LED Bulb Conversion

[MikeW]

Ed Zachary!

Which is why that argument is void. But while arguing that point, there was talk and questions about LEDs in general.

[cp[mike]]

the problem with LEDs is that while they produce a comparable amount of light to an incandescent, its focused forward, and doesnt project as far. so as long as you have LED "bulbs" that have multiple LEDs facing every which way, youll be fine with them for brake lights and blinkers, because all they have to do is light up the lense/housing. but for reverse lights, you want light projected as far out behind the car as possible. normal LEDs wouldnt even be hardly visible, so the only option would be some very high intensity LEDs that actually produce a ton of heat, and would require at the very least passive heatsinks, and could easily get way too hot contained in the tiny reverse light spot, and burn itself out.

for the reverse lights, regular bulbs are still the best option.

[bagoon316]

so for the rears with the 1157 bulbs, meaning the lights/brake lights bulbs, do you need equalizers? or is it just for teh bigger bulbs that blink equalizers are needed?

[cp[mike]]

Originally Posted by bagoon316

so for the rears with the 1157 bulbs, meaning the lights/brake lights bulbs, do you need equalizers? or is it just for teh bigger bulbs that blink equalizers are needed?

the load equalizers are only needed for blinkers, because the flasher relay times itself based on how much current the blinkers draw - and with an LED in place of a regular bulb, its such a low current draw that it trips the relay to blink fast.

the only issue youd have with the brake lights is the "tail lamp" failure indicator in the gauge cluster - which the first post explains how to bypass.

[cp[mike]]

as for the front bumper lights being blinkers/always on, that is not functionality that can be gained by installing LEDs, since LEDs act as just a straight replacement for the original bulbs.

some wiring changes would need to be made for this, and there are other threads explaining how to do this. you can do it with a relay setup, or get a new socket that accepts a 1157 dual-filament bulb instead of a 1156 single-filament bulb. but this is a little beyond the scope of this thread, if you need help see if you can find the other threads (theres a number of them)

[MikeW]

Sweet. Answered those questions, lol. Thanks Mike.

[Losiracer2]

Originally Posted by greencb7inkc

I ultimately plan on making every light LED. cp[mike] style!

I think my next ones will be the bumper lights and license plate bulbs.

haha, even headlights? or are you gonna do a TSX retro like I did?

[C91BLX7]

I don't know why this is happening but sometimes, most of the time actually, the brake lamp light still comes on... I can get it to shut off buy turning the car off on off on really quick. Then it stays off till the next time

I have my high mount bulbless if that matters?

[GameChewer]

Bulbs replaced:
-All 4 rear tail/brake light bulbs - RED 4 1157 LED BULBS
-Both rear turn signal bulbs - AMBER 2 1156 LED BULBS
-All 4 front corner bulbs - AMBER
-Both rear license plate bulbs - WHITE
-Both front bumper signal bulbs - AMBER / WHITE

Im Confused about the others

[MikeW]

Drew, try putting the highmount bulb back in. If it goes away, then there's your answer. If it doesnt, then sounds like you got some rewiring to do son!

Kai, they actually make LED headlights, believe it or not, lol. They didnt look like something id use on the street, or at night, but definitely cool nonetheless.

I just find it hard to believe that an LED could put out the light needed to drive down the road...

[C91BLX7]

I tried with the high mount in, still does it

[GameChewer]

this is what my shopping cart looks like at superbrightleds.com

4 1156-x19 LED bulb $ 6.99 $ 0.00 Wide
Amber 1156-A19
$ 27.96
2 1157-x19 LED bulb $ 6.99 $ 0.00 Wide
Red 1157-R19
$ 13.98
4 WLED-x6 LED bulb $ 2.79 $ 0.00 Amber WLED-A6
$ 11.16


is that right?

[C91BLX7]

Looks correct, now you just need to order 4 load equalizers or run down to autozone and pick two pairs up.

EDIT, you need 4 RED 1157's looks like you just have 2 there.

[MikeW]

Originally Posted by GameChewer

Bulbs replaced:
-All 4 rear tail/brake light bulbs - RED 4 1157 LED BULBS
-Both rear turn signal bulbs - AMBER 2 1156 LED BULBS
-All 4 front corner bulbs - AMBER
-Both rear license plate bulbs - WHITE
-Both front bumper signal bulbs - AMBER / WHITE

Im Confused about the others

What are you confused about?

The front corner bulbs and license plate bulbs are all 194. The front bumper lights, i forget, but they can be replaced with 1156.

[MikeW]

No.

All together you need:

1157 x 4 --- (brake/tail)
194 x 6 --- (corners and license)
1156 x 4 --- (rear signals and front bumper signals)

[GameChewer]

Originally Posted by greencb7inkc

What are you confused about?

The front corner bulbs and license plate bulbs are all 194. The front bumper lights, i forget, but they can be replaced with 1156.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...e/commerce.cgi

Ok. but on here i can not find 194s.

[MikeW]

Gimme a sec, but you can find 194s on Ebay or at AutoZone.

Not sure about Advanced Auto or O'Reilly's.

If not superbright, i know a site.....

[C91BLX7]

Originally Posted by GameChewer

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...e/commerce.cgi

Ok. but on here i can not find 194s.

194/168 wedge are all the same
http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html

[MikeW]

http://superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html

Right therrrre.

The first few bulbs they list replace 194s.

Btw, theyre based in STL. 2 hours from me. Yay, me.

[MikeW]

at double linkage.