Headlight Problem

[eman_be_lexin]

I don't know how best to explain it but here it goes. My 97 ES has about 178k on it. I have Nokya Arctic white headlights. They have been in the car for 2 years come march. The issue I am having is that the driver's side headlight seems to have a mind of it's own. It comes on intermittantly. When the lights are turned on the driver's side light may not come on. It may come on after a while but there is no pattern. I noticed that the High beams work on both headlights but only the low beam on the driver's side has the problem. When the light does decide to work, it is much dimmer than the passenger light. The passenger light is bright blueish white but the driver's side looks like a regular bulb. Another thing I noticed was that when the lights come on, there seems to be a delay for the driver's side. When the lights are switched on, the passenger side comes on immediately but the driver's side may be a second or two late. What are your thoughts?

[lexusk8]

First of all, I would replace the driver's side bulb with the passenger bulb and see if you can replicate the problem. If the problem still exists, then there is a problem with the wiring harness for the driver side bulb. If the bulb lights up OK, then the problem is the driver side bulb itself. In that case, I'd replace both bulbs at the same time to get consistent light output.

[eman_be_lexin]

Sounds like a great idea. I will give it a try tonight and see what happens.

[amf1932]

There might be oxidation on the bulb contacts, so I would try to clean the contacts before I would go to the bother of switching the headlamps.

[eman_be_lexin]

I managed to take the headlight out last night and noticed that the heat from the bulb melted the socket. The harness is fine and putting out 12V. I looked at the socket (the black piece between the headlight harness and the bulb) and noticed that the plastic melted around the metal contacts resulting in an intermittant power failure. I took a screwdriver and pryed the contact away from the melted plastic. The light is working perfectly now. It is bright and there is no delay anymore.

Does anyone know where; besides the dealership, I can find this socket?

[camlex]

Hello,

Lexuspartsonline.com

877-646-8696 Ask for Rudy in parts.

They have free shipping, lexus parts at discount price.

I got some hood support from them local dealer was asking $107 a peice. They had for $63

Hope that helps.

[steviej]

I took a screwdriver and pryed the contact away from the melted plastic. The light is working perfectly now. It is bright and there is no delay anymore.

until it melts again and becomes disfigured.

What is the voltage on the Nordic bulbs?

If they are higher than the stock 55-60W then you may want to consider a bulb harness that can handle the higher wattage or replacing the bulbs with the correct wattage bulbs.

steviej

[eman_be_lexin]

They are rated at 55 watt. I ordered another bulb harness and it doesn't fit the socket. It says it is for H7 bulbs but the connection is too small to fit the wide opening of the socket.