Turn Signals

[gmike]

I did a quick search in this forum but came up empty. I have a 2000 ES300 and I need to replace the bulb in my left front turn signal. Looked in the owners manual and it says I need to take the vehicle into the dealership for this. Is that true, I can't even change a bulb anymore?

[steviej]

not true. I think it is a couple of nuts or bolts and the entire headlight assembly flops out and then the turn signal bulb is accessable.

good luck.

steviej

[hern]

Alright first go to your local autoshop and purchase the 1157ALL bulbs for the front blinker. I drive a 99 ES300 and I had the same thing happen when my front left blinker went out and it would blink rapidly and it got so annoying. I posted in here 3 times about it and no one really had an answer on how to go about doing it. Everyone just says oh ya there is some bolts and the assembly just pops out. Do not take it to a local place because they will charge you 25 bucks to do it. If you get something similar to a flat head screw driver that is bent you can pry it out. You may think you are going to break it but just pry the whole cover out from the outside. I did it and bam there it was. After 3 weeks I solved the problem thanks to a little guidance and inspiration from gone in 60 seconds. Pop your new bulb in and push the whole cover back on and you're in business .If you have any questions email me thehern@hotmail.com or AIM me @: HernGT22

Good luck I feel for ya

[exdotcomer]

i took my car to the dealer for an oil change, and when i had to pay at the service desk- "oh yeah, we changed that bulb for you". 15 bucks. I said, I had the bulb in the glove compartment, but I never got around to change it. It was an uncomfortable silence.

1998 ES300

[steviej]

ask for a $15 credit on your next service.

They performed an unauthorized service and that is not right. If they won't, take it up the 1-800-25-LEXUS.

steviej

[Bigrick]

I submitted this reply several weeks ago. Do not just pry the turn signal unit out without removing the screw that holds it in. I have a '97 ES300, but the fix should be the same. Lift the hood. Notice the black plastic strip going across the front of the engine compartment over the fan shroud. Pry up 1 or 2 clips on the side needing access. Lift it up. This will expose a retaining screw holding the entire turn signal assembly in place. Remove this screw and the entire assembly can be carefully removed from the front of the car. Replace bulb and reverse the above process. Caution: Sometimes the bulbs aren't bad, but the contacts get dirty. In this case, clean the contacts. Good luck!

[gmike]

First thanks everyone for replying to my question.

Hern, that's exactly what mine was doing (rapid flashing) plus a dash light came on once in a while (kind of looks like a set of headlights). Bigrick, I missed your earlier post in my search but I started to do as you suggested when I noticed the assembly was slightly ajar at the bottom so slapped it with the palm of my hand and tried the turn signal and it works fine now. :D I'm thinking it's just the dirty contact theory but I'll wait until it does it again and then take the assembly out and check everything now that I know how to do it. ;) Thanks all.

[amf1932]

Sometimes the bulb filament is open and when you smacked the housing it once again made contact. This might work for awhile, but then the problem will once again come back. You'll probably end up having to change the bulb.

[JoeM]

... Pry up 1 or 2 clips on the side needing access. ...

I just tried this on a '99 ES300 and broke one of the clips holding the black plastic cover on. Neophytes like myself need to know that these clips are two piece devices that need to be removed carefully rather than just pried. You need to slip a knife or somthing between the cap of the clip and the bottom portion of the clip. Then use the knife to pry out the top portion of the clip. It will come out easily. After it is removed, the bottom portion of the clip will also come out easily. The top portion of the clip has a pin that spreads out the bottom piece of the clip to hold the clip in the hole. Be careful to pry between the top and bottom portions of the clip and not between the clip and the black plastic cover The top portion of the clip is almost knife-edged due to the chamfer.

[2GZ]

sorry guys but i have to step in, there is a plague with the front turn signal sockets in this car. if you notice, the bulbs you are replacing are still good....the real issue is the socket wich is available for about $15, 85% of the bulbs are still good. please try the socket first, esp. if you tap on the light and it stops blinking fast

[Bigrick]

JoeM, good point!!

[JoeM]

... the bulbs you are replacing are still good....the real issue is the socket wich is available for about $15, 85% of the bulbs are still good. please try the socket first ...

In my case the bulb was good. I did continuity checking with a VOM and found that the common contact in the socket was not making electrical contact with the side of the bulb. I cleaned the bulb and the socket contacts (socket bulb goes in). I found little corrosion or gunk. I also checked the plug between the socket and cable. The contacts looked a little worse here, but cleaning did not help. I carefully pulled the socket contacts out so that they would have a little more spring pressure against the bulb. Pulling the side contact out solved the problem (for now). I am guessing that the problem with these things is more due to metal fatigue on the side contact reducing the contact pressure rather than dirt/corrosion. If that is true, the problem will be back.

[OPLEXFAN]

A tip from a Lexus mechanic when removing the lens cover - it pulls straight forward toward the bumper - not out to the side as you might think. Also, I only needed to remove one of the clips on the black plastic cover and then underneath is the sheetmetal screw which is removed. My lens cover proved stubborn to slide forward, don't put pressure on the lens as you may crack it, push on the metal piece which the screw screws into.

Hope that helps.

OPLEXFAN

[AxlxA]

i keep prying and prying and it wont budge(the plastic screw). I am a little confused on how the 2piece screw assembly is like, anyone of you can do a picture of it? i'll go back and try to pry it again.

if infact i break this, how much is it to get it replaced at lexus parts

[gmike]

Duck tape.

Just kidding. :D

I broke it so I'll be watching with interest. Replacing the bulb fixed the rapid flashing problem for me but the dash light (little set of headlights) still comes on from time to time and goes off about 20 minutes later. I don't know why, maybe it's a leveling problem.

[bdonkersgoed]

ask for a $15 credit on your next service.

They performed an unauthorized service and that is not right. If they won't, take it up the 1-800-25-LEXUS.

steviej

Haha! Yeah, something like that just happened to me! I brought my car in for service at an independant mechanic, and when I checkde my bill, I noticed that they charged me $15.00 to tighten my negative battery cable! I didn't mind though, because it needed to be done and I had never gotten around to doing it. It was so loose that I would have to get out of my car to give it a wiggle once every week or so :)

One time, my car even died while driving because the cable came right off :P

I had a problem because the battery cables are so short that, when I put in an aftermarket battery with terminals in a different location than the OEM battery, the cables just wouldn't quite reach . . .

It seems that the mechanic got it nice and tight, so I gues it si $15.00 well spent :)

Regards,

Bryan