My left side low beam has gone out. There are warnings in the manual and stickers around the light saying not to change it yourself becasue the circuitry is holding high energy. The screws to open it up are "star shaped with a nob in the center" to discourage owners from opening it.

May parts store thinks that the bulb is a common $10 # 9005 bulb. Is it safe to change this myself? I don't want to pay garage $30 to change a $10 bulb.

Thanks for the input.
Stan

 

Ok well your low beam is not a common 9005 or 9006 bulb. If you have a 99-01 TL its a D2R HID bulb, if its a 02-03 model, its a D2S HID bulb. Either way they're $100 or more a piece. Before you start ripping anyhting open. just open the under-hood fuse box and look for the fuse or relay that controls that headlight. Its listed on the fuse box cover which one it is. If its not the fuse or relay, then go from there. But you DEFINITELY dont have a $10 bulb in your low beams lol

Goodluck

 

Don't know about other model year, but 03 TL model is D2R H.I.D bulb. I just change mine last weekend to 6600k.

 

Mine is a 2000 model, is the low beam a D2R HID bulb also? Are there seperate fuses and relays for each headlight?

 

yes its a d2r they are HID bulbs. you most likely cant get them at any parts stores. the torx bit is a saftey bit. you can get them at some parts stores/hardware stores. a good way to find out if its a bulb or balast is to switch the bulb from 1 side to another. (also never replace just 1 bulb, replace them both)

 

What will happen if you replace only one?

 

they wont match in color, and most aftermarket places sell them in pairs

 

I just changed my HID bulbs about a month ago. It's fairly easy to do, the hardest part is just gaining access to the back of the housing, other than that its no different than a regular headlight. I have a 2000 tl-p and the bulb is a D2R. I ordered my bulbs online at www.visionbulbs.com, I got exactly what i ordered and recieved it about 3 business days after i made my payment. i paid $125 w/ priority shipping. Just thought i'd put in my .

 

Thanks, I'm learning a lot here. Right now I've got to get the light open. I'm having trouble finding a #10 Torx socket that has a hole in the center. Most are solid in the center. Today I'm going to NAPA.

 

Well since i have the same problem, one of my lights went out in my 02 and i'm thinking about replacing it with 8000k. Not going to start a new thread, but the problem is i took off the screw with the star head and i still couldn't figure out how to take out the lightbulb. Needsome help with it, thanks guys in advance.

 

On my '00, once the screw is out you can twist the black plastic housing to unlock it. Once it is out the power wire unclips and the socket around the bulb can be removed so that you can pull out the black plastic housing. From there there you push the retaining wire thats holding the bulb in "down and over" to unhook it and the bulb is then free.

 

Since we're on the topic of hid bulbs and replacement...
I'm in a dorm 8 stories up right now so I don't wanna run down to check my fuses/relays. But...i don't have access to a hose or anything so i had to take my car to the touchless car wash. Anyhow, night rolls around and my left low beam doesn't work. and not just that, but my high beams were glowing as if they were turned on but not getting enough power.
there's condensation in the housing. on both sides. Would that be just the bulbs?? or would it only be the hid bulb?? I blacked/cleared my headlights in a hurry since school was starting so yeah, that's why it fogged. I'll be fixing that once i have time, but for now, just going to replace the housings with ebay ones. what do you guys think?