How to install LED kit in tail lights(finally got my project done)

[tintintin2006]

hi paskal, can u tell me how to connect the Load Equalizers to the front turn's wire ?? ( there's gray, black and gray ) Do U have any picture ?? thnks so much 1!

[EddNog]

hi paskal, can u tell me how to connect the Load Equalizers to the front turn's wire ?? ( there's gray, black and gray ) Do U have any picture ?? thnks so much 1!

The harnesses from the bulbs are flipped 180 degrees from each other (on one side it is top side up and on the other side it is upside-down), making the wires come out of the harness in a mirror-image configuration. The wires you need to connect are the wires closest to the middle of the car to the wires in the middle of the harnesses. So, let's say I numbered the wires on the right headlamp 1 2 3, starting from the outside of the car (when you face the car head-on, the right headlamp is on your left--1 is the farthest wire from you on the harness for the right signal/parking lamp, 2 is in the middle and 3 is the closest). The left headlamp would have the same wires in the configuration of 3 2 1 because it is flipped upside-down compared to the right headlamp. You want to bridge wire 2 to 3 on the right headlamp and 3 to 2 on the left headlamp, going from left to right, while facing the car with the hood open. In other words, the middle wires in the harness need to be bridged to the center-most wires using the resistors.

-Ed

[Pescakl1]

I couldn't explain it more complicated than that

I am kidding, EddNog. I didnot notice that fact, thanks.

I checked yesterday night on my car: On the passenger side, the wires were dirty so I could not distinct them, but on the driver side, you have a black one (the ground as you can imagine) which is the middle one, and one brown, one red. For the turn signal, it is the brown one.

With both answers, you should be fine. If not, I can rechecked the wiring diagrams in the FSM to give you the wire colors.

[Leo2005]

Hey everybody. Here's my update on led tail lights. I ordered a spider set of leds from http://www.v-leds.com and a set of led from http://www.spiderlights.com since spiderlights did not have white set of led lights with 10 on each arm I had to order red with 8 led on each arm. I'm waiting them for over a week but today I received (just in 2 days) lights from v-leds.Here's the thing. They look awesome in turn signal but they don't fit in there properly so I decided to put them in brake lights. In brake lights area there's enough space to fit them in but you can't really see them because of the design of the glass. Anyway they're a lot brighter than my previous leds which look almost the same as halogen bulbs. If you decide to order them you should expect that they won't fit in turn signal so unless you like that picture then.......Here I moved them for a brake light:Don't forget that my tail lights are tinted so it is decreasing the brightness but decrease the blurriness. To be continued...

[Leo2005]

They're not brighter than my previous lights but looking better. I'm still thinking if I want to keep 'em or keep my previous lights.

[zengshengliu]

My belief is that is two wires, here why:

In daytime, when I turn the headlights on, the radio is dimmed but I can still see the clock (and the radio frequency if it is on). When I brake, I can still see the clock.In daytime with the headlights off, when I brake, the clock almost disappears (you really have to search for it to see that it is barely lit).

At night, with the headlights on, the radio is dimmed and when I brake I can still see the clock.

The clock is dimmed way more than when I put the lights on, that is why I think there is a dedicated wire for that.

The part I don't understand is why the radio is not dimmed further when the headlights are on.

I still have to ply with the dashboard dimmer to try to understand further what is the logic behind it.

I was just wondering if you had the same problem as you put LEDs in your taillights too and I wanted to know if it is related or not.

Hey Pescakl1, I am having the exact same problem as you does. Did you get the srck bulb for the break/combination light? because I think it is the problem. Do you have a solution yet?

[SenorPayne7]

leo, that looks soooooo sick! great job man

[Leo2005]

SenorPayne7. thanks. I sent back these spirderlites. They actually pretty bright in the night but they remind me a mitsubishi logo this way and too bad i cannot turn them the other way. The tail light does not have too much space inside.zengshengliu. Did you try to play with the dimmer near by odometer? Also why don't you remove led and get original bulbs to find out if its related to led?

[zengshengliu]

I did put the original light back on(for the break/combination light)and step on the break, it works normally(radio light did not dimmed)

What happen is that, when the side marker/headlight is off, the radio brightness should be all the way up, when I step on the break(with led light), the radio light dimmed(to the point I can't really see the text on the radio). It does not happen with the side mark or/and headlight on

Another weird point, when I step on the break(led light, with headlight off), the front turn signal light up a little bit...

[Leo2005]

This is soo weird. Maybe you got bad led lights or you need a resistor like i putted for turn signa but you can put the same to a break light. It is still weird because a lot of people doing it without any troubles. I'll check with a friend tomorrow.

[zengshengliu]

I thought its the load resistors problem before, because I used to have 2 6ohm resistors installed on the rear, so I order another pair and put it in the front. But, the signal won't works, so I order 4 3ohm resistors and put it in. but it is still doing the same thing as the 2 6ohm resistors, so it shouldn't be the problem

And I don't think the led bulb is badbecause I tried to put one led and one regular bulb in, it still do the samechange the led bulb, the samewhen putting both regular bulbs in, its works normally

oh btw, you know the dual color turn signal right, where white light is when you have side marker on, and amber light is when you have your signal on, it is the white light which lights up a bit when I step on the break. I am thinking that it might the the srck bulbs thats brings the problem, because it has 2 positive and only one negative(all bulbs I bought are from v-led.com)

[Pescakl1]

Hey Pescakl1, I am having the exact same problem as you does. Did you get the srck bulb for the break/combination light? because I think it is the problem. Do you have a solution yet?

By researching a little bit on other forums, it seems the problem comes from the facts that LEDs don't pull out a lot of current for once, and some are not so well made (having some sort of short circuits inside the made bulbs).

The fact that they pull out so few current, if you have a little bit of reverse current from it, it will show easily in your wiring.Some LEDs bulbs are cheapily made without any capacitor or zener diode to avoid feeding back the input side with some current. Without this type of safety feature, some current goes back from the LEDs to the wirings creating some current fluctuations.I hope it is not too much confusing.

What I did: I swap the LEDs I had for the turn signal with the ones from the marker/brakes, and magically, it works again. Seems some are better made than others (there are not the same kinds but both bought at the same place from what I remembered). Since the faulty ones have load resistors on their wirings to avoid hyperflashing, the current is higher through these wires so the small fluctuations are not seen. What you should do: Have several types of LEDs bulbs to play with and find the right combination, it is the only solution.The best solution ever: Do your own LEDs arrays with the proper diodes and protection on them. That is what I planned to do for a long time, but unfortunately for now, it is on hold as I don't have time to do it right now (I already bought everything I need), and I also have to wait to know where I am going professionally (may have to sell the car and everything, and move my family to Europe for a better job).

[Pescakl1]

This is soo weird. Maybe you got bad led lights or you need a resistor like i putted for turn signa but you can put the same to a break light. It is still weird because a lot of people doing it without any troubles. I'll check with a friend tomorrow.

Really bad idea Leo.

I did that on my wife civic, as it doesn't like I removed all the tail lights and install LEDs instead (wiring kind of cheapily made by Honda as it is extremely sensitive to that), and we had almost a fire in the car.Load resistors take some current and transform it in heat in order to make the system believe there is no open circuit (burnt bulb) in the wiring (as the LEDs use so few current).That is OK for turn signals as they are not used often and when they are, it is an intermittent use. For rear markers, they are use all the time at night time (even during daytime for some as my wife learns to turn the lights on as soon as she starts a car), and even during daytime for some long time waiting at a light.In my case, the load resistors were so hot that they burnt the interior furnishing of the cargo space, intoxicating my wife and one of her daughter, but fortunately did not put the car on fire. To explain how much heat they got, the load resistors were discolored showing marks of extreme heat in them.

Definitively don't do that.

[Pescakl1]

Another weird point, when I step on the break(led light, with headlight off), the front turn signal light up a little bit...

It is a consequence of one or several badly made LEDs bulbs: As it feeds back some current in the wiring, it feeds some other wires which can either dimmed the radio and/or light on another LEDs bulb.

You have to troubleshoot your light system and find the badly made LEDs bulb(s): long process, good luck.

[Leo2005]

The reason I said about the resistor is when I bought mine from autozone the diagram on the back of it did say brake/turn not the running light. Of course that it gets very hot as any resistor and that is exactly why it says to a brake light and not to a running light. Also you shouldn't install around a plastic. It is probably a bad set of led because I don't use any load resistors on a brake lights and having no problems. Here I found similar diagram to what I was saying.

[zengshengliu]

What I mean is that I mount the load resistors only on the turn signal.An I suppose to add it to the break light too? because from your picture, I only see you put a load resistor for the turn signal.

(The rogue has turn signal on its once and break and running light together(same bulb))
Modified by zengshengliu at 1:08 PM 4/23/2009

[Leo2005]

Well....the picture isn't the same as the diagram that we have on rogue brake light. It is only for instructional purpose only. I remember in instructions it was saying "Connect the resistor only if you have problems with led." It doesn't say is it brake light or turn signal. Of course you will have problems with led turn signal but the picture clearly shows that it could be connected to a brake light too if you have any problems with. You can connect it to a brake light and check if your problem goes away but make sure you don't connect it a running light.

[Leo2005]

I was just thinking. Did you have to modify contacts on a bulb like I did or did you buy a wedge crossover socket made specifically for newer Japanese vehicles? Because if you did wrong bulb mod it will cause problems too.Picture was taken from http://www.spiderlite.com

[zengshengliu]

I got the srck one for the break/combination lighthttp://www.v-leds.com/Exterior....html

you can see it from the link aboveand I did not do anything to it, just plug it in and works, but with radio light problem...

I cannot see your last post leo
Modified by zengshengliu at 2:06 PM 4/23/2009

[Leo2005]

It seems to be the right connector and good quality bulbs but maybe something wrong with the bulbs. I got mine for brake that looks like a flower from vled too but I had to modify the connector. Did you use different 7443 or 7440 for turn signal or the same bulb? Maybe you could swap 'em to test.

[zengshengliu]

I am using a regular bulb for ithttp://www.v-leds.com/Exterior....html

I swap it before, but burned 2 fuses already...

[Leo2005]

well in case to swap it you have to modify like i showed on a 1st page. Since the bottom of the bulb is black and you can't see the resistor inside of the bulb you have to find positive wires by putting some 12V+ voltage. I used power supply from computer to find the wires. Then you have to move one positive wire just the way I showed on a pic.

[zengshengliu]

ok I will try to swap it right now, and report back as soon as I am done

[zengshengliu]

Ok, I take out the led bulbs for the turn signal(the regular one), test the positive with a 9V battery, modify it as the first post, but still no luck

The radio light dimmedand since its night time, I can clearly see that the front turn signal(running light, not amber turn signal) lights up a bit when I step on break

[Leo2005]

It sounds like the circuit gets short somewhere.

[zengshengliu]

but the problem is, when I put in the original bulbs in for the break/combination light, the problem is gone.This is something I don't understand

Just a thought, do you think I should put a load resistor for the break light also?

[Leo2005]

You can give it a try. instead of buying a new resistor just take off from turn signal and install it to the brake. Not sure which one is brake and which is running light but nothing worse going to happen. It is something that with led bulb that may short the circuit or just working improperly.

[zengshengliu]

okSince I got some extra pair of 3ohm load resistor, I decided to put it in and give it a tryAfter I connect it to the break light(I know its the right one cause when I step on the break, the resistor heat up), the radio light still dimmed, but the front turn signal didn't light up this time

umm, as less it fix one problem...

Any suggestion what I should try next?

----------------------------------------------------------------------Thanks Leo, after a couple experiments I got the problem fixed.Instead of connecting the break light wire and ground with resistor, connect the running light and ground!

Hey people, I actually fixed the problem.If you are installing led lights for your rogue, and if you are having problem with the radio light(when you step on the break with the headlight off, the radio light dimmed), do the following

Get a pair of load resistor(I know you should already installed it for your turn signal, but this time, it is for the combination light)Take out the rear light(see the guild on the first post)You will see 3 wires on the bottom lightConnect the running light and ground wires with the load resistor(the color should be green + white for running light and black for ground)Do the same thing for the other sideThe problem should fixed!

Modified by zengshengliu at 9:44 PM 4/23/2009
Modified by zengshengliu at 9:45 PM 4/23/2009

[Pescakl1]

Thanks Leo, after a couple experiments I got the problem fixed.Instead of connecting the break light wire and ground with resistor, connect the running light and ground!

Zengshengliu, read my post above starting with "Bad idea Leo" (In fact I misread Leo and he is right but this is not a good idea connecting a load resistor to a running light).

For sure, in our case, the load resistor is installed outside and not in the trunk like for a Civic, but it is going to be really hot at night time.

I investigated a little more Leo idea, and I may have found something interesting to look after:http://www.superbrightleds.com....htmlAt the bottom of the page, look for the RL-2525 load resistor (click on the thumbnail on the side). It is said it is made to solve the marker light problem.Maybe you could call them and ask them if this could solve your problem.Since it is a 25 ohm resistor, it should heat less than a 3 or a 6 ohm resistor (less current going through if I remember correctly my electricity lessons: U=RI since U is fixed, more R is high, more I is small).

[zengshengliu]

I am going to order a pair of 25 ohm load resistor and put it inbut for now, bofore the order arrives, I will stick to the 3 ohm

I am just wondering, why are we experiencing problems but not leo?is it because the bulbs from v-leds are different?