Factory Headlight Issues

Washing the truck today and noticed some things wrong with the headlights.



Driver's side headlight looks to have a melted spot where the DTRL's are at



Passenger side headlight is starting to crack in several spots. Hard to get a good shot of the cracks, but at the DTRL you can see what looks like scratches, that is the cracks. On the left side of the headlight you can see two not in focus scratches as well. Weird since the truck is kept in the garage.

Anyone else having problems with their factory headlights doing this?

 

IIRC 09-11 tacomas have had problems with that same thing.

Heres a link to some other people that have said the same issue:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/43277-drl-heads-up.html

 

Well hell, guess I will just let them go for right now until they get real bad and just replace them later

 

Change em to LEDs before they get worse. The heat melts the housing. Way to go Toyota. Common problem -=\

 

2010? Under warranty? There's a tsb on it.

 

TSB for it. Mine were replaced by my dealer for free and my truck was out of warranty.

 

I'm at 42K no more warramty

 

When you replace the units (if you do), replace the bulb with 3057A, not the recommended 4057s. The 4057s get way too hot, plus the bulb is really close to the plastic piece covering the bulb, which creates a cheap ass crappy looking headlight on a sexy truck. I replaced my headlights about 8K miles ago and am running the 3057As w/ no problem. They do not get near as hot. IIRC, these bulbs are actually for GMs, but hell, if they work in the Toyotas and problem solved, then why not? Good luck. I'd at least try the TSB w/ a dealer before anything else.

 

I would still give it a shot with the dealer replacing them. You have a 2010. Lights should last longer then this, plus its a known issue. I had them replaced about 2 yrs ago, no issues since.

 

Mine were replaced by my dealer out of warranty at 65k miles.. FREE to me. The new lens is different than the 09 was.

 

Ask for "goodwill" -- mine was slightly out of warranty when I noticed so I sent an email to the Toyota USA Prez explaining that the problem started way before the truck was out of warranty. And some other things I was pissed off about.

They opened a case and worked with the dealer and replaced them.

 

Anyone have the TSB for this? I'm going to try the dealership for replacement.

 

If you look at OP's first pick you can see where the plastic is melted a little right above that square.

 

http://www.tacomahq.com/1040/tacoma-daytime-running-light-lenses-tsb/

TSB #T-SB-0129-11

 

Comes up as TSB for the rear bumper.......

 

I too have this very same problem. In addtion to the DTRL cracked and a burnt lens, the socket appears to be burnt which may very well create a fire hazard. Toyota is well aware of this design flaw. What will it take for Toyota to "own-up" to this major issue, (class-action Law suit!!!).
The dealerships may repair the headlight assembly if you state a "good-will" gesture and are willing to pay the labor costs ($117.00), which I will have done 9/6/2012. My warranty just expired. Does anyone know if the DTRL can be turned-off or any kind of work around???

 

I am sure there is a hack to delete the DTRL, but the new lenses supposedly do not have the issue. The new ones they installed on mine were slightly different. But I traded it for a '12 TRD OR so I no longer care, just glad the new owner got a truck with everything fixed on it.

I fixed the TSB number up there. Goodwill should cover labor and parts, they are just trying to get something out of you. That said, the labor cost isn't bad, and the part quality will be much better than the eBay assemblies.

 

Here is the TSB info:

tsb-0129-11

Ray

 

Does this occur on 2012 and 2013 trucks as well? If the broblem is know have they corrected it for models beyond 2011?

 

2012 Headlight assemblies are made different so this will not happen