Headlights

[FROSTYBALLS]

The majority of third party LED bulbs aren't certified for use within the EU.

[CPN]

20 hours ago, mrpj said:

Me too.

Extract from my handbook. I suspect Type B should read H16?

"Front fog lights (if equipped) 55W  Type B"

"A: H4 halogen bulbs B: H11 halogen bulbs C: Wedge base bulbs (clear) D: Wedge base bulbs (amber) E: Double end bulbs F: Single end bulbs"

 

This is the table on page 437 of mine... ('scuse the formatting but you can't do tabs properly in the forum) Interesting to note that the "B" in the key table at the bottom is out of order...

Light bulbs                             W       Type
Exterior
Halogen headlights               55       A
Front fog lights*                     19       B
Front position light/daytime running lights (bulb type)    21/5    C

Front turn signal lights          21       D
Side turn signal lights             5        D
Rear turn signal lights           21        F
Stop/tail lights (bulb type)   21/5    C
Back-up light                           21       C
Rear fog light                           21      C
License plate lights                   5      C
Interior
Vanity lights*                              5      E
Personal lights/interior light    5      C
Luggage compartment light    5      E

A: HIR2 halogen bulbs
C: Wedge base bulbs (clear)
E: Double end bulbs
B: H16 halogen bulbs
D: Wedge base bulbs (amber)
F: Single end bulbs (clear)
*: If equipped

[Mick F]

On 10/11/2017 at 8:47 AM, Mick F said:

Yesterday evening in the dark, I switched to main beam and I'm fairly sure that the aim is too high.  I altered the load leveller control and I could swear that the aim is wrong.

Yet to experiment further, but I think that the control should be at zero when the car is unloaded with just a driver and front passenger.  It seems to be better at 3 or 4 (of 5).  Also, the control bottoms out below zero.

It seems that the aim is fine in dipped, and the brightness is fine in dipped too.

So, not only are the lights not bright enough in main beam, they appear to be poorly aimed in main beam too.

Diving along the A30 dual carriageway late last night, and the road was very quiet for mile after mile.  I was able to change the aim height by the control and find the best setting.

The handbook says that with just the two of us in the car, the dial should be at zero, but I found the best position to be at 2.  This gave the correct spread at dipped, and nice and far on main beam without lighting high up in the trees.

Yes, No2 was the best position, and zero was way too high and in danger of dazzling oncoming drivers when on dipped.

Still can't see why ours will go BELOW zero.  Maybe it goes to -1 or so.  Could be that the thumb wheel needs removing somehow and re-setting.

Mick.

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by Mick F
Added another sentence.

[alan333]

8 hours ago, Mick F said:

Could be that the thumb wheel needs removing somehow and re-setting.

Sounds like the alignment is out.  It's adjustable at the headlights, then the thumwheel is used to lower the alignment in stages, depending on how heavy your load is.

[Mick F]

15 hours ago, alan333 said:

Sounds like the alignment is out.  It's adjustable at the headlights, then the thumwheel is used to lower the alignment in stages, depending on how heavy your load is.

Yes, it does seem the alignment is out.  It passed the MOT in late August, so they mustn't have thought there was an issue at all, but it's not right.  Now I know that position two is the best setting, I'll leave it there and when it goes for the next service and MOT in August 2018, I'll get them to sort it.

The knob goes down below zero, and by fiddling with it, there appears to be a "minus one" setting.  That seems to me to be a "mechanical" issue of the knob itself and I'll get them to sort that too.  The car is still under Toyota warranty, so I'm not doing anything to it.  It's fine at Two, so that's where it'll stay until they check it out.  It's ok for now, and fine where it is.

I don't ever expect to be carrying extra loads - or having a car full of people - during the hours of darkness.

Mick.

[YarisHybrid2016]

Sorry for the lack of a photo - I changed both before I realized.

The OptiWhite bulbs are most certainly worth the price! If you're thinking of doing this, run, don't walk, to your supplier of choice!

You can keep the existing bulbs in the same box the others came out of as spares in the boot in case you should lose one. Bonus!

Will change the front fog lights next. 

[Heidfirst]

11 hours ago, YarisHybrid2016 said:

The OptiWhite bulbs are most certainly worth the price! If you're thinking of doing this, run, don't walk, to your supplier of choice!

Will be interesting to see if they make as much difference in the Avensis as apparently they do on the Yaris. Mine should be arriving next week. 

[stevecrvn]

On 11/7/2017 at 10:52 AM, davekench said:

I have had this trouble as well and have found a replacement, its a HB4 rw3306 bulb, that Halfords are selling 90% brighter versions, the only downside is you have to trim part of one of the location lugs for it to fit. Compare the bulds side by side and you will see how it needs to be trimmed. But hey they are really brighter, also you can get them on Ebay for less than Halfords price.

 

Dave

Dave  - Is it only trim the lug with a Stanley knife ?

 

[davekench]

Yes thats all I did, make sure you have the original beside to make sure you trim correctly. If you have the original beside the replacement one you will see the difference.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Bear in mind that standard HIR2 bulbs are already supposed to be around 70% brighter than standard halogen bulbs (H4, HB3, H11, etc). So the Optiwhite being approx 60% brighter than standard HIR2's, will certainly be brighter than halogen +90%.

Aside from that HB4 upgrades are available from Osram (Night Breaker Unlimited +110% and Nightbreaker Laser +150%), and Philips (+130%,), so +90% aren't the brightest halogen bulbs one can currently buy. Check websites such as Amazon, etc. 

Halfords brand and Ring brand upgrade bulbs are both made by Alise, so if buying either of these brands, go for whichever are cheapest, as they're the same bulbs. 

[Lane]

Just bought toyota yaris Icon 2016 and shocked at how poor headlights are. Thought I hadn't switched on and could barely see to drive home on country road. What headlights do I need to get to be able to drive at night. Appreciate any help

[FROSTYBALLS]

Probably just need to buy some upgrade bulbs. If yours has HIR2 bulbs, the other posts in this topic highlight what options you have as regards replacement bulbs - eg Toyota Optiwhites, PIAA Hyper Arros, etc

[Lane]

O thanks.     Sometimes when you look things up on line so many answers its hard to know what one is best

[Mick F]

I fitted Optiwhites.  Cost £48.77 from Toyota for the pair. Excellent performance, but not cheap.

Two issues though.

1. They only lasted 15,000miles despite not driving much during darkness.  One went, so I put the originals back in.  Still working 20 thousand miles later.  Car now done 48,000miles and these are the ORIGINAL bulbs.

2. This is the main issue.  Because there is only one filament in the bulbs, when one blows, you have only one headlight on dip as well as on full beam.  If you have a double failure, you have no headlights at all !!!!!! ............ so keep spares in the boot .............. and a torch to see what you're doing.

Mick.

[Lane]

Thanks.  Now feel wary of driving at night until I can get them replaced. In 70s now and never had a problem with headlights like this.  Are the headlights easy to replace without going to garage?

[Mick F]

9 hours ago, Lane said:

Thanks.  Now feel wary of driving at night until I can get them replaced. In 70s now and never had a problem with headlights like this.  Are the headlights easy to replace without going to garage?

Yes, easy to replace and get at.  Well, they are in our 2004 Hybrid.  Five minute job.

Mick.

[stevecrvn]

I had the optiwhites fitted to the Yaris and to be honest they were still not brillant . I have changed them for https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELTA-HIR2-9012-PX22D-VISIONPRO-150-UPGRADE-CAR-HEADLIGHT-BULBS-3700K-12V-55W/184104731099?epid=8031872835&hash=item2add7f41db:g:D3EAAOSw~w5eCSed   

These seem better then the optiwhites and have now been in the Yaris for nearly 10 months. I have a Auris as well and have a set optiwhites in there fir over 2 years . I am not sure if the shape of the highlight makes a difference but they seem better in the Auris than the Yaris.

[scannerman]

On 11/26/2017 at 12:56 PM, Mick F said:

Yes, it does seem the alignment is out.  It passed the MOT in late August, so they mustn't have thought there was an issue at all, but it's not right.  Now I know that position two is the best setting, I'll leave it there and when it goes for the next service and MOT in August 2018, I'll get them to sort it.

The knob goes down below zero, and by fiddling with it, there appears to be a "minus one" setting.  That seems to me to be a "mechanical" issue of the knob itself and I'll get them to sort that too.  The car is still under Toyota warranty, so I'm not doing anything to it.  It's fine at Two, so that's where it'll stay until they check it out.  It's ok for now, and fine where it is.

I don't ever expect to be carrying extra loads - or having a car full of people - during the hours of darkness.

Mick.

I'm led to believe that the MOT tester will set the adjuster to it's mid setting (3) to do the test.

 

[Lane]

On 10/9/2020 at 10:03 PM, Lane said:

Thanks.  Now feel wary of driving at night until I can get them replaced. In 70s now and never had a problem with headlights like this.  Are the headlights easy to replace without going to garage?        Toyota replaced with optiwhite bulbs for £51.   They are a bit brighter but not as much as I expected. However will do for now. They suggested using front fog lights if I had a problem!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lane]

Customer at garage said he'd replaced wife's bulbs with optiwhites and certainly a bit brighter but not a lot. Toyota garage charged £51. Yes they are brighter but not as much as I expected for price.   Also changed position of headlight to 2. Wheel seems to work back to front compared to other cars I've had.  Haven't used car on very dark country roads since they were put in so will have to wait and see. Spread doesnt seem as wide as other cars.

[YarisHybrid2016]

On 10/16/2020 at 10:28 AM, Lane said:

Customer at garage said he'd replaced wife's bulbs with optiwhites and certainly a bit brighter but not a lot. Toyota garage charged £51. Yes they are brighter but not as much as I expected for price.   Also changed position of headlight to 2. Wheel seems to work back to front compared to other cars I've had.  Haven't used car on very dark country roads since they were put in so will have to wait and see. Spread doesnt seem as wide as other cars.

The headlight itself doesn't change. It's just brighter, but the darker areas are still dark.

The biggest difference it makes is when driving on wet roads - the additional brightness enables you to see the road better.

[Mick F]

On 10/10/2020 at 7:56 AM, stevecrvn said:

I had the optiwhites fitted to the Yaris and to be honest they were still not brillant . I have changed them for https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELTA-HIR2-9012-PX22D-VISIONPRO-150-UPGRADE-CAR-HEADLIGHT-BULBS-3700K-12V-55W/184104731099?epid=8031872835&hash=item2add7f41db:g:D3EAAOSw~w5eCSed   

These seem better then the optiwhites .............................. 

I was driving yesterday evening and still have the original bulbs in, and I was reminded how pitiful these headlights are.  Pitiful is perhaps an understatement.

The Optiwhites were ok.  No complaints other than they only lasted from Nov 2017 to Feb 2020 = just over two years.  The original bulbs are ORIGINAL from when the car was brand new and it's over six years old now.

Anyway ......... just ordered the bulbs from eBay at £23.99 a pair.  Optiwhites were £48.77 so was rather tempted to buy two pairs of the eBay ones!  I'll see if I like them, and if so, I'll buy a spare pair.

Thanks, Mick.

[snowBALLs]

Hope u get better result for half the price Mick. The standard light in projector is very pitiful, I would say dangerous for country roads/motorway where it's not lit. 

[Mick F]

2 hours ago, snowBALLs said:

Hope u get better result for half the price Mick. The standard light in projector is very pitiful, I would say dangerous for country roads/motorway where it's not lit. 

Yes, my fingers are crossed.  Yes, dangerous maybe.

Just chatting to my better half about our car ............. headlights were in the conversation ................ and how the car is an absolute dream to drive and control ............. but the design of the car itself is terrible.

Poor lights, poor internal storage, poor visibility to the sides and front (nightmare to park!) poor wheel-lock, too small a fuel tank.

Other than those, we are very pleased with the car and would have another!

Mick.

[Mick F]

The new bulbs arrived this afternoon.  I'll fit them in the next day or so.

The box says up to 150% brighter.

Up to 150% brighter than HIR2 bulbs, or 150% brighter than standard plain halogens?

Frostyballs has suggested that HIR2s are already brighter.  Are these bulbs 150% brighter plus the 70% brighter .......... ie 210% brighter than standard halogen?

On 9/18/2018 at 12:40 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

Bear in mind that standard HIR2 bulbs are already supposed to be around 70% brighter than standard halogen bulbs (H4, HB3, H11, etc).

Thanks,  Mick.