?

How likely is it that the ballast failed?

Can I put in the halogen unit? I'd have to change both sides to avoid a mis-match. But will it fit?

With this many miles and other issues it's probably not worth getting in too deep.

LeX2K

I've only seen two types halogen and HID with AFS. Can replace both with halogen if you're comfortable doing wiring but you'll need a set of connectors from a salvage yard. Ballasts are pretty tough but with that kind of damage it could be broken. Best solution IMO is troll Ebay for a good used one or maybe both since yours are heavily oxidized.

Leeper

That ought to be fairly easily found at most salvage yards (Pick-a-Part), I've seen several here in Boise recently

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

do you have the AFS button next to your trunk open button area? If so, you have AFS.
Getting aftermarket/OEM AFS headlights will hard and expensive.

If I were you, I'd goto eBay and buy a pair of non-AFS HID headlights for ~$150.
Note: the projector aim will not be as good as your OEM, but I see that your OEM housing ugly and yellow anyways. AFS light will probably flash, and you may need to disconnect AFS ecu/module. Search on that one.

Make sure to change the HID bulbs at this time if it's old. Also, make sure all the other little bulbs in the housing works.

Felix

Just to add to the OP, its a Toyota product so it'll go the distance, even w/ your 237k. Just need to keep up the basic maintence as any vehicle......

filmteknik

Yeah, I'd like to keep driving it but AC is out and may not be worth fixing.

Real quick: It was losing refrigerant faster and faster. Dye & UV light showed nothing. Took it to mechanic who did more of the same. No results. That points to an evap leak and that would be a major undertaking for someone (def NOT me!) to pull apart the dash and replace it. I evacuated and started running propane which cooled nicely. Still leaked but much cheaper to replace. Then out of the blue there was oil on the garage floor just under where the compressor would be when the car is there. It was responsive to UV light. I did put some oil back in. Shortly thereafter the car stalled mysteriously and had a hard time restarting. After that I noticed the middle of the clutch turning whether turned on or not. Low side pressure stayed high as it is when the system is off and the pressure is the same everywhere. Conclusion: The compressor siezed stalling the engine. Subsequently the compressor shaft snapped internally and now the general friction of the clutch parts spins the middle part since with the shaft broken it turns with little effort.

So the question remains whether the compressor was the culprit all along and replacing is all that's needed. Or whether my propane experiments destroyed the compressor and replacing it would still leave me an evap leak.

I pressurized the system recently and pressure is dropping. That it's dropping basically tells me nothing; we know it's leaking just not where. Was kinda hoping that the pressure would hold because that would prove the evap wasn't leaking after all.

Felix

I belive you messed up the a/c compresser........Yea I get what your saying as far is it worth it to put $ into. There was times I've put money it to vehicles & some I'd sell. I've swapped out quite a few engines in a few vehicles. If you were to replace your rx, How would you know what the replacement vehicle need? I'd think that whatever you get it'll cost alot more then fixing the a/c issues. A few yrs ago, I asked my wife what she wanted to do w/ the rx & she said to drop it off at Greg's Japanese. Thinking they were going to drop the cradle to reseal the t/c,( as it was leaking on the cradle/ A-arm, it turned out to be a p/s pump, that I replaced yrs ago. Instead of a $2400. bill, a p/s pump, hi pressure line, & swap the plugs, $1300. cheaper... For the heck of it, Have a look at a gen2 rx w/ say 160K tops mileage goes for to give you a idea vs putting $ into yours. Also figure how many miles a yr you put on it. 10-15K perhaps. I've seen a 400h go over 300K on the original hybrid battery. Your call thou.........

dpleticha

There is a thread on this forum with a link to an eBay vendor who is selling a pair of fixed beam OEM headlights for $300 OBO. I bought a pair for either $250 or $275 and swapped out the guts of my self-leveling mechanism headlights into the fixed beam headlights. It wasn’t easy but, with a lot of patience, doable.