LED exterior light conversion! not going well :(

[Scott91370]

I just used LED on headlights and auxiliary fog lights where it really matters and kept the rest incandescent. I have seen too many threads about issues LEDs in turn signals to even want to try it elsewhere

That's what I did as well as backup bulbs. I did start with other lights as LED but didn't care for it in the housing because they were to pinpoint and didn't fill out the lens with light like an incandescent.

 

[daveca]

This bit the 1980s Honda Goldwing owners hard, install LED lights that draw almost no current and the voltage regulator freaked out.

The 6 amp draw of the running lights was required to stabilize the regulator.

LEDs require a minimum voltage drop to operate, the units will bd expecting 12-14 VDC. There may be enough voltage drop in old wiring CONNECTORS to cause problems.

It may be necessary to power them thru a relay from IGN or BATTERY

 

[AuroraGirl]

I just used LED on headlights and auxillary fog lights where it really matters and kept the rest incandescent. I have seen too many threads about issues LEDs in turn signals to even want to try it elsewhere

Mitigateable but to a lot of hassle. I like stop lamps being LED

 

[ChevyTruckLove75]

OK UPDATE AND SOLVED!!!

wow folks! I figured it out and of course with some good knowledgeable help from everyone here!! although I'm not completely out of the woods but here it goes!

so I switched every LED light on the exterior of the truck and put brand new bulbs in all the places., after jiggling a few connections to make sure everything was snug I managed to get everything working as they should! seems I had dirty connections in some or all of the sockets...

so after getting the incandescent lights to work I decided to go ahead and plug the front side marker lights in to see if I can get them working and here is what I found/discovered!

so with no headlights on., I got the side marker signals to work., they too also needed to be jiggled into the sweet spot where they stayed working! when I turned the headlights on I get no power to the side marker lights. So, I reversed the LED plug and boom! I had signals and running lights on the side markers.

so basically, in order to have the LED's working I need to reverse the plug in., simply because LED's only run current in one direction and the way these trucks are wired is for two hots to be running into the marker light bulb which is current that runs in both directions...

my guess now is to run both hot wires to the positive lead of the LED and run a separate ground to the negative cables.,., I dont know for sure but I feel like that will work...

any thoughts? or maybe this is where a resistor comes into play? not sure but Im going to splice both the running light and signal light wire into one for the side marker lights and a ground.

I'll be back to explain how it goes in the next update!

 

[ChevyTruckLove75]

alright UPDATE AGAIN! so Do NOT I repeat DO NOT splice the wires like I mentioned in the above to put both turn signal and running lights to the positive LED wire., it was a disaster., all it did was give me full lights on all the time with no signals because obviously the running light being on all the time didn;t allow the signals to flash .... so I removed it immediately., BUT, I still decided to go with the LED marker lights because they are nice and bright and they are part of the entire housing for the side markers. But what I did notice is , remember how I said with the headlights on, the running lights for the markers were DIM in comparison to the rears? well its because of the LED front turn signal bulbs, I tried the LED's again just to see if I could back to them but they were the culprit for causing the side markers to go dim .
so I'm keeping with the front turn signals and rear tail lights incandescent and the front and rear side markers are LED's. Now everything is working great and as they should.

Turns out the LED side markers are a positive and negative wire only., therefor I had to give up one which was the turn signals to the side markers when the headlights are off., which I dont really care that much since during the day they are not really that big a deal but with the headlights/running lights on, the turn signals on the marker lights work! I can live with that because at night they need to be working! and when Im not using the turn signals the running lights are on! so far all is good, if anyone has an idea how to get the turn signals working while the headlights are off please let me know., resistors? diodes? relay?

 

[Scruffy49]

they make polarity insensitive 194, ive never used them but if they work good ill definitely be using them

They work great, have them in the cab top lights of my 1 ton flatbed dually, as well as the front corner lights (gmt400 K3500). I also run led tails (full panel), bed markers and headlight inserts on that same truck. Tails and bed markers are from “Hazard Fraught”, work perfectly.

 

[AuroraGirl]

alright UPDATE AGAIN! so Do NOT I repeat DO NOT splice the wires like I mentioned in the above to put both turn signal and running lights to the positive LED wire., it was a disaster., all it did was give me full lights on all the time with no signals because obviously the running light being on all the time didn;t allow the signals to flash .... so I removed it immediately., BUT, I still decided to go with the LED marker lights because they are nice and bright and they are part of the entire housing for the side markers. But what I did notice is , remember how I said with the headlights on, the running lights for the markers were DIM in comparison to the rears? well its because of the LED front turn signal bulbs, I tried the LED's again just to see if I could back to them but they were the culprit for causing the side markers to go dim .
so I'm keeping with the front turn signals and rear tail lights incandescent and the front and rear side markers are LED's. Now everything is working great and as they should.

Turns out the LED side markers are a positive and negative wire only., therefor I had to give up one which was the turn signals to the side markers when the headlights are off., which I dont really care that much since during the day they are not really that big a deal but with the headlights/running lights on, the turn signals on the marker lights work! I can live with that because at night they need to be working! and when Im not using the turn signals the running lights are on! so far all is good, if anyone has an idea how to get the turn signals working while the headlights are off please let me know., resistors? diodes? relay?

IF YOU READ OUR REPLIES BEFORE YOU WOULD HAVE SKIPPED ALL OF YOUR FINDING OUT.

AND YOU CAN USE THE PRODUCT I MENTIONED TO NOT TOUCH THE WIRING AT ALL AND HAVE ALL THE FUNCTIONS YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT DECIDING WHICH ONE YOU WANT.

you are unlikely to be pulled over for it, but using the LED In the sidemarker either way is technically illegally because whatever condition it is that doesnt function, is a required function. Either the sidemarker functionality at night or front turn signal visibility
butlike i said, unlikely to get many tickets in these situations.

JUST BUY THE BULBS I MENTIONED. problem solved.

 

[Dejure]

If my truck wasn't my daily, I'd trash about 99.9999% of the wiring (leaving only a thought) and wire the thing up from scratch. From first hand experience, it's safe to say I'd have a pile of wire for the salvage yard.

From there, it'd be simplistic wiring. Maybe a diode or two so I could control electrical flow. That is, use on bulb for two functions (e.g., stop and turn) by stopping the current from flowing from the stop to the turn, and visa versa, since diodes only let current flow one way.

The only relays would be:

(1) the solenoid;
(2) the flashers; and,
(3) turns.

The windows and such would not have relays. Just good quality switches.

Circuits would be limited to:
(1) Tail and marker lights
(2) Head lights (high and low via the dimmer)
(3) Turn signals and markers (diode)
(4) Dome (actually, better than stock)
(5) Under hood lighting
(6) Ignition circuits (start and run)
(7) Stereo
(8) Dash and shifter lights
(9) Turn indicators and flashers (diodes)
(10) Fog lights
(11) Run lights
(12) Heater [and air, if applicable]
(13) Horn
(14) Backup lights

NOTES: (1) The headlight switch would provide segregation between tail-marker and headlight circuits; (2) Easy access fuse & relay box, with ample spots for future ignition and straight power sources; (3) Breakers for main supplies; (4) plug in diodes would provide crossover protection between circuits; (5) Protecting tubing everywhere

Yes, it'd take more wire than Detroit used, but the simplicity from there on . . . . And many of the LED issues wouldn't be issues.

 

[Dejure]

Gotta love electricity. Go from household wiring to automotive and you have to turn some of it backwards (i.e., black goes from ground to hot).

Then there is the nature of electricity and components, which is, weird things happen. For example:

(1) By the markers running through the other bulbs for functions, they should last longer, since they were built for with future sales in mind, running at a given voltage, but, by powering them through other bulbs, the voltage is reduced and they should last longer.

(2) I had a feed back in the dash, when I stepped on the brakes. both turns would come on. ???? I scratched my head and went for the obvious - check bulbs. All of them read good. Then I looked at one and noticed something amiss. One of the double element filaments had opened. The tension it was under caused it to move wildly, and it hit the other element, where it welded to it, creating a feed back circuit between tail and turn circuits.

If my vision hadn't been good, I could have been scratching my head for a while.

(3) Then there is the raw power of ignorance. About fifty years ago, my dryer died. I had it half torn apart, trying to figure out what the problem was, until I learned it was a 240 volt appliance with two breakers, and the breaker used was an improper one lacking the double lock out. Reassembled everything, hit the breaker and never had a problem again.

(4) Years after the dryer intermittent failure, I came to learn all about loathing intermittent from working complex electrical equipment for the feds (civilian, employed by the Navy). Chasing such things has made even women bald (hair pulling).