Headlight Water & Condensation leads to HID Ballast Failure

Where did you get the ballast parts from and how much?
I'm looking to do the same thing on mine because I also have condensation building up in my drivers side head light assembly and have just been replacing bulbs and dealing with the issue for far to long now.
I am thinking of replacing the head light assembly too, because I think that O-ring that protect the bulb and ballast harness is the culprit for the moisture intrusion. Before I start anything I am trying to get an idea of total cost.

 

Hi- I am having the same problem....the lens cover seal seems to have failed and am getting moisture in the lamp....dealer wants to replace the lens cover and says parts cost $475.00....crazy....what is the fix for this?

 

I am in the process of fixing this leaking issue on my 2007 (the sealer is drying). Remove the headlamp assembly as noted in the video above. Unplug the lights (there is a little lock tab on each connector) rather than removing them leaving the bulb and the bulb socket in the fixture. Try to keep the clear portion facing the same way as it was situated in the car or facing up as you remove it and set it down. The reason for this is to keep any water inside the fixture from running down onto the lens where it is virtually unclean-able if it leaves any stains. The reason you want to keep the bulb holders in the assembly is to keep it sealed. At the very top and bottom of the assembly, you will see a odd shaped rubber cap with a filtered vent. Remove both of them. Then without shocking yourself, remove the HID power supply from the bottom of the fixture by removing the four screws and inspect it for wetness. This is where excessive water will settle in the assembly. The metal portion can also be removed from the plastic portion by removing three screws. Dry everything out in and around the ballast. (both mechanically and in the sun for a couple hours) When you are satisfied that the ballast is dry, reinstall it (or if you satisfied the ballast is fried, replace it). Now choose either hole where you removed the rubber cap and inject some kind of low pressure dry air supply. The location of the two holes makes the air run all the way through the fixture. My buddy's CPAP machine worked great. Run the dry air through the fixture to fully dry it out. While that is going on, take your finger and plug up the hole opposite the air supply (so it builds up mild pressure inside) and spray windex around the lens seal where the clear meets the black portion of the assembly. You will see bubbles where the seal is bad. Identify the location and then remove your finger from the hole so the fixture can continue drying out. Clean the leaky location using a 409 followed by rubbing alcohol and seal with a good RTV (Silicone sealer). When you think the fixture is fully dried out, replace the top and bottom plugs and reinstall the fixture. I changed out my turn and side marker bulbs while this thing was all opened up just to save grief later. My leak was on the drivers side fixture, and near the amber reflector portion of the assembly. Thanks to the original poster for this thread and also to Luscious Garage for posting a real time saving video. OTTER

 

Where did you purchase the replacement ballast? A YouTube mentioned hidconcepts.com however that domain is for sale.

I replaced the driver's side headlight on my 2008 last year or the year before, it probably had at least 60K miles at that point. Last week, the passenger side went out (144k miles). After ordering a replacement bulb from Amazon I found it is not the bulb but probably the ballast. I commented to my husband last night about the condensation I noticed and just put two and two together after reading your posts.

I previously found this thread about installing an HID relay harness to improve the ballast functionality and thought I would share: Prius Gen II HID headlight Question | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

My husband and I (mostly my husband) successfully replaced the passenger side ballast yesterday morning. It took about 2 hours I think. We did not install the relay harness I mentioned in the post above. I purchased the ballast from the HID Concept store on ebay. I believe they previously had their own website but it is no longer available. They had three ballasts with varying degrees of newness and warranty ranging from $93 - $150. I purchased the middle option for $120. They were also selling two ballasts and 2 HID lights for $260, a pretty good deal. If it wasn't the ballast our next plan was to find an entire headlight assembly at a salvage yard but luckily we didn't have to go that route. This information was especially helpful as well: Toyota Prius: How to Replace the HID Ballast/Computer/ECU - PriusDIY.com

 

I bought this remanufactured ballast from ebay: Lexus Replacement OEM HID/Xenon Ballast GS300 GS430 (Original)

Installed it over the weekend with no problems.

 

Still Had to Remove Plug on 2005...

Loved your awsome post bikr357, Very nicely documented! It is exactly the way I like to approach things - a little "inside the box" manuvering to avoid disassembling the new lamp connector and risk damage.

Oddly this did not work on my 2005 Prius, odd because I assume you were working on your 2006 and I thought 2005-2006 headlights were the same. The 7th picture down showing the ribbed bottom of inner reflector - mine was smooth so there must have been a design change. I tried for over an hour to work the connector past the black clip that the automatic leveler screws into and there was no way to get it past without breaking something - if nothing else, I am persistant. The inside path past the screw clip you show was not even close for me, I could almost get it past going to the outside (between screw clip and black outer housing). I even tried forcing the reflector down and lifting on the black outer housing to provide a smige more clearance. In the end I had to disassemble the hi-voltage plug, if done carefully it would be hard to tell it was ever apart. The rest was pretty straightforward as documented in many other P-C threads.