Missing Rubber Seal Headlight

Hey guys! New here. Just bought my first Tacoma and I love it. I didn't even realize it came with LED bulbs until the other night. However, when I looked under the hood I saw that the headlights are missing the rubber seal around the wires and bulbs, OEM seal I think? (sorry I am car illiterate).

Is that ok? I am assuming that the person that owned it before me didn't put them back on after he upgraded the bulbs to LEDs. Do I need to find replacement ones or can I run without them?

Thanks!

 

I ran mine without them for a couple of months, the downside is that you would start to get moisture inside the headlight. Water can get in there, dust, or failure of the bulb if it gets wet. I removed the led's and upgraded the regular bulbs to avoid this and put them back. I can see some dry spots on the inside of the headlight not too bad, but I can not imagine what would they look like now if I had not put them covers back. With that being said, I would not recommend to keep it that way, you may experience premature wear or yellow headlights sooner than normal.

 

I'd get them, they are there for a reason, keeps out dirt and moisture.

The bulbs (at least the stock halogens) don't create a weather tight seal in the housing when installed.

Might want to do a search of ALL the draw backs to the LED headlamps here on the forum.

Then switch them back to Halogens, I like the Osram Night Breaker Lasers, super white bright light.

 

@Jeffs68 I gotcha. Mine may be halogen and not LED. I am getting new bulbs anyway due to an issue with my high beams not working (they should be dual filament bulbs but they installed low beam only bulb) How would I go about getting a set of those rubber seals? Is there any site that you recommend?

 

Is this what I would be looking for?

https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem...&Submodel=&Filter=()&Location=headlamp,,81139

 

There is no H4 single filament bulb. Many LEDs require covers to be removed because they won't fit and/or the LEDs will overheat if the cover is installed.

Read this on why LEDs in stock headlights are a terrible idea:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

 

That would be it.

 

@crashnburn80 I gotcha. Any idea why my high beams aren't working then? I checked the fuses and those are fine. I just figured whoever did the job used low beam single filament bulbs instead of dual filament bulbs like they were supposed to. Basically, I turn the lights on, everything is fine. Then when I push the lever forward to turn on the hi-beams I lose headlight light. Bring the lever back, low beams come back on. I have no clue what it could be...

 

Before you start chasing your tail, you need to start out with correct, known good bulbs and go from there.

 

Good call. I will go buy new ones and replace them and see what happens!

 

Welp turns out that the guy before me installed an aftermarket HID kit into the headlights. Now I'm very lost...

 

Your previous owner might have:

a) Used a 'Low-Beam-Only' H4 kit. We carry those, but to be honest most people go with the Bi-Xenon versions to get both Low and High Beam functionality rather than giving up the High Beams.

b) Installed a Bi-Xenon kit, but not have everything hooked up correctly. Your H4 kit should have some sort of three-pronged connection that it makes with the vehicle's OEM headlight wiring, and those pins/prongs will represent Low Beam/High Beam/Ground. They might just have the High Beam and Ground mixed up, so there could be a mismatch between the kit and the vehicle.

~Robert

 

Robert thank you so much! I will see if I can figure out the wiring. How would I be able to tell if it's a bi-xenon or a low beam only? Also, do you guys have an install guide or something that I can use to figure out the wiring? Thanks!

 

Hard to say - I can only give you advice based on how Our kits are put together, but I would expect that the connection being made into the vehicle's power would need to have three prongs for a Bi-Xenon kit and only two for a Low Beam-only kit. As for which wire is which if you just have a wiring issue, that you might have to do some trial and error work for. Odds are that if there is a black or darker-coloured wire, that is probably the Negative/Ground.

Best of luck!

~Robert