Affordable Auto LED Blog

Posts Tagged ‘LED tail lights’

This will go over how to install LED socket bulbs for your brake light, turn signal light, and backup light. This is an alternative to the LED panels that most online stores are selling. And it’s also much cheaper.

Also thanks to AiboPet for the resistor information and for telling me which wires to cut and which to leave alone.

Turn Signal Light: 1156
Brake Light: 1157
Backup Light: 921

Check on ebay for cheaper LED’s that match those bulb codes above.

You will also need four 10ohm, 25watt resistors. One for each bulb. Again ebay has these for sale. If you do not use resistors, your turn signals will hyper flash (4-5 flashes per second) because there is no resistance. Also your cruise control and stability control will turn off if you don’t put one on for your brake lights. Don’t argue with me on this, I argued with AiboPet and found out the hard way you need these resistors or it just won’t work.

Here is a pic of what I started out with:

With these supplies ready for me to go, I started with the left side light kit. Yes it’s an entire kit as the whole thing comes off at once. There are three screws you need to take off. I marked them in this pic:

Once those three screws are off, and after you take a swig of mountain dew because it’s another HOT day, you have to wiggle it off the car. It’s being held in on the left side by the plastic guides. Just wiggle it back and forth and eventually you’ll pull the entire unit off. This is what the car looks like without the light kit on:

Put the light kit in your trunk upside down so the wires are facing up. It’s easier to work on this in your trunk because it’s carpeted and won’t scratch up the outside plastic if you’re careful enough. Here’s a detailed pic of wires underneath the light kit:

Now remove the bulb holders. They only turn one way so if it doesn’t turn for you, turn it the only way. Remove the stock turn signal bulb and replace it with one of the new 1156 LED bulbs you just bought like this:

Next you need to install a resistor. Again if you don’t do this, you will get hyper flashing and you really don’t want that. You will see a yellow and black wire going to the bulb holder. Take your trusty wire cutters and cut them both like this:

Start with the yellow wire and remove a quarter inch of rubber coating on each side. Be careful not to cut the metal wire because you don’t have much room to work with. They didn’t leave much slack. Also take out your resistor and do the same to one of the wires coming out of it. Finally after that’s done, group them all up like this:

Twist them all together really tight, then get a wire cap and twist that on really tight. You should have THREE wires going into the cap. Both ends of the yellow wire, and one end of the resistor wire. It should look like this:

Next do the same exact thing to the black wire as you did to the yellow wire. This time put the other end of the resistor into the cap. Make sure it’s hand tight. You don’t want this coming loose while you drive and short your electrical system out. It should look like this after you’re done with it:

Now you have to mount your resistor somewhere safe and out of the way. It’s going to get hot when you use your turn signals. That’s what resistors do, they resist electricity and a byproduct is heat. It won’t melt anything but just to be safe, keep it away from your wires. Take some of that double sided tape and stick it to one of the plastic fins on the side like this:

Congrats, your blinker is done, now for your brake light. You have a green, red, and black wire going to your brake light holder. LEAVE THE GREEN WIRE ALONE. Here’s a pic of which wires you need:

Now cut the red and black wire and remove the rubber coating like this picture is showing you:

Do the same thing you did with the blinkers, but with these two wires. You need a resistor for this bulb as well. When you finish, it should look like this:

You are done with the brake lights, now the easy part. Just remove the backup light bulb and pop the new LED version in. It’s that easy. No need for a resistor. The only problem is that you might have the backup light in backwards which then it won’t light up. So test it out by plugging it back into the car and with the help of a friend (or if you don’t have friends like me use the parking brake), test it out in reverse to see if the bulb lights up. If it doesn’t, just take the bulb out and turn it around. It should light up then. Here’s what the finished product should look like before attaching it back onto your car:

We found this useful information from kiasoulforums.com and to buy LED Bulbs, please visit us at www.LEDoption.com, the cheap LED Bulbs.

Before

Tail light removal… There are two phillips head screws per tail light to remove

…Once these are out pull the tail light out. You sill have to use a little bit of persuasion still but they should come on out

Next, the harness connects just underneath the vehicle…

…just disconnect the harness and your good. Watch out for falling debris!!!

At this point the old tail light is out and you’re ready to install the new assembly. For the most part the tail light will just plug in and you’re good to go. I’ve heard that MOST people have no issue with the hyper blink on these G4′s however there are a handful that have had the issue so I just make the resistor mod from the get go with the hopes of not having to deal with it later so before installing the light I spliced in the new resistor.

First, cut the wires on the original, gray box that comes with the light.

Next you’ll want to splice in the new resistor. Also, this is just a temporary splice for now. This weekend I plan on getting some shrink connectors to keep it free from the weather. You’ll also want to zip tie your wires up in a bundle to keep them organized and out of the way (not pictured)…

…from my research it doesn’t matter which end go to the green wire and which end goes to the black wire. This resistor did come with Scotch-lok connectors but I chose not to use them (and several folks urged me to trash them as well)

Securing the resistor is easy. I used the red 3M tape (very strong stuff!!)…

…and put it on the back and attached the resistor to the back of the tail

Did my tests (lights, brakes, blinker,…)

Just for grins here’s a pic of one LED in and one stocker in. HUGE difference IMO

Do these same steps to the other side and…

Sorry for the crappy cell pics but it was just easier. Also, I was hoping to do this out in the light to get better pics but it’s been so rainy I was too impatient to wait longer before I installed them.

We found this useful information from tahoeyukonforum.com and to buy car LED bulbs, please visit us at www.LEDoption.com, the discount LED bulbs store.