aftermarket LED tails extremely dim

[poledancepixie]

hi everyone,

new here to this forum, just had a quick question regarding some issues with the black led tails that are sold through CTR on ebay.

paid about 250 for this set, and am happy with the overall look of them, but i have had numerous other drivers pull me over to tell me that the LED lights aren't working at all. the turn signals and reverse lights are super bright, but the actual eagle eye part where the red LEDs are are extremely dim, to the point where other drivers can't see them at all, even at night.

the installation seemed super easy, plug and play type deal so im kind of doubting this is a wiring issue but i'm really not sure. will switching to halogens or a new set of LEDs make much difference? can anyone shed some light on a fix or some troubleshooting?

thanks so much in advance!

[DJ_B_Easy]

Welcome to NICO!

For starters, you cannot swap any of the night time running or brake light bulbs in that set without completely cracking them open. Even if you were to do that replacing each individual LED would be insanely time consuming. You cannot replace the LEDs with a filament bulb without cutting some kind of reflector bowl into the housing and thats just silly, and also defeats the purpose of the LED set all together.

If they are indeed not working at all, you should look into warranty (if you have one from the seller). I would start by double checking your install. Are you sure you pushed the harness in all the way? Is the polarity correct? Can you post some pics?

[DAAN.]

mine were bright - look into returning them

for would be buyers of this product - don't

[poledancepixie]

thanks a lot for your replies.

dj b easy - this set actually did not come with any pre-installed bulbs which i found strange. but regardless, i installed my own red LEDs and you basically just snapped them into where the bulbs would have been for the oem red tail lights. then you snap those into the ebay tail lights. warranty was over within 60 days (my own mistake, should have dealt with this sooner) so i'm screwed for that. thanks a lot for your insight.

DAAN - trying to get the company to refund or send me replacements currently but haven't had much luck so far. i got brand new red bulbs to try out, the LEDs i put in could have just been garbage for all i know. i'll see what happens from there i guess. i just found this odd because the turn signals and reverse lights are like blindingly bright.

[DJ_B_Easy]

Please link to the product you bought. I think I know what you did, but I want to be sure.

If you bought these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/08-09-10-NISSAN ... 17&vxp=mtr

...then you do not install a bulb into the area where the OEM brake light bulb goes. There should be a harness inside of the tail light in that opening. You plug the harness from the tail light into the socket where you would place the OEM bulb, and then twist the socket in to simply secure it in place.

If you did what I think you did, you have an LED bulb working on the inside of the tail light. It isnt visible on the outside because it is blocked by the LED array in the after market housing. These sets do not come with bulbs. You swap over the OEM reverse, turn signal, and side marker bulbs and then connect the harness like I stated above. The OEM brake signal bulb is discarded.

[poledancepixie]

yep those are the exact ones i got. i just remembered something that happened actually when we were installing them that i completely forgot about. forgive me if i'm not being clear, my boyfriend did the install...hes a car enthusiast and has a fairlady z so he does all my mods so he'd know better about this than i would. anyway, when he was installing them, there were 2 cords and neither of us were sure what the extra one was for. so i am pretty sure we just snapped the led into where the oem bulb was and twisted it in to the aftermarket tail. we're going to try fixing it sometime this weekend. what can we do to correct it?

[DJ_B_Easy]

You should not be plugging a bulb into the OEM brake light socket. The cord that protrudes from the aftermarket tail light has a harness on the end that you plug into the OEM brake light socket. Not quite sure how else to explain it.

OEM side marker bulb: do not remove from OEM socket, insert into after market housing
OEM reverse bulb: do not remove from OEM socket, insert into after market housing
OEM turn signal bulb: do not remove from OEM socket, insert into after market housing
OEM brake signal bulb: REMOVE from OEM socket. Discard OEM brake singal bulb (or save somewhere). Insert after market harness protruding from after market housing into OEM socket. Insert OEM socket into aftermarket housing and twist to secure.

Make sense?

[poledancepixie]

okay thats definitely what i did wrong. thanks so much for your help! much appreciated

[DJ_B_Easy]

No problem, post some pics up when you get them fixed.

Also, you are now required to elaborate on the meaning of your username.

[poledancepixie]

pics will be up soon. gotta get some opinions on wheels im planning on getting this summer. thanks again for your help.

and LOL as for the username... well pixie comes from an old nickname (i'm a super petite red head, and for this reason, people frequently say i remind them of a nymph or pixie lol). and i pole dance purely for fitness and as an athletic hobby. not a stripper or exotic dancer. the type of pole dance i do is more similar to something that would be seen in cirque du soleil rather than a strip club. still seems to impress people nonetheless lol

[yttimhcs2009]

No problem, post some pics up when you get them fixed.

Also, you are now required to elaborate on the meaning of your username.

[DJ_B_Easy]

still seems to impress people nonetheless lol

Im impressed!