LED light conversion

[firefighterwhite89]

I'm currently changing every light on my car to LED, with an exception to the headlights. They'll be those 7x6 halo headlights with the purple xenon lights eventually. So far, the dash lights, panel lights, interior lights/dome light, trunk light, parking lights, corner lights and rear turn signals along with 3 taillight bulbs. Gotta get load resistors first though before I can finish. Can anyone point me in the right direction for what will keep my turn signals from hyperflash etc

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[firefighterwhite89]

Pictures coming momentarily. The dash/gauge lights are actually pink but the way they make these pink colors is two red and one blue bulb so the blue really shows through the gauge faces. LEDs work interestingly like so: an LED emits only one color unlike incandescent bulbs that are always warm white, but bulbs are coated in something to make a color even though it's still white and has every color of the rainbow shining through. LEDs on the other hand...they shine exactly one color. Not all white with a coating like incandescent. So a pink bulb wont shine through a green lense though a green will shine through. Incandescent will shine through every color. Keep that in mind.

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[Dr_Snooz]

Some of those LEDs aren't cheap. Where are you getting these without selling a kidney?

[firefighterwhite89]

EBay. T5 blues were $1 auction for 10, pink T10s were $1 for 20 lucky auction, x2 T10 amber 13 SMD 5050 for $0.10, x4 T10 white 5050 10 SMD. FOR $1, X2 102 SMD 5050 led 1156 for 5$ and 68 SMD LED x2 1156 for 5$

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[firefighterwhite89]

All on eBay bro. Watching the Hong Kong auction

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[firefighterwhite89]

1157 dual led bulbs are the expensive ones

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[firefighterwhite89]

Converting to LEDs is expenses unless you bid cheap

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[Hazwan]

I wouldn't bother with a load resistor. Just get a proper flasher for LEDs or you can mod the stock ones so it won't flash quickly with LEDs.

Also keep in mind that running these cheap LEDs straight 14v with the engine running is going to kill it faster. Them being cheap probably won't last that long anyway. LEDs don't like current spikes and stuff (I don't remember the right term for it) but you gonna have to limit the amount of current going to them.

I have some cheap pnp LEDs that burn out after a year or so while the one I made with custom 12v regulator still working perfectly fine but then only time will tell.

[Dr_Snooz]

Thanks. I priced all the bulbs to convert my dash a few years ago. Once I saw the total, I liked my factory bulbs a lot better. Some of them were $20 each from where I was shopping.

[firefighterwhite89]

Nah, on eBay, look for T10 LEDs (p168/194), T5 LEDs tiny for the dash, and the 1156 and 1157 bulbs are the same

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[firefighterwhite89]

1156 SMD bulbs

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[firefighterwhite89]

A few of my T5 dash light replacement. Daytime photos though. :-\

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[firefighterwhite89]

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[dieselgus]

Excellent move. I hate non functioning bulbs with a passion. Think it was a grand total of $60 for every bulb in the interior (except the dome light. Peeled apart a spare white lighthead from a Tomar ambulance light bar and used it. Credit card sized and way brighter than anything available through normal means)

Looking at doing my tails soon but the only shitty thing about cold climates is driving in snow. It tends to collect on the tail lights and at least with incandescants in there the heat melts it a little and keeps them from being obscured. LED are lower heat so no melting. Signals will probably be changed to Whelen Vertex led strobes set to a slow triple flash, and the oem flasher bypassed. Shitty thing is the $80 per lighthead for them.

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[firefighterwhite89]

True. I started with the taillights. 5 bulbs of 7 are LED. The light out warning bugs me badly though. And when the LED 1156 bulbs I put in the front bumper didn't light, yet incandescent bulbs light no problem...can't figure that out. The rear works great. Front wont light LEDs for some reason...any idea why?

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[niles]

My guess is either the polarity or bad connection?

...and some night pictures please! lol

[Dr_Snooz]

I remember that the bulbs I priced out were plug and play. The resistor was built in, so I didn't have any issues. The total just to convert my gauge cluster was nearly $200 though. In my car, I put LEDs in the group of switches that includes the dash brightness control, rear defroster and headlight pop-up switch. They had hot-spots and didn't go well with the other bulbs. I finally went to the junkyard, scavenged some bulbs and went back to incandescent. I still have LEDs in one door and the dome light. I'll replace those with the OE bulbs one day.

LED fitment was a real issue for me. In some cases, I had to shave down the bulb bases. In others, I had to cut off the tops of the LEDs. In still others, I had to stretch out my switch connections or cut on the bulb housings. Cutting the LEDs didn't bother me, but cutting on the car really curbed my enthusiasm.

For me, LED conversion ended up being an all-or-nothing proposition. I wasn't happy with a mix of LEDs and incandescents, so it became a question of whether it's cheaper to buy a few incandescents or a bunch of LEDs. And it wasn't a simple swap. It required a lot of fiddling to make it work.

Is that a pretty typical experience or did I manage to over-complicate things again?

[niles]

I agree with consistency completely Dr_Snooz. I have been putting off the LED conversion until I can do it to perfection, and because I am too dumb to figure out how to get some of the dash apart hehehe

[firefighterwhite89]

Dr. Snooz, you may have tried too hard. I did my entire cluster for less than $5 and took less than 20 minutes.


I gotta figure out why the Defroster Switch won't light up with good bulbs. Wiring issue somewhere i'm assuming.
100_0868_zpsa0a968db.mp4 Video by firefighterwhite89 | Photobucket <------Video of the LED turn signal/bright headlights and the rest of the car.

Gauge cluster

Passenger side floorboard

New LED Festoon dome light is uber bright.

Drivers side floorboard

Center console/radio

[firefighterwhite89]

Gauge cluster clear pic.

And that would be Sir Bolt Vanderhuge, my kitty! He loves riding in my 3Gee!

[firefighterwhite89]

The pink T10(P168/P194) bulb. I got 20 of them for $2.99/Free Shipping.



The blue T5(S12/S14) bulbs i used for the cluster/switches. I got 10 of them for $0.50/Free Shipping


The amber T10(P168/P194) bulbs I used for the added turn signals on my fender. They were 2 for $1/Free Shipping

[firefighterwhite89]

The T10(P168/P194) bulbs I used for the front driving lights. I got 2 for $1.50/Free Shipping.

[firefighterwhite89]

Is there a way to remove the current resistor out of a stock flasher relay and replace it with one more rated for LEDs(Different Resistance) so it doesn't hyper flash or just stay on?

[2ndGenGuy]

There are a bunch of sites that sell "electronic" flashers you can buy. They're like $5. Some of them will plug right into your harness, but some, you just gotta run some jumpers from the harness to the new relay. I have one in my 81 that run my LED turn signals and they work great. I think I ordered it from superbrightleds.com.

[firefighterwhite89]

There are a bunch of sites that sell "electronic" flashers you can buy. They're like $5. Some of them will plug right into your harness, but some, you just gotta run some jumpers from the harness to the new relay. I have one in my 81 that run my LED turn signals and they work great. I think I ordered it from superbrightleds.com.

I'm assuming you're talking about this one? I can't really seem to source many pictures of the flasher module itself from google. I'm assuming it's a three pin kind of relay...Do you remember?


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