[Bumble B]

So i got impulsive one day and bought from eBay LED replacement bulbs for all externals (except for heads and hi-beams). installed the front turn signal bulb (passenger side only) and it blew my hazard fuse and turn signal fuse. at some point the driving light illuminated, but alas, it also blew out. did i make the impulsive mistake and buy cheap, ineffecive bulbs? did i install them wrong? do i need other parts? (in reading other threads it seems i may be lacking a relay or something of some sort...)

i thought this would be a nice, easy, and good looking mod. so much for that... any help, comments or concerns would be greatly appreciated.

lastly, is it really worth the conversion, in terms of brighness? (are the multiple led bulbs brighter than the stock incadescents?)

thank u all!

 

[nacranym]

i didn't have any of those (bad) things happen when i installed LEDs for everything exterior except heads & fogs.
i did go thru several LEDs to find those that were bright enough for me.
the only "issue" i had was anticipated, the hyperflash of the turn signals. i fixed that by changing the flasher module/relay to 1 that was not load sensitive.
the fact that a fuse was blown is suspicious, LEDs shouldn't draw enough current to blow a fuse. LEDs usually have the opposite problem that they don't draw enough current to trip a load sensitive flasher and the flasher goes into hyperflash mode to alert the driver that a bulb is out.

 

[Serj22]

The bulbs might have been just fine, but they need resistors on them usually, and some Ebay sellers don't include the resistors so they blow out almost immediately... there's websites out there that take what kind of system you have, the LED's you have, and give you a resistor that you need attached in line before the LED.

 

[Bumble B]

sweet thank you! i will try to find the resistors...

 

[E_BikeR]

Try this:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_info.htm

The LED calculator can really help with multi lamp installs, or get you headed down the right resistance path.

Good Luck!

 

[Mr. Darcy]

Led Flasher

I have a 2009 E and replaced my exterior bulbs with led and am having the psycho flasher problem. Did anyone have any luck finding what will work?

 

[E_BikeR]

Resistors for the spastic blinker causes other problems, the best way to solve this is the control box for your blinker under the dash. Listed as "LED bulb Flasher Unit" in this page This does not make excessive heat in a resistor, and works with either incandescent or LED's. I have not messed with stand alone LED blinkers yet, so I won't be much help in telling you which part number is required. Anyone else know which of these will work in the E?

 

[nacranym]

if you go to the turn/tail/stop page of that website and then find the description of the flashers, you'll notice that only 2 of the flashers are identified as fitting Japanese vehicles. (please read the disclaimer that they don't claim to cover all vehicles, and i guess i should add my own disclaimer.) and 1 of those 2 is for late model Toyotas and has too many pins. that narrows the field to 1. i suspect that flasher will do the job. i also suspect that the case may also be slightly too large to directly plug into the underdash fuse block. if that's the situation, it's OK to remove the case to get it to fit, that's what i did, back in 2004. that's why the details are fuzzy. i might be able to find the case, if that's important to someone. i didn't buy the flasher from this vendor, IIRC. or maybe i did, i had to experiment to find 1 that would work back then.
anyway, you need the 3 prong CF13 type of flasher. note that the only difference between the 2 types they offer is that Battery and Earth connections are reversed. that's a very important difference. get the JL version. J as in Japanese, even if your E was built in the USA.
if the case is too large to fit into the fuse block and you don't want to remove the case, you could just "remote" the flasher by using some wire, a relay socket and a bracket. i'm sure E_BikeR would have the skills to do that, based on his previous work.

 

[prior8t2000]

I don't understand?
Mine work just fine.
Cecil....

 

[Tim777]

This might be unnecessary but you should unplug the battery connectors when doing any light or lamp installation to be safe.

 

[nacranym]

This might be unnecessary but you should unplug the battery connectors when doing any light or lamp installation to be safe.

yes, and the necessity is frequently inversely proportional to the skill/knowledge of the person doing the repair/change/replacement.

 

[Bygshow]

You can purchase the resistors at any Auto Zone store for about 10 bucks... You will need them for your brakes and turn signals to keep them from blinking at diffrent speeds.

 

[nacranym]

You can purchase the resistors at any Auto Zone store for about 10 bucks... You will need them for your brakes and turn signals to keep them from blinking at diffrent speeds.

your brake lights shouldn't be blinking, unless you have a hyperactive foot. <grin>