My LED / HID Upgrades

Elemino

Elemino

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Feb 27, 2012
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Dallas, TX
I'm just going to get this out of the way and say it. I'm not doing the interior lights. I prefer the factory look on the interior. After all, its a family vehicle first...

So with that said. I just received my shipment from DDM. In my upgrade I'll be doing the headlights (factory HID to 6000k), fogs to 6000k HID, front corner switch-backs (I will figure out the common problem and share), rear signals, license plate lights, and reverse lights. I wont be doing the Brake lights. Some people complain the LEDs make them too bright (appearing you always have your foot on the brakes). The main reason I'm switching to LED's is for brightness, so it defeats the purpose.

First of all, I have to say, DDM needs to teach the chinese how to pack a box. $110 worth of lights should not come in a box that is smashed and beat all up. Amazingly, nothing looks broken.



2 31mm x 11mm Festoon Bulb, 2 x 5050 LED, White $5.40
4 LED Load Resistor, 6 Ohm, 50W $16.84 - (These were not necessary)
2 3156-3157, 60 x 3528 SMD LED, 4.2W, 360 Degree, Amber $20.72
1 Apexcone HID Bulb, D2R, 6000K, Pair (Kit / Package) $15.00
1 Apexcone HID Bulb, H10, 6000K, Pair (Kit / Package) $15.00 (Already had the balasts)
2 3157 LED, 60 x 3528 SMD Switchback, 360 Degree $21.26

Subtotal: $94.22
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $15.89
Order Total: $110.11
 
interior leds make the cool look/feel newer.

Dont see how having stock yellow to crisp white will change the car from being a family car.

Good luck with the install. Report back on the switch backs, there have been a few who have tried but failed.
 
Well, when you installed those v-leds led turn bulbs up front, they would not turn on with the parking lights, they would only flash when you turned. The switched also dont turn on with the parking lights, just flash with the turn signal. They should be white witht he parking lights and flash when you turn, but they aren't even on to switch.
 
Alax7 said:
interior leds make the cool look/feel newer.

Dont see how having stock yellow to crisp white will change the car from being a family car.

Good luck with the install. Report back on the switch backs, there have been a few who have tried but failed.
Click to expand...
Warm light feels more luxurious and brings out color better than cool white when used for accenting. I have yet to see an interior led install I have liked.
 
I figured out the problem with the switch backs. It'll take some rigging of the bulbs (or replacement of the sockets) to make it work.

This isn't exactly right. The polarities are not exact or anything. I just made this drawing to demonstrate why the switch backs weren't working. This is an illustration of the bottom side of the bulbs with the 4 wires (2 going to each side) represented with the gray circles. The blue and red lines represent the connections needed to power each individual filament. The reason some were able to make the signal work, is because there is a common wire. I'm not completely sure if the common is positive or negative.

Turns out our cars actually need 3457, but switchbacks only come in 3157. They look the same, but work differently.

3457.png
 
Cool. I was reading up on the differencs between the bulbs a few days back. Seems like an easy fix now that you know the problem.
 
Alax7 said:
Cool. I was reading up on the differencs between the bulbs a few days back. Seems like an easy fix now that you know the problem.
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Not as easy as it appears. It would be great if there was a socket for another car that would easily fit. That would make it very easy. I'm actually at the point were I may give up. I burned a fuse today, and I hate replacing fuses.

I learned the DDM lights cannot alternate. When the amber lights are on, the white lights turn off, and there is a fade in delay before the whites come back on.

The best solution would be a new socket with 4 wires. It can be rewired to work with the 3 wires from the LS. However, I have no plans to do this. I plan to look for a standard 3457 Amber / Amber Flash bulb.

I also learned the LS needs no load resistors. I bought 4, but it turns out the signals flash the same speed no matter what. As long as there is a complete circuit (and polarity is right), the car will not complain.
 
Ok... I don't really like to give up on projects. So I will give the switch backs one more try. What I'm going to do is rewire the bulbs themselves. I'm going to stop by radioshack and buy some wire when they open, and I will figure out each connection one by one. I'll report back when I have them working.

20120701154739.jpg


20120701160124.jpg
 
I finally figured it out, but they wont be installed on my car any time soon. I broke one trying to figure it out.

Forget what I stated in my previous post.

The Problem:

The reason the flash backs wont work on our car is because of a difference in philosophy. Typical circuits and car electronics have a common ground which is negative. The LS uses a common positive for the front corners. Since the negative terminals are tied together inside of the switchbacks (SBs from now on), you cannot simply turn on one circuit without activating the other. Because the SBs are designed to switch off the white when the Amber is on, the white never comes on, but the Amber will flash when installed with the correct polarity (+/-).

The Solution:

Use of 4 relays (2 per bulb) to change from switching grounds to switching positives, and modifying the wires of the SBs.

New configuration going from one end of bulb to the other:

Pin 1: Amber/Signal/Blink Positive (+)
Pin 2: Not Connected (Common with Pin 1)
Pin 3: White/Park Positive (+)
Pin 4: Common Ground Negative (-)

The above is what I came up with that needs to happen. Changes to the bulbs and harnesses are necessary to make it work. What I don't understand is that Pins 1 through 3 are all grounds. They're switched on and off to to control different filaments. The problem is Pins 2 and 3 control one filament while 1 and 4 control the other... By all logic, that circuit should not work at all. 2 and 3 are grounds in the stock connection. I put the bulb in and it lit up. But with my volt meter I could not read 12 volts on it, and I could never get the LEDs to light up on them. I'm still baffled.

If anyone else wants to take this on, have fun and good luck! Until I can replace the harness itself with one that has 4 wires (and 2 relays), I wont do anymore to this setup.
 
LEDs Always On

Has anyone else that has done the LEDs noticed that some of them are always on. License Plate, signals, etc... ?
 
I've run into the craziest things with the lights on this car. No other car I've ever worked on has been this finicky. Glad I have the factory HID, because I did not want to deal with that. Some guys say to put resistors on the lights to make them go off, but I don't want them to go completely dark that bad. They obviously aren't using much power.
 
My plate and trunk lights glow faintly after they're "off." I don't mind, as they do go off fully after 15 minutes.
 
M4rk said:
My plate and trunk lights glow faintly after they're "off." I don't mind, as they do go off fully after 15 minutes.
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My plate, reverse, and rear signals glow. It's a computer thing somewhere. Just to see I went out there earlier and hit the unlock button on the remote. All of them started to glow faintly. I don't mind, because obviously it's not a big drain on the battery. I'll just call it my car's soul. lol
 
there is a very high resistance to ground when the computer is awake, its not enough to make the filament glow in a regular bulb, but it is enough for a LED to glow slightly. it should shut completely off after the computer "falls asleep".
 
dosent look to the problem of amber /white coz i love them off and just work as amber flash,,but if some one needs to correct that in his car just ask me and i will send the solution i also got them flashing on white but to be out of the police vision i decide to keep the amber flashing,,,
concerning the led still open it s to normal coz they need mush less intensity(1/100) to work not like normal bulbs thats why the car shuts down all the elctrisity after 15/30 min
 
Puddle Lamp (31mm festoon) with soldered 470 ohm 1/2 watt resistor:

20120702190722.jpg


Wish I had bought the 6 LED bulbs. I had no idea how much room there would be. But these do produce a good amount of light.
 
Switchbacks Still On

Well I've talked myself into proceeding with the switchback conversion. However, I'm going to make it worth my trouble. I will be using two bulbs with twice as many LEDs of the ones pictured above. Two 120 LED switch backs. 40 for white, 80 for amber. It's actually pretty simple if you've ever installed a relay. I will cut the wires going to the harness, using the car power to trigger two relays. The relays will send positive voltage to the bulbs. It's a bit more work than simply installing replacement bulbs, but in the end I think it will be worth it. I'll have the only LS with it, until someone else on here decides to follow my path as well. I will post a video once it's done.
 
How about your headlights/fogs? I want to buy fogs, but im not sure if i should go with...
1.) Stock HID/5k LED fogs
2.) 6k Hid Bulbs/6k Led Fogs
3.) Stock HID/5k Hid Fogs
 
1MiC said:
How about your headlights/fogs? I want to buy fogs, but im not sure if i should go with...
1.) Stock HID/5k LED fogs
2.) 6k Hid Bulbs/6k Led Fogs
3.) Stock HID/5k Hid Fogs
Click to expand...

I actually have 6k HIDs in both right now. My car has factory HID, so I just bought a couple of bulbs from DDM ($15/pr). I installed 6K HIDs in the fogs, but I may switch them back to 3K. 3K has a yellowish look and makes it much easier to see whats on the road. I went with 6K for the look.
 
Elemino said:
Well I've talked myself into proceeding with the switchback conversion. However, I'm going to make it worth my trouble. I will be using two bulbs with twice as many LEDs of the ones pictured above. Two 120 LED switch backs. 40 for white, 80 for amber. It's actually pretty simple if you've ever installed a relay. I will cut the wires going to the harness, using the car power to trigger two relays. The relays will send positive voltage to the bulbs. It's a bit more work than simply installing replacement bulbs, but in the end I think it will be worth it. I'll have the only LS with it, until someone else on here decides to follow my path as well. I will post a video once it's done.
Click to expand...



Sweet, can't wait to see these on an ls.
 
3000k are back in for the fogs. I can't do it. 6000k is nice for headlights, but you need the 3000k in the fogs to balance out to provide enough light to see whats directly in front of you. 6000k are great for reflective surfaces.
 
Viper 5704

Just left the shop. After a day and a half, they finally finished the alarm install on my LS. Such a difficult car, it can be extremely stubborn at times. They did great work though. The install is A1 work.

I had planned to continue the switchback project this week, but it may get pushed back a couple more. The alarm was more important.
 
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