Swap LED bulbs for standard bulbs

callbald

callbald

Senior Member
OK looking for information and feedback on swapping out standard lighting in my galaxy with LED lights
My instrument panel lights are really dim. Is there anything special you have to do. I thinking of doing the same thing with the brake/tail lights because they're just not bright enough
 
Dash lights can be swapped directly. Look on ebay for the "direct fit" LEDs. There are several kits available to swap both the head lights and tail lights. Google them.....
 
Are several of the existing panel lights just burned out?
Is the panel light dimmer in the headlight switch not working correctly?
Tail lights... are the reflector housings or lenses dirty or discolored?

If you do change the tail light bulbs make sure you have the correct turn signal flasher.
The LED bulbs don't present enough electrical load to activate the two-wire flasher unit in many cars.

The usual flasher has two terminals. A 'Heavy Duty' flasher has three terminals, so the mechanism governing the rate of flash can be separate from the bulb circuit. That's the one you want. There may even be a 'Compatible with LED Bulbs' note on the box.
They were originally used for vehicles with multiple tail-lights or an added trailer, so the turn signal lights wouldn't blink really fast.
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The other thing you want to watch is how those LED’s work with your taillight lenses. Some combinations tend to be very visible from dead behind, but almost out from an angle. The LED’s can be very directional, both in the dash and the taillights they might not function as expected. I don’t know of any way to analyze this in advance, but I’ve seen it happen.
 
miker98038 said:
The other thing you want to watch is how those LED’s work with your taillight lenses. Some combinations tend to be very visible from dead behind, but almost out from an angle. . . .
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The oem tail-light reflectors are shaped to work with a single 'point' source of light, the filament in an incandescent bulb, located at a very specific place within the curve of the reflector.

Nearly all headlight, turn signal and tail-light lenses have shaped surfaces/ridges on the inside that work together with the reflector to provide an applicably shaped field of light.

The light source of an LED replacement tail-light bulb is spread out over the relatively much larger surface of all the LED's, which is why it may not work as well in some older fixtures.


(some of that college tuition money finally paid off) :rolleyes:
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dmsfrr said:
The oem tail-light reflectors are shaped to work with a single 'point' source of light, the filament in an incandescent bulb, located at a very specific place within the curve of the reflector.

Nearly all headlight, turn signal and tail-light lenses have shaped surfaces/ridges on the inside that work together with the reflector to provide an applicably shaped field of light.

The light source of an LED replacement tail-light bulb is spread out over the relatively much larger surface of all the LED's, which is why it may not work as well in some older fixtures.

(some of that college tuition money finally paid off) :rolleyes:
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I should say so, throwing around those seventy-five cent college words all over the post... ;)


IMPRESSED IN LESS EDUCATED W (BY GOD) V ... :D
 
The ones I got on ebay for my dash lights were the ones with this item # 351993244972 As you can see, they project all around and forward. Number is BA9S 50505 5-MD. Been in the car for two years now with no problems



Cheap too - less than 8.00 for 20 bulbs.



Here is a pic of them
 

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When replacing my house lights with LED's, I needed to get 'dimmable' bulbs. Will vehicle LED's be able to dim with the interior dimmer switch?

I was also steered away from vehicle headlight LED's because they may not work with DRL (daylight running lights). I think this is because some DRL's operate by sending reduced voltage to the high beams making the LED's flicker.
My 2 cents worth of experiences
 
Good question on being able to dim them, do they throw off excessive heat? My directional on the dash are almost impossible to see during daylight hours.
 
bobss396 said:
Good question on being able to dim them, do they throw off excessive heat?
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Chances are they'll flicker and go out before they dim. (I've not tried any.)

LED's produce very little heat. I've got a couple LED work light fixtures I use under the car. You can comfortably work right next to them, even touch the glass lens while they're on without a problem.
They put out at least as much light as a 500 or 750 watt incandescent / halogen bulb that you couldn't get within 3ft of without getting a second or third degree burn.

bobss396 said:
My directional on the dash are almost impossible to see during daylight hours.
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Have you checked the old bulbs? After several years incandescent bulbs sometimes get very dark on the inside of the glass from the tungsten boiling off the filament.

If you put LED bulbs in your turn indicator sockets odds are very good that most of the LED's are on the sides facing outward, with very few on the end facing toward the lens opening.

In the 2nd example photo (copied from paul2748) virtually 80% of the light output is going to the sides. Great for lighting up gauges, but not as good for some other uses. It won't hurt to try but depending on bulb position they may not work as well.
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