Headlight assembly issue?

Frequent reader,very few posts:

Just washed my wife's 2011 Sport. The clear plastic covers on both headlights have long cracks in them. No moisture inside the cover....yet. Has this been an issue with any Tacomas....heat causing the problem, etc.?

We do a lot a highway driving and I know that a bird or two has been hit. Didn't notice any damage at the time.

If not something that might be an issue covered under warranty. I think I'll leave them as is for a while. The assemblies are about $300 apiece

 

If you try to get it warrantied, they're going to claim that a rock (or other object) did it. And as such, "acts of God" are not warrantable. Worth a shot though. The worst they can say is "no".

That said though, you could shop around for just the lens. Try a wrecking yard for a truck that was rear ended. Read up on how to do the BHLM (Black Headlight Mod) for instructions on how to take the headlight housings apart and just replace the lens yourself.

 

Agree with ^ that it doesn't hurt to ask, worst case... dealer says it's not covered and you're out a lil time. Pulled this direct from pg14 of Maintenance & Warranty Guide cuz knowing is half the battle:

WHAT IS NOT COVERED
This warranty does not cover damage or failures resulting directly or indirectly from any of the following:

• Fire, accidents or theft
• Abuse or negligence
• Misuse — for example, racing or overloading
• Alteration or tampering, including installation of non-Genuine Toyota Accessories
• Lack of or improper maintenance, including use of fluids other than those specified in the Owner's Manual
  
• Installation of non-Genuine Toyota Parts
• Airborne chemicals, tree sap, road debris (including stone chips), rail dust, salt, hail,floods, wind storms,lightning and other environmental conditions
• Water Contamination

 

Mostly I was wondering if there was a TSB out there on this issue. The only thing we can recall hitting is a bunch of bugs.

 

I'll bet money that what you are seeing is the injection mold seam. Look at the lens very closely and you will see that seam is exactly the same on each lens. Mine has the seams also, they are also on the rear tail light lens.

Post a picture.

 

Definitely not the seam. Difficult for a camera to pick up the cracks. Service writer at dealer managed to get a couple. It took him a while and he had a better camera than I do.

 

Check this thread: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/192811-light-covers.html

 

Might want to get your story straight.

 

If your "running light/turn signal lenses are cracked or damaged from the bulb or in the bulb area, there is a TSB for that which would get you two new headlamps...

 

About the bugs and the birds. I've hit both but actually I am not sure of when or even whether it was with this truck. It's my wife's truck and she says that she hasn't hit any birds. (I believe her.) I do know that we haven't hit anything big...pheasant, turkey etc. I always do a quick check for damage when I get home whenever something goes thump in the grill area. Birds smell terrible when they "cook" behind the grill.

Both headlight covers have cracks in the running light area. One cover has a crack in the running light area and in the center of the cover. I'll mention the TSB to the service manager if he doesn't volunteer the information. Anyone know the number?

Otherwise, I'll wait to do a replacement until I get moisture of something behind the cover. I'm pretty careful about my vehicles. It's really strange that I didn't notice the cracks earlier. My wife told me that one has been there for quite a while....duh.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I have a 2010 sport and I have small cracks that run diagonally in both headlights. I have not hit anything bigger than bugs. I thought it may be due to the DTRL issue, but I don't think so now. There is no melting issues and the cracks cover the entire front of both lights. I have 40K miles on the truck, so just missed the warrenty, but I know how crappy my local dealership is, so they probably wouldn't fix it anyway. I'll try to get some pics posted this afternoon.

 

My truck's headlights has the same diagonal cracks. They're definitely not seams of the molding process.

Too bad I'm waaay out of warranty

 

Anyone else have these cracks. I'll be meeting with factory reps in the near future. They want to see them. My wife's truck is long out of warranty too.

 

Factory rep looked at headlight lenses on my wife's truck. Said he had never seen cracks like that before. Took some pics of the lenses and approved replacement. Only question he asked me, "Do you park your truck in a garage?". No idea why he asked. My wife's truck is just a little over two years old but has 49,000 miles on it. Way out of warranty for this type of replacement.

Is Toyota just being nice or might there be a bit of a problem with a certain batch of lenses. I'll just bet that my lenses are really checked out at the factory. Might be a safety issue on some trucks.

Whatever...I appreciate my dealer going to bat for us. Also appreciate the concern shown by the factory rep. This is the fifth truck that we have bought from this dealer and have always been treated very, very well when "things need to be done".

 

So I finally get around to posting pics:

This one shows them the best:


Some others:



Again, I have hit nothing and this is with 42,xxx miles on the truck. Just out of warrenty .

 

Wow. I've never seen cracking like that in a lens that wasn't impacted by something.

 

I have the exact same cracks in my headlights

 

I'm the OP. Yep, those are the same cracks that my wife's Tacoma had. Like I said above....They were replaced as a "goodwill warranty". I think you other guys might want to head to your dealer. It apparently is an issue.

 

Are you sure about being the OP?

 

My passenger side lens has 2 of the diagonal cracks in it and now my driver side has a new crack growing. I do mostly city driving and have kept an eye on them since i noticed the passenger side cracks. I definitely haven't hit anything noticeable, not enough that it should crack both headlight lenses. I have never cracked a headlight lens in any other vehicle before, and now both? Something doesn't smell right.

Has anyone else had any luck with the dealership replacing under warranty? What is a "good faith warranty". At 60k I'm way out of warranty anyway. I have found replacement lenses on Amazon.com and Ebay for $50 each, I guess I will just have to keep an eye on them and replace if moisture starts to leak in.

$64 DEPO 312-1186R-AS Replacement Passenger Side Headlight Assembly (This product is an aftermarket product. It is not created or sold by the OE car company)

http://www.amazon.com/Depo-312-1186...TF8&colid=2NU7TZLJOHTMU&coliid=I26HPB70KKWD9P