My hatred for Honda engineers has been eclipsed by my hatred for Toyota engineers. The amount of labor involved in regular maintenance in the RX330, such as changing the spark plugs, or the headlights, is borderline criminal.
For those wondering, sometimes the connection from the ballast to the bulb is the issue, look for arcing on the old bulb, where it goes into the ballast connector. Over time the connection gets worn down, tab in the connect bent out of position. Spray the connector with solvent for electronics and clean it and bend it back a bit toward center with a very small screwdriver, like for repairing watches. Back in service after fighting the spring clips using a small hand held mirror on a telescoping handle and a head lamp. No other way to do it short of pulling the bumper and then the headlight. Hundreds saved over OEM ballast replacement over a carbon shorted connector. We are all going to have to get used to such repairs as our cars age and supply chains break.
Thank you very much, your video is very helpful for me.
My personal mechanic was confused when I told him to change the ballast in my toyota harrier (same car with rx330), but thanksfully it was finished when I gave him a clue about the ballast cover.
Just did the same thing myself though because of your video I got the authentic Toyota /Lexus ballast and authentic Phillips HID Ds2 replacements. Wasn’t to hard, took all of about 1 1/2 hours for both headlights /assembly and new Phillips HID works great 🙂 so far! $230 in parts vs the stealerships $1500 -$1800 quote! Lexus in Reno, NV (Dollan Lexus) y’all can steal someone’s else’s money!
What were your symptoms of a bad ballast? Was it decreased light output? I purchased a used rx330 and the previous owner replaced a HID bulb, but I think they were not able to mount the bulb back in correctly and it burnt the HID projector bowl so my light output on one side is barely noticeable, not bright, and not sharp. I'm trying to figure out if that's the cause or its the if the ballast is weak.
The video was informative and helpful but let me add a suggestion to help people avoid what caused me hours of difficulties. When you remove screws and bolts, draw a diagram of affected parts and locations, give each bolt a number pointing to where it was extracted and tape the bolts to a sheet of paper with the number written over each. That way you will not mix up the bolts or forget where they came from. The many bolts and retainer clips can easily get confusing and screwed into the wrong holes when the wheel liners and bumper cover are reinstalled. Disgustingly, I know this too well for not following my own advice. It’ll not happen again.
Any good videos on the prep work, i.e. bumper cover, wheel well cover, etc.? Also was that ballast cover all you needed to pop off? I was under the impression the ballast was inside the lamp assembly (which I guess in retrospect seems really silly). Great video as is, but the before and details of during would have been much appreciated as well!
){kind=link}
My hatred for Honda engineers has been eclipsed by my hatred for Toyota engineers. The amount of labor involved in regular maintenance in the RX330, such as changing the spark plugs, or the headlights, is borderline criminal.
Thank you for your help.
Thanks for the video.
Thank you for helping us get started on this project. We couldn’t of done it without your help.
For those wondering, sometimes the connection from the ballast to the bulb is the issue, look for arcing on the old bulb, where it goes into the ballast connector. Over time the connection gets worn down, tab in the connect bent out of position. Spray the connector with solvent for electronics and clean it and bend it back a bit toward center with a very small screwdriver, like for repairing watches. Back in service after fighting the spring clips using a small hand held mirror on a telescoping handle and a head lamp. No other way to do it short of pulling the bumper and then the headlight. Hundreds saved over OEM ballast replacement over a carbon shorted connector. We are all going to have to get used to such repairs as our cars age and supply chains break.
You didn’t explain how detach the bumper
Explain everything man!!!
Thank you very much, your video is very helpful for me.
My personal mechanic was confused when I told him to change the ballast in my toyota harrier (same car with rx330), but thanksfully it was finished when I gave him a clue about the ballast cover.
Just did the same thing myself though because of your video I got the authentic Toyota /Lexus ballast and authentic Phillips HID Ds2 replacements. Wasn’t to hard, took all of about 1 1/2 hours for both headlights /assembly and new Phillips HID works great 🙂 so far! $230 in parts vs the stealerships $1500 -$1800 quote! Lexus in Reno, NV (Dollan Lexus) y’all can steal someone’s else’s money!
What were your symptoms of a bad ballast? Was it decreased light output? I purchased a used rx330 and the previous owner replaced a HID bulb, but I think they were not able to mount the bulb back in correctly and it burnt the HID projector bowl so my light output on one side is barely noticeable, not bright, and not sharp. I'm trying to figure out if that's the cause or its the if the ballast is weak.
Why so many dislikes? This is one of a few video guides to show?!
Why u sound so mad … good info. Be happy
or you can buy similar clips at any auto store. if someone needs to use clips instead of zipties
Thx for the video, about the change my ballast.
Question: Do I only need to remove top part of bumper cover to reach the headlight screw?
The video was informative and helpful but let me add a suggestion to help people avoid what caused me hours of difficulties. When you remove screws and bolts, draw a diagram of affected parts and locations, give each bolt a number pointing to where it was extracted and tape the bolts to a sheet of paper with the number written over each. That way you will not mix up the bolts or forget where they came from. The many bolts and retainer clips can easily get confusing and screwed into the wrong holes when the wheel liners and bumper cover are reinstalled. Disgustingly, I know this too well for not following my own advice. It’ll not happen again.
Any good videos on the prep work, i.e. bumper cover, wheel well cover, etc.? Also was that ballast cover all you needed to pop off? I was under the impression the ballast was inside the lamp assembly (which I guess in retrospect seems really silly). Great video as is, but the before and details of during would have been much appreciated as well!
I am having trouble removing clips from wheel well cover. How to do remove them?