Hi. I am almost to 100,000 miles and was interested in replacing the bulbs with brighter and better ones. Is there some place that shows how to replace the headlight bulb and is it hard? I don't want to have to take off the bumper or anything like that. Thanks for help!

 

no need to take off the bumper. it's just like a screw you just basically loosen it and take it out. just make sure not to touch the new bulb with your fingers because the oil on your skin ruins the bulb

 

Google/Scionlife is your best friend:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/scion-xb-1st-gen-owners-lounge-1602/how-headlight-bulb-change-65670/

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=changing+headlight+bulb+scion+tc

 

We also have a DIY guide on how to install HIDS. The beginning of the guide shows a close up shot of the bulb removal. Fortunately, the TC has plenty of space so bumper removal is not required. Simply remove the bulb harness. Grab bulb and rotate to remove out of socket.

In case Op hasn't already done it: http://stores.mengmotorsports.com/images/hid+manual.pdf

 

Thanks everyone for help. I tried search before making thread and didn't find an answer. I didn't know bulbs were so expensive. I may hold out on it because I saw some people have condensation in the headlight casing after messing with the bulb. Do not need that haha.

 

Necromancer if you are looking from something brighter and not wanting to spend alot of money you could look at DDM tuning for a set of HID's

 

Yeah or you could go with quality Halogen bulbs from Halo that we sell. As for the condensation, As long as there are no cracks and that your new bulb has that washer on the base, you should be fine.

 

Thanks mengsta for that pdf. I was driving home in snow tonight and thought I had snow covering my driver head light but found out the bulb is half dim and probably going out soon. Going to order some halogen bulbs for about $50 and try to install them myself.

 

hey necromancer- what about trying a normal 9006 Sylvania halogen bulb? Instead of dropping $50 on something "special" which may just be a colored bulb that burns out soon, try a $10 bulb. I went through this already and found the regular ones were quite bright compared to the special expensive ones.

you can get regular Sylvania ones at autozone, advance, oreilly auto, etc..

oh and replacing the low beams are easy, remove the connector by slowly pushing on the locking tab then slowly pushing down on the connector to remove it, then twist and pull the bulb out gently, of course. the real pain were the side markers to replace those! need small hands! lol but yeah 5 years the bulbs are ready to go after that long.

 

Haha. I spent over $70 on the bulbs yesterday from Auto Parts Warehouse (PIAA Halogens). However, I do see the Sylvania ones at Advance Auto Parts for $10.99 haha and might get 1 to replace the burnt bulb so I can drive at night before the others arrive. Would be mad if I wind up using the Sylvania and getting great light and then replace with the $70 bulbs and get less light. I will try to replace them tomorrow around noon because after that is more snow haha.

 

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lmao! yeah im gonna laugh along with ya (nope, not at ya.. hehehe) if you get the sylvania and they're brighter than the big expensive ones. yeah been down that road before and found the cheaper ones are better. I saw edmunds.com review the new camry 2012's headlights, looked as good as ours. they were amazed it was just a regular halogen. yup, that's what ya get when the engineers design a good reflector. ok keep us posted..

how about a pic of your headlights against a wall with one new sylvania in one headlight, and the other with the old oem bulb.. then a comparison when ya get the new ones in?

 

I am going outside in the dark and taking some pics and posting in a few minutes. I got nothing else to do LOL!

 

They both look like crap LOL. I almost drove home with the high beams but I didn't want to be rude.

 

WOW! thanks for the pics.. those are some mighty fine YELLOW *emphasis on yellow* headlights ya got there! lol just wow, no wonder you can't see, 6+ year old headlights.. yup I'd say it's time for some new ones!

can't wait to see how the new ones are going to compare, even a $10 sylvania would be brighter than that. also the piaa, if they are the same wattage 51w (low beam) as stock, they're ok, but if they're higher, then make sure you don't melt the wiring in the stock wiring harness (feel it make sure it's not getting hot, if they're higher wattage than 55w)

 

Yeah I didn't know how bad they were until I took the picture directly in front of the car LOL. In the rain I can barely see anything but I always blamed it on the lack of road lighting. Maybe it was me afterall haha!

 

So my new bulbs weren't suppose to arrive until Saturday and I can't wait until then. I gotta drive at night afterall lol. So I decide to go to Advance Auto Parts and get some Sylvanias. But I don't get the $10.99 ones. I get one step above that lol. Wound up paying almost $30 total. Now I have invested over $100 on headlights and will probably just put the PIAA's in a drawer for the next few years. I suck lol. I would return them but I would waste money on shipping and probably re-shelving fees. Anyways, I wound up doing the bulbs in the Advance Auto Parts parking lot in the dark with a flash light under my chin. I read all the horror stories of how hard it is to change the bulb but I wound up doing them in less than 5 minutes. I spent most of my time getting them out of the package LOL. I should have changed them months ago. Now I can see where I am going. I used to only see 10 ft in front of me but now I can see at least 30 ft. After washing my car, I feel like I got a brand new car haha.

Here are the old bulbs on the left and the new boxes with the bulbs already installed on the right. I figured I would get 1 step above default.


Up close of new box.


New lights installed!



I now know how to change headlights! Woohooo!

 

*sniffle sniffle* look at that, our newbie is learning to fly.. and i told myself i wouldn't cry !! so proud of you! wooo hoo!!

glad you got the lights done!! they look great! good amount of light.. but we gotta get you to a meeting for those addicted to headlight bulb buying.. "just lay down the bulb and step away from the advance auto parts counter, sir.. just step away and no one will get hurt..." lol

okay joking aside.. yeah this car is so easy to replace the main headlight bulbs, they actually gave you room to replace it! i know on my buddies civic, they have to take the wheel off, the inner mud/fender lining, JUST to replace a bulb!! hahaha, now THAT'S HILARIOUS!

 

Yeah it seems like the tC was made for DIYers. The thing I learned from this is that the lights dim over time. They don't just go out like a regular light bulb. I will probably replace them every couple of years so I can see for a change. I was driving last night on 1 lane streets in the woods and I actually could see everything for once. I also was unaware that replacing the lights was just a small bulb. I thought you had to replace the entire casing for some reason which is why I thought the bumper and everything had to come off. Maybe they improved on technology haha.

I plan to use a headlight restoring product to remove some of the scratches on the headlights. I was planning on getting this. It has 300 reviews on Amazon and almost 5 stars:



If not what you recommend?

 

I would suggest getting some 2000 grit wet sandpaper and wet sand your headlight to preferred smoothness. Once it feels smooth, it will look hazy, get some 3M rubbing compound and rub that on until it is almost completely clear. To finish off, use some Plast-X or Scratch-X to get the crystal clear look.
I did this to a kia that had horrible looking lenses and the owner was absolutely blown away at how they came out. Said they were as good as it coming out of the factory.