'02 TL (non S). Passenger side low beam has been intermittently working, so I ordered a new kit to replace everything for both headlights ( Factory White D2R 5000k HID Light Conversion Kit | HIDeXtra ). I've got my bumper off and headlights pulled, and I'm now stuck staring at headlight assemblies with thin ballasts on the bottom of them. My new ballasts are twice as thick, and don't have a plug on their bottom to seal the connection inside the headlight. How do I mount the new ballasts? How do I get the new wiring from the new ballasts to the bulbs inside the housings? On a previous install I did on a motorcycle, I drilled holes through the access cap for the bulbs and ran the wires through them, but those included grommets to seal the hole around the wires.

Help please!

 

Sometimes the ballast will come with a small metal plate that you can bend to secure in those 2 holes (Front and Back).
If the ballast doesn't come with a metal plate you will have to get creative. Also you must cover the big hole with silicone gasket so there is no moisture behind the bulb that will end up inside the headlight housing.


If your question is: Why the aftermarket ballast doesn't attach to the OEM Position? NOBODY makes a Ballast that fits in the stock position and secure itself with the stock bolts. You must secure the ballast yourself.. The Retrofit kit only means you will replace the stock igniter and ballast with a single aftermarket unit.

 

Thanks for the reply. That answers one of my questions - I didn't realize there weren't direct aftermarket replacements available.

My second question is how do I run the new wires from the ballast to the ignitor/bulb? Drill a hole in the housing? Drill a hole in the bulb access cover? I haven't been able to find any DIY posts with a description of how they routed their wires to connect the ballast to the bulb.

 

You can use the same big hole to run the Ballast > Bulb wire and seal it up with silicone gasket. There are some rubber O-Ring gaskets that autoparts store sell that can fit in the hole? Could give that a try.
The power lines runs outside of the headlight housing.

 

I was thinking of leaving the OEM ballast in place to seal the large hole and drilling a small hole next to it to run the wire from ballast to bulb. Seems like it would be a lot easier to seal a smaller hole with silicon than the large hole. I did a test fit and there's room for the new ballast to sit directly below the oem ballast when the headlight housing is mounted.

 

That could work too! but you will have to relocate the ballast somewhere else and you will be carrying dead weight

 

have you looked at the threads in main area - titles like- hidextra install- clean
or the ones in the diy threads?

some ziners are mounting the new ballast at the edge of fender to light housing, there are pics
others prefer to the front frame rail- rear side, or side frame rails.
the kit should have a small plate that mounts to frame, then ballast clicks in to it

The OE ballast are the size and weight of a brick
there is also a small, separate invertor/igniter to be removed

step back and look at it- can you slip 1 wire at a time thru a small opening?
the BIG deal is making sure the 1 arm that holds bulb in place is in correctly and bulb is positioned right--external rod down