Johnny2003TL-S

I have watched the tutorial on how to remove the bumper and headlights on youtube(as I need to replace a headlight). dumb question: Where does the New Morimoto HID ballast cord enter the headlight for the bulb? Right in the same spot the original ballasts were? Or does it just enter where there would be spot to change the bulb? The guy at the RetroFit store told me I need to block off the hole in the bottom of the headlights where the old ballasts covered the hole. Where does the new bulb cord enter the headlight? I'm going to sell the other good ballast and ignitor on e-bay.

Johnny2003TL-S

Also how would you block off the hole. Even gorilla tape might do it, or I was thinking a piece of plastic with silicon sealer

Skirmich

Most use Silicon Gasket as the one Used for Sealing Windows or Sealing the Actual Headlight works very well and a Hand Tube is Pretty In-expensive at Autozone.

victus1

The new cord enters the headlight the same way as the old. But the Morimoto bulb socket is larger so it won't fit through that small hole. I just cut a piece of the plastic housing out to make the hole bigger and get the Morimoto socket through. After I installed the bulb, I fit the cut plastic piece back and used silicone to seal the seams and the hole. It doesn't look pretty, but it's all sealed.
I wouldn't block any holes at the bottom of the headlight. In fact, I drilled 2 more small holes in case the headlight leaks water so it can drain.

Johnny2003TL-S

Well, I hope the body shop has some imagination, and know-how, because I am paying them 200 bucks for all the work. HID upgrade and changing out the headlight and all bulbs. NOW the other light showed condensation this morning and it was gone after I drove it a small way. They better know what they're doing. I think I'm going to ask them and call someone else too. This looks like 2 big a job for me.

tOny3

iTrader: (9)

Please dont say that is a big job for you, thats the most basic job you can do really to your car. Upgrading the HID system/changing out headlights. I can prob get it done in 45mins. You're just throwing money away if you're gonna pay 200 just to get all that done.

Trust yourself!

victus1

It's not a big job, Johnny....it really isn't. The condensation problem indicates a leak around the lens of the headlight. There are various ways to solve this problem, the quickest is to use a good silicone bead around the lens-to-housing seal.

And you do want to leave a hole or two under the headlight base so any future water infiltration can find its way out before destroying your reflectors and bulbs.

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Depending on your skill level (primarily electrical and creativeness), this task could go either way. I am a skilled electrical technician and last Saturday this same job took me right around 1.5hrs (w/interruptions) and that's doing things perfect. The hardest part of the whole job is mounting the ballast beneath each headlight and ensuring they are weather protected. Buy some non insulated butt connectors, heatshrink, electrical tape, liquid sealer (black RTV silicone will suffice) and some patience. Make some fun out of it and learn something from it. Good luck!

Johnny2003TL-S

I am very creative, but have zero car experience besides tiny things. I don't even have tools, my brother has that stuff. The ballasts need to be mounted somewhere under the hood, as they will not fit in the regular spot. I need to make a hole or use an existing one to screw bolt them to.

A family member has generously offered to pay for the labor. I am under a lot of stress right now and just need this over.

!!!! Should I get another new headlight for the one that just started to leak or ask the body shop to silicon it??

Johnny2003TL-S

Also, we know an Acura guy that works out of his house on weekends. I think he works for 50 an hour. I might be able to get him to do this way cheaper. he did not return my call tonight.

victus1

I mounted the Morimoto ballasts in the exact same locations as the oem ballasts in my TL. It was too crowded to mount them under the hood. You have 2 options:

1) The morimoto bracket supplied will only fit to one screwhole. So use the morimoto bracket and mount one screw on one of the stock screwholes under the headlight. Then zip tie the rest of the ballast to hold it in place.

2) Cut out your own custom bracket with tinsnips out of sheet metal and drill holes to match at least 2 holes under the headlight to hold the ballast in place.

laff66

So do most aftermarket ballasts require cutting a bigger hole for the bulb socket? I just bought the morimoto ballasts but did not realize I'd have to cut up the headlight.

victus1

The Morimotos use a beefier higher quality socket; that's why. It's no big deal to cut a hole with a good knife. It's easily sealed.

Johnny2003TL-S

Any suggestion for NOT MORIMOTO kit where the harness will detach from the ballast?

I know you guys are hear to help. I am very frustrated. The Morimoto socket, will not fit through the hole, AND will not fit through the interior assembly of the headlamp. I am not cutting up 2 brand new headlights. I cannot even imagine it. And no mechanic will do it for me, they refuse. I need a system that detaches from the ballast so that I can snake the wire through the headlight assembly.

I found a place nearby that does upgrades of all kinds. They have their own upgrade kit, that they say is very good(MAXX brand) and detaches from the ballasts so they can just snake the wire through, but I will get flickering in cold weather? If its a good kit why am I going to get flickering? Also they wont touch the car unless I test the ballast with a new bulb, because the factory ballasts are 'soooo superior' to aftermarket.

Listen Shop! The headlight has had massive amounts of water droplets in it for a month, its only a matter of time before the ballast goes anyway, even if it is good. Who knows how much water has drained out after a lot of recent severe rain here.

My GF's boyfriend is a GM mechanic and is going to start looking into this for me.

Johnny2003TL-S

Also why should I pay a 25% restocking fee to retrofit store when they told me this was easy plug and play, for anyone thats ever worked on a car. Experienced mechanics are cringing at this set.

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Return the best aftermarket hid system? Why, because incompetent 'techs' have declined to do the install? As I've always said: there's a difference between a technician and a mechanic. Where are you located man?

victus1

If an incompetent mechanic doesn't understand that he only needs to cut a little portion of the round cap on the back of the headlight to make the Morimoto socket fit through, then seal it with silicone....then he has never done any custom work on a car. He needs to work for a dealer where only oem parts are installed. He is not a thinker!

Parts changers are not technicians. Technicians have a brain and engineering background to quickly find solutions for their customers....especially on something easy like HID ballasts. Imagine if you asked them to install an AV7 tranny in your TL....they would have a heart attack!

A Honda tuner shop would install these for you without hassles.

I am not a mechanic, but I figured out within minutes what I needed to do in order to get the Morimoto to fit. A little custom cut...no biggie. It's a 10+ year old car....not a 2013 Ferrari.

Johnny2003TL-S

I found a competent tech and had them installed today. They look good... photos to follow. Thanks guys!

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Thanks be to you my friend for not being defeated by such a simple task.

Congrats on the new lights.

Johnny2003TL-S

Thanks Youngone, I guess I got a lot of support through this. It turns out that my ballast was shot, my bulb was good. My other ballast is good but is covered with rust. A decent shop in CT saw the Morimotos and said, 'We can do that, and for a good price.' I just said, "do it now."

Funny thing, my DEPO aftermarket looks so much better than the oem headlamp, of course because of the age of the oem. It's throwing off way more light. I got the DEPO for $89.99 on Amazon.

I don't think I'll be whining on hear for a while. Knock knock!

----Thanks all for helping out. I'm so OCD about things.

Johnny2003TL-S

of course my phone is way off

victus1

Damn, I didn't even know that aftermarket headlights existed....and at such a good price. I am so happy to hear the install was trouble-free. There definitely are shops who are willing to put a little extra effort to make the customer happy.
Those things look like two small suns. Are you using the 35W or 50W Morimoto ballasts?

Johnny2003TL-S

Victus, yes, and DEPO is supposed to be really good. DEPO lights are about $160 or $180, but I found mine, fulfilled by Amazon, for 89.99. Looks good, we've had rain and I washed the car. It's perfect.

These are 35 watt and 4300k Morimotos. They look crazy because of the camera. No brighter than factory.

So now to buy another headlight and put it in. I am going to attempt myself. I doubt any water in is getting in through the new sealed up hole in the older lamp because one I can see they really sealed the bleep out of it.

These kids knew a lot about cars, but if they can do it, I can. I just need to use the HID cap that they already outfitted with the new cord and seal. Heck I can spray it with sealant if I'm worried. Problem now is no ventilation in the headlight. Just moisture leak, so it doesn't dry out when I drive, and it's getting worse. Oh well, after this the car is good.

tOny3

iTrader: (9)

Should've done what i did. I've had depo's before, yes they look pretty great, but quality will never beat OEM. IM glad i have oem right now even though they could be in better condition. As for the morimoto HID kit, i also have those.

You should've got the REGULAR hid kit from them, not the specific D2S/D2R, difference is that the regular ballast comes with pigtails, meaning if anything happens in the future say you get a regular civic, you can swap over the HID kit and just buy 9006 adapters, with the D2S/D2R Ballast you cant.

I got the 55W regular ballast kit with D2S/D2R pigtails, saves money in the long run if you ever get a new car and want to install HID's.


Also if the "mechanic" says he cant install it, just laugh in his face and tell him to stop claiming he's a "mechanic" and go else where.

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

You will be disappointed by the Depo headlights my friend. As Tony said above, you should've went back with OEM headlight assembly's. Even if you couldn't afford new ones, buying used ones is always the best route. Atleast with used ones you can have the lens reconditioned back to a near brand new clarity. Aftermarket assembly's are made from extremely cheap plastics and are nowhere near the quality and look you get with the originals. Yes, at first they look good. But give it about 1-2 months and you'll see what I mean. The lense will begin to develop micro cracks and get so bad it will literally affect light output. Also, the mechanics of the internal adjustments will strip out after 1-3 uses so set them at a proper angle and try not to mess with them again. Make sure that you keep any info on factory warranty and exchange them at the first notice of any issues. Here at the shop, if the customer cannot afford new OEM units and their OEMs are irreparable, we locate used ones and just recondition those. We have learned (a long time ago) to never buy cheap parts because, as they say, "you get what you pay for".

laff66

Oh great. You may have just prevented yet another bad move. I've got an aftermarket headlight sitting in the trunk I was gonna put on when I do ballasts/bulbs on the car I just got. Both sides are OEM right now, but one looks pretty new. If I decide to recondition the older side, what product do you recommend? I've done another vehicle with the 3M kit that's about $25 and it was pretty good. I've heard of something else that involves a finishing spray but have never seen it. All I can figure is maybe it replaces the UV protection that plastic headlights supposedly have that gets sanded off in the restore process?

Johnny2003TL-S

I can’t believe what a pain in the rear I was in 2015!!!! I sound like an idiot.

As for the Depo headlight, it’s 4 years old and going strong. The Morimoto kit on the other hand, broke down fairly quickly and because I could not swap out, plug and play, with ballasts and such. I ended up with a new kit that looks a lot like Kensun but with a different name. The components are so much cheaper than the Morimoto but they just keep going, and I can just unplug the ballasts completely and swap.

Another company happened to have their little warehouse headquarters 10 miles away and I just showed up there and bought what the guy told me to get. Plus he had a guy that would do them for $50 and took his time.

Not like the Morimoto for brightness or quality, and they need to warm up for 5 or 10 seconds, but they have lasted.

Since this post I have had to become a very amateur mechanic. I figure out what’s wrong, go to the junk yard, buy a starter, or a wiper motor, or fog light, watch a YouTube video, and just attack it. I leave big stuff to the mechanics.

195k on it now. I decided to look at HID kits because I’m working on the car and my set has a good amount of hours and discovered this post on google.