Headlight problems

Hello I’m new here & Maybe someone can help me out. I have a 21 Tacoma lifted on 35s. Slightly modified. Recently I noticed my “C Lights” have been getting a lot of moisture in them. Not sure what’s causing the issue. At first it was only the passenger side & had it replaced by toyota under a “goodwill” replacement because of my “mods” which have nothing to do with the headlight. Fast forward to today that same headlight is completely out. Had anyone had this experience before? Moisture in their headlights & how can toyota replace them? The truck has 12k miles and is only a year old (bought in October 2020).

 

What exactly are "C" lights what mods do you have?

 

Same headlights you have running. Or what are considered the full LED Headlights.
I have CMC, Viper Cut, & 35s.

 

While it's true that your mods likely have nothing to do with your headlight issue, some dealers are better than others on warranty issues when you have mods. Some will try and hang their hat on any mods to deny warranty coverage while others will be more accommodating and logical about the cause and effect. You might consider trying another dealership and see if their service department is more reasonable.

 

Update; I went in and spoke with the service rep and he denied me right then and there, I then emailed his manager about the situation and never heard back from him. Now I’m left with no choice than to file a complaint. I am trying another dealership and hope they help me out but it sucks that the dealership who sold me the truck denied my warranty. Lol the service guy even said “your replacement headlamp does have a one year warranty as well”

 

Did you cut or remove the wheel well liner? Might be throwing some water behind the housing…

 

Yes it’s cut back however I only got moisture in there after a storm and I didn’t even drive my truck. It has happened after washing it too. I understand how removing the liner would cause it throw water behind the housing but it happened while sitting out in a storm

 

FWIW when you get a new headlight, add some of your own extra silicone to the headlight seal and make sure she's real watertight. Might help prevent the issue from happening again.

 

Sorry, I'm not here to help (because I can't offer more than what others have said)... But, the quote above made me chuckle. By definition, fitting 35's is "heavily" modded.

 

For some folks 35’s should have came from the factory. So 35’s for them is the equivalent of us normal folks installing armrest organizers from Amazon.

 

Hey that was hard! I had to put the organizer into the console at an angle then turn it and get my phone cord not to squish!

 

I still cant get my console organizer right... thing keeps folding up on me.

 

Just fyi, to deny warranty Toyota must prove that your mods caused the failure. This is the law! So the onus is on the dealer/Toyota to prove that any modifications made to your vehicle caused any failures. They can not just deny a warranty claim cuz mods.

They know full well what the law is (&why they replaced it the first time) and they are hoping you do not.

 

There is only 2 ways water would get in the housing, well 3. So check them all if you can.

The best way to do it is to pull the light if you can, there are vids on how to do it, but you may need to aim it after reinstall.

The first you may be able to while in the truck. Check the back of the lamp where all the wires/plugs/fittings enter the lamps and make sure they are tight and secure. Next 2 the lamp should be out for full inspection. Check the entire housing for cracks or holes. Lastly check the entire seal where lens and housing come together for possible separation.

 

Toyota is no help, I am well aware about the law behind the warranty. I took it all the way up to the manufacturers office. I tried to tell them that the dealership just denied my warranty with no explanations other than my lift being an issue paired with my raptor lights & light bar. Those are all wired properly and don’t cause any issues to the headlamps since they were done before my lift. Another thing is that they tried to deny warranty because of my missing splash guards and I installed them again to show them that it wasn’t the issue. Now I’m just waiting to hear back from the second dealership and get some type of solution

 

It’s just a small CMC nothing too crazy. I come from having a Dodge Charger 392 bagged and modified worse and still had my warranty honored

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...agnussen-moss-act.609911/page-7#post-26370697

The problem with this is that if the dealership and Toyota say no (which apparently they have), your two choices are to pay for the repair or fight them. The latter would probably be many times more expensive than paying for the repair out of pocket in this case.

 

I don't think you mentioned the raptor lights and light bar before this post. Saying a lift affected the headlights to me was a stretch, but the raptor lights and light bar gives them something to hang their hat on when you come in for a warranty electrical issue. I'm not defending the dealership or Toyota in any way or saying you are wrong, but it's more feasible for them to claim that you made a modification to the electrical system so they are denying an electrical warranty issue. This is why except for a tonneau cover and console and glove box organizers, everything I've added to my truck has been OEM. I don't want to give them an excuse to deny a warranty claim.

 

I completely understand where you’re coming from with that but the raptor lights and light bar were added before anything else. Which still doesn’t testify as to why the Headlamp has moisture and as to why the one they replaced isn’t working.

 

My guess is the Headlights got compromised during the light installs.

Good luck.