Weird LED rear tail light issue
Weird LED rear tail light issue Weird problem on my new rear tail lights. I'm not into the whole LED thing but since I had a light go out on my 01 WS6 vert I said what the heck and found 3157 LEDs at pep boys. So I put them on and I checked the parking lights and they worked. So, I went out and noticed the int lights like the cluster and radio lights would dim with brakes on. With car off the dash lights and beeping when you hit the brakes...
I pulled them out but is it the type of LEDs or what?
I pulled them out but is it the type of LEDs or what?
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
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Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
The dimming dash lights is odd, but I haven't seen any good drop-in LEDs at Pep Boys.
To light up the housing, you need a "tower" style with LEDs facing all directions. All the ones I've seen at Pep Boys have the LEDs all facing directly out. With those, you'll just get a spot of light in the middle of the lens instead of lighting up the housing.
Also, you'll need to replace the flasher with a semi-electronic or fully-electronic module or the turn signals won't work. You should be able to find a Tridon EL-12 at Pep Boys.
I just re-read your post.... what is beeping? That is definitely not right unless you bought some white reverse lights with a beeper in them.
To get the most light through the lens, get LEDs that match the lens color. Red LED behind red lens, amber LED behind amber lens, etc.
To light up the housing, you need a "tower" style with LEDs facing all directions. All the ones I've seen at Pep Boys have the LEDs all facing directly out. With those, you'll just get a spot of light in the middle of the lens instead of lighting up the housing.
Also, you'll need to replace the flasher with a semi-electronic or fully-electronic module or the turn signals won't work. You should be able to find a Tridon EL-12 at Pep Boys.
I just re-read your post.... what is beeping? That is definitely not right unless you bought some white reverse lights with a beeper in them.
To get the most light through the lens, get LEDs that match the lens color. Red LED behind red lens, amber LED behind amber lens, etc.
Last edited by VIP1; Nov 8, 2013 at 10:11 PM. Reason: spelling
Thank you for the reply. The ones I got were the tower with leds on top and sides and were red. The beeping was when the key was out and I stepped on the brake. Its the same beeping when you have the lights on and the key is out. Like I said the dash, radio, ac lights came on when I pressed the brake.
I returned them this am, but I thought this was very odd.
I returned them this am, but I thought this was very odd.
The flasher alone won't do it. You are going to need to add load resistors. I just finsihed doing a LED conversion on the entire exterior. Even put switchbacks up front. I used the EL12 flasher. I also used 2 load resistors on the back tail lights. Works like a charm.
I recommend against using LEDs for the brake lights. LED brake lights will cause your cruise control not to work. Only way to fix it is to wire in resistors which is really more hassle than it's worth, plus eliminates the whole point of LEDs (low power consumption).
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Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
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From: Eastern MA
Originally Posted by 30birdy99
The flasher alone won't do it. You are going to need to add load resistors. I just finsihed doing a LED conversion on the entire exterior. Even put switchbacks up front. I used the EL12 flasher. I also used 2 load resistors on the back tail lights. Works like a charm.
No, load resistors are not needed.
Trifon EL-12 is not fully Electronic. If you only put LED in a few places, it will work. If you put LED in all turn signal locations font and back, you'll need a different, fully-electronic flasher. A few options have been posted on here in the past.
I've only seen this problem when placing LED in the CHMSL (Center High Mount Stop Lamp - AKA: 3rd brake light). Since I don't care about cruise control (I never use it), I have LED in my CHMSL. Actually my CHMSL is the only place I have LED since those seem to be the only ones that would burn out and I like having the projected Pontiac Arrow on the ground behind the car. If you don't know what I'm talking about, turn on the hazards at night and look at the ground behind the car (only works with standard incandescent bulbs though).
Last edited by VIP1; Dec 9, 2013 at 01:18 AM.
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