3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Just slightly confused about the first post recommendation for halogen replacement lo beam bulbs.One of the recommended bulbs is the GE Nightbreaker xenon +120,but the link takes you to the GE Nighthawk Xenon.Sorry if this has been discussed before.

 

I have heard of this issue before with others running HID and the
Auto setting but am unsure of the cause. It could be ballast dependent. Are you running a relay harness to the ballasts?

Nightbreakers are an Osram product, GE Nighthawk Xenon +120 is correct. I often just refer to them as GE Xenon +120 for short.

 

Thanks crash

 

Hey fellas, so one of my lights went out, which had a beamtech led. I went and got some silver Star h11 and light don't work still. I switched bulbs on both sides and only one side works with all bulbs except the original beamtech that went out.

So I was wondering besides from the led being bad, could it have blown a fuse? If there is one? The guy at kragens also put his voltmeter on the connector and it was showing blank. Do the connectors go bad? If so is it a easy fix or do I have to take it in to the dealership?

Truck is out of warranty as I just hit 50k but would still like to get this fixed asap.

Thanks for any help

Jon

 

To clarify your statement, only one side works regardless of the light source used? (Neither LED or halogen work on one side).

Check your fuse under the hood in the box right behind your battery. There are separate fuses for right and left so you don't lose both headlights at once, and there are spare fuses on the lid. If it is the fuse, something must have shorted it out, I'd expect somehow the LED shorted.

 

Yes, that is correct. I'll check under the hood for the fuse. So, you don't suspect the connector to go bad do you?

 

No, connectors won't go bad using a lower power draw source. I've got spare Beamtechs if you wanted one for the cost of shipping. But they are a terrible LED as covered in the post below. If you want LED I would recommend the Hikaris, and for best performance the halogen H9 swap or the H11 GE Xenon +120.

 

Thanks for your help. I'm just going to fix this situation and just drive around with mixed match lights. Lol

 

Thanks crash for the feedback on the issue I was running into. I am actually not running a relay harness to the ballasts which is the problem I think. I reached out to the vendor and they told me I need one of those harnesses which will allow sufficient power to the headlights. I hope this will fix the issue. I'll keep you all posted.

 

Lights come on perfectly now. The fuse was blown. Thanks for taking the time to help out.

 

I believe the harness will solve your problem. Ballast vary on their startup draw demands and some can be quiet high while others like the XD ballasts used in the original thread were a low draw unit designed to not draw more current on startup than the stock bulbs. I'm not sure why the auto switch would deliver power to the headlight circuit any differently, but using a harness will make the power come on instantly with the relay regardless of how the lights are turned on, which should resolve any discrepancy between using the factory auto setting vs the manual setting.

 

Awesome! Thanks so much, its been really annoying with the lights so its great to hear some confidence that this should fix the issue. It comes on Monday so I'll report back then. Have a great weekend!

 

My genuine Toyota 2020 Pro LED headlights came in today at Culver City Toyota. These are the only legal way that I'm aware of to put LED lights in your 3rd Gen Tacoma and pass all applicable Federal lighting standards and at $1400 are really quite reasonably priced. Since I'm still waiting on the harness to arrive, I spent a couple of hours making a portrait of the driver's side unit. These are strikingly beautiful but a royal pain in the ass to photograph. But since I like a challenge and it kept me away from some pressing estate work, this is what I chose to do with my Friday afternoon. Photo nerds can ask away. Ha.

 

Great photo! Lights are always a PITA to photograph with all the reflective surfaces. Curious to hear your driving impressions and if those plug and play adapters work out. The Morimoto XB LED headlights are also SAE compliant too though, they are fully street legal.

 

Is this harness you speak of an oem piece or does someone make them? Plug and play adaptor? Thanks

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-factory-led-headlights-now-available.637771/

 

Thanks, I don’t come on here very often and didn’t know someone started making those. Neat. The light assemblies aren’t cheap but my halogens admittedly suck. I have some GE extreme +100 h11’s on order from a couple days ago but if those don’t cut it the oem leds are a really nice option. Also really like the full C shaped drl’s compared to the L of the earlier years.

 

There are good halogen upgrades to improve output without costing a fortune. Your bulb terminology is a bit mixed. Did you mean:
GE Xenons +120 or GE Megalight +130?
Or Philips Xtreme +100?

 

Oops, yeah Phillips xtreme vision +100

 

Those will certainly be an improvement over stock and will balance well with longer bulb life, but will not come close to matching the high intensity output of the GEs or H9 swap if looking for maximum performance. I only mention the GEs or H9s as they are relatively inexpensive and worth trying before shelling out the much higher price for the OEM LED headlights.