tealboy Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 I have a 2002 RX300 with Xenon's and I have been frustrated with them due to their very short range. I don't know if they are maladjusted or if that's just the way they are. The lights only light up about 30 yds in front of me. High beams light up nicely, but normal low beam gives me very little down road range, unlike any other vehicle. The lights seem to have an automatic adjustment b/c when they turn on while in my garage, the beams are mechanically adjusting themselves before fixing straight ahead. I'm pretty sure this is part of the design, but this also makes me wonder if it is possible for me to adjustment them for longer range. On my other vehicles, a simple adjustment and light placement is controlled, but not sure about this setup. Pls advise.
wwest Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 I have a 2002 RX300 with Xenon's and I have been frustrated with them due to their very short range. I don't know if they are maladjusted or if that's just the way they are. The lights only light up about 30 yds in front of me. High beams light up nicely, but normal low beam gives me very little down road range, unlike any other vehicle. The lights seem to have an automatic adjustment b/c when they turn on while in my garage, the beams are mechanically adjusting themselves before fixing straight ahead. I'm pretty sure this is part of the design, but this also makes me wonder if it is possible for me to adjustment them for longer range. On my other vehicles, a simple adjustment and light placement is controlled, but not sure about this setup. Pls advise. Xenon's, HID headlamps, have much greater light output than ordinary halogens. Absent the SHARP low beam cutoff which limits their upward and therefore distance coverage they would be BLINDING to oncoming drivers.
SW03ES Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 They're set cautiously low from the factory. take them to the dealer and ask them to adjust them upwards, they can do that and it will help a lot.
tealboy Posted November 18, 2007 Author Posted November 18, 2007 thx for the reply. can the xenon's be adjusted upward by me, or is this only done by lexus where i am required to pay a hefty svc fee?
SW03ES Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Its the kind of thing they'll do for free when your car is in for service. I wouldn't try to adjust them myself.
wwest Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 thx for the reply. can the xenon's be adjusted upward by me, or is this only done by lexus where i am required to pay a hefty svc fee? There is a single heigth sensor mounted between the rear axle and the body that can be adjusted. Please don't get so liberal with it so as to blind oncoming drivers.
tealboy Posted November 19, 2007 Author Posted November 19, 2007 can you offer more info on a do it your self xenon light adjustment? I am going to be driving for thanksgiving in darkness in somewhat remote areas, so improving the low beam lighting would be helpful before i leave and don't have time to take it to the shop. by the way, I re-evaluated the lighting distance and said it was 20 yds or so. the reality is, they go about 20 feet. They are awful.
wwest Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 can you offer more info on a do it your self xenon light adjustment? I am going to be driving for thanksgiving in darkness in somewhat remote areas, so improving the low beam lighting would be helpful before i leave and don't have time to take it to the shop. by the way, I re-evaluated the lighting distance and said it was 20 yds or so. the reality is, they go about 20 feet. They are awful. 20 feet....??!! Sounds as if your low beams aren't working at all and you're relying on the fog lights. I sincerely doubt if the rear axle adjustment has enough range to make up for that much disparity. Time for the service center.
wwest Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 :chairshot: Oops... can you offer more info on a do it your self xenon light adjustment? I am going to be driving for thanksgiving in darkness in somewhat remote areas, so improving the low beam lighting would be helpful before i leave and don't have time to take it to the shop. by the way, I re-evaluated the lighting distance and said it was 20 yds or so. the reality is, they go about 20 feet. They are awful. 20 feet....??!! Sounds as if your low beams aren't working at all and you're relying on the fog lights. I sincerely doubt if the rear axle adjustment has enough range to make up for that much disparity. Time for the service center.
tealboy Posted November 19, 2007 Author Posted November 19, 2007 yes, 20 feet, maybe 25. they are terrible. the xenons are definately working, just very poorly aimed. they are bright and very white, just don't go far.
SKperformance Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 The previous gen RX came with factory HID's?
wwest Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 The previous gen RX came with factory HID's? Auto-leveling HID were available as an RX option beginning in 2001. But the newer (2004??) bi-xenons with projector lens are undoubtedly a definite improvement.
SW03ES Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 The 2004+ does not have bi-xenons. Bi xenons use the same xenon module for low beams and high beams, the RX330+ still has halogen high beams and thus does not have bi xenon headlamps, projectors or not.
wwest Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 The 2004+ does not have bi-xenons. Bi xenons use the same xenon module for low beams and high beams, the RX330+ still has halogen high beams and thus does not have bi xenon headlamps, projectors or not. Small correction.... Most bi-xenon systems still have a halogen high beam bulb, the low beam HIDs are "switched" (unshaded) upward to aid the halogen bulb. Technically my '01 RX300 has bi-xenons since I modified the HID leveling servomotor system to move the HID reflector upward slightly when the high beam bulb is on.
SW03ES Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 Not actually. The halogen lamps are used for flash-to-pass in some cars (not all) but are not generally used for high beams. The RX330+ does NOT have bi-xenon headlamps.
wwest Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 Not actually. The halogen lamps are used for flash-to-pass in some cars (not all) but are not generally used for high beams.Where are you getting this information? I have the complete set of 2004 Lexus RX330 shop/repair manuals plus the 2005 owners manual and no where is there an indication of this. Page 52 of the '05 owners manual indicates a push forward of the left, turn signal "stalk" will turn on the high beams while a "pull" backward is used for "flash to pass". The RX330+ does NOT have bi-xenon headlamps. No dispute here, but that's also why the halogens MUST be used to provide high beam light coverage.
MotoMac Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 Not actually. The halogen lamps are used for flash-to-pass in some cars (not all) but are not generally used for high beams.Where are you getting this information? I have the complete set of 2004 Lexus RX330 shop/repair manuals plus the 2005 owners manual and no where is there an indication of this. Page 52 of the '05 owners manual indicates a push forward of the left, turn signal "stalk" will turn on the high beams while a "pull" backward is used for "flash to pass". The RX330+ does NOT have bi-xenon headlamps. No dispute here, but that's also why the halogens MUST be used to provide high beam light coverage. WWest, Where did you get the repair manuals? I tried 2 dealers (one in Washington DC and one in Seattle) and both said they were not available to the public. I bought a Haynes book and a Chilton book, and they both leave a lot to be desired. Background: I'm new on here. I bought a 04 RX330 a few months ago and shipped it overseas. I only got to drive it a couple of times before it was shipped. I had noticed that the Xenon lights seemed to be aimed a little high, but figured it was just something I wasn't used to and was normal. Ha! When I got here (I'm in Kuwait) and drove a night a few times, I can see that they're waaaaay too high. I am lighting up overhead signs that are very close. I will admit that they do light up the whole neighborhood quite nicely, but just about every driver I meet flashes me (no, not THAT kind of flashing!) or honks or screams or something. Obviously I'm blinding people because when I pull into my driveway, the 2nd floor of the house is lit up! Reading back through this thread, I see a reference to auto-adjusting headlights and some sort of adjuster near the rear axle (??). How can I tell if I have those? Are they standard? If I don't have them, then I need to adjust the headlights to the correct height before I cause an accident. There is a dealer here, but virtually every Lexus owner that I've asked says to stay very far away from them....and that it's better to do no maintenance than take it in to them. If the car goes in for one problem, it will come back with three more. I am a reasonably adept mechanic -- mostly on motorcycles, but have worked on most of my own cars over the years -- but I cannot find any sort of adjuster on that massive headlight assembly. Both the lights are adjusted equally high, not just one. Can you point me in the direction of the adjuster with a description of what it looks like? I'm convinced that the adjuster is wearing some sort of automotive camouflage, and is disguised as some other piece... :) I finally got my internet hooked up a few weeks ago and this is the first time I've had a chance to browse through the forum and see what's here. Looks like a lot of good info available. Any help much appreciated. Cheers, Mac
SW03ES Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 Where are you getting this information? I have the complete set of 2004 Lexus RX330 shop/repair manuals plus the 2005 owners manual and no where is there an indication of this. Page 52 of the '05 owners manual indicates a push forward of the left, turn signal "stalk" will turn on the high beams while a "pull" backward is used for "flash to pass". Huh? When did I say anything about the operation of the high beams? The high beams on the RX330 are HALOGEN, they are not HID. You said most bi-xenon headlamps have a halogen high beam. This is FALSE. The very definition of a "bi-xenon headlamp" negates the use of a halogen high beam.
wwest Posted January 19, 2008 Posted January 19, 2008 Strange, my '01 911/996 C4 has a separate halogen bulb high beam plus projector type HID's with a shading aperature for low beam use and an electric solenoid to flip that aperture out of the way in high beam mode. As did my 99 911/996 C2. I know the Cayenne works the same way and I'm pretty sure the BMW-X5 does also. Also the 2004 RX330 owners manual indicates that a D2S HID bulb is used for low beam and an H11 for high beam.
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