Help! Removing Head Lamps

[chumone]

I've spent over an hour trying to remove the 3 prong connector from the head lamps so that I can install Tone's HID conversion kit. I lost a little skin and a little patience, but couldn't get that darned connector off. I even removed the battery to make the job a little easier.

Any tips? I was trying to squeeze the sides of the connector where it starts getting small 'cause it feels like there's a little give (a clip?), but that didn't seem to do any thing. Am I squeezing the right place? My fingers are average sized and I don't think I can force my finger between the rubber boot and the connector any further.

[Ldub]

Do you have the lamps/connection out of the headlight housing ???
If not, put your finger in there & feel around the back of the lamp/connection, you'll feel a piece of wire (about same gauge as a wire coat hanger) with a loop on the end. Push the loop forward (towards the front) & sideways to dis-engage the retaining clip from the back of the bulb holder & pull the whole works out the back of the housing.
NOW you can remove the bulb from the plug, no prob.

[WyrreJ]

It is really easy to do, when you do it right. But be careful, if you put too much pressure on it in the wrong way, you can snap off the lip that makes a "poor man's hinge" (speaking from personal experience, ugh).

[Tone]

I just sent you the instructions again...and the email bounced back as no such address.

[chumone]

Hey Tone,

I have the original instructions printed out. I just couldn't get that connector off. Going to try it again next weekend.

Not sure if I felt that metal clip, but will look for it and try to take the whole bulb and connector out at once.

[chumone]

So I couldn't figure out how to get the headlamps out and decided to take the whole thing to the local dealer and let them install kit. At first, they wanted $85 to install the kit, which was fine. Later, they called and said they didn't want to install the kit 'cause it was too complicated. I explained to them that the instructions are very simple, that the only reason I took it in was because I couldn't get the bulbs out. After a short discussion, they said they'd take the bulbs out for me and I'd do the HID install at home. Fine.

When I went to pick up the car 5 hours later, they wanted to charge me $85 for the labor. What? A short, heated discussion later (in which he explained to me the mechanic didn't want anything to do with the kit), we settled on $50. Fine.

I take the Ironman home and proceed to install the HIDs. F**K. The mechanic broke the little plastic tab (on the hinge side, next to the screw) that holds the rention clip in place on the passenger side and ripped a hole in the rubber boot. I told those idiots to read Tone's directions, if they did, they would have known to be careful with that rention clip. F**K.

I've installed the driver side bulb (easy), but now I don't know what to do about the passenger headlamp assembly ($400 to replace?). I can go argue with the dealer and they'll probably deny everything, so short of buying a new assembly, is there any other good way to keep that bulb in place? Duct tape?

The guys that charged me $50 so that they can break my headlamp assembly: Vista Ford/Lexus/Isuzu in Woodland Hills, CA.

[tbigity]

dude! That hardcore sucks. That is why dealers are no good at everything. They will tell that they make the majority of their profits off of repair work. They wanted $120 to change the oil in my old HD when the lube shop down the road charged $40 and threw in a rough retailing AND only took 20 minutes as opposed to half a day.

[WyrreJ]

Well, that's exactly the part I broke on mine. On mine the "tab" was only slightly broken off, so the head of the screw was no longer sufficient to hold the clip in place. I was able to put a thin flat washer on the screw with a diameter slightly larger than the head of the screw and use that to hold the clip in place. 3-4 months later, so far so good.