Don't Use LED Bulbs

[Parei_doll_ia]

PSA for anyone using or thinking of putting LED bulbs in your stock brake/turn signal housings:

 

I was watching a Technology Connections video (@15:40-20:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z5A-COlDPk&ab_channel=TechnologyConnections) and I never really thought about it, but the LED bulbs I had put in my taillights years ago were never really as bright as what I thought they should be. I put the normal bulbs back in, and there definitely is a difference. LED is on the left, incandescent bulbs are on the right. There's also a dead spot in the middle where there aren't any LED chips on the bulb.

 

 

This must have also been causing some other weird electrical stuff, because I got my cruise control back after swapping normal bulbs back in. My guess is that the diodes allowed a brake signal to the cc computer to stay closed with the brakes off (short through a common ground maybe, or possibly just the low resistance, but I didn't think that should matter without a CANbus), without actually having the brake lights on. The turn signals also did weird stuff with the LEDs, one side would only flash the top bulb with the running lights on, and the other side would only flash the middle. The other would stay bright. Now everything works as it should. Save your money, buy the cheap bulbs.

 

[Big Dan]

I run LEDs, in the rear, with one incandescent bulb in the mix. That created enough draw, for me, to operate normally.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[scaleless]

2 hours ago, keeponjeepinon said:

This must have also been causing some other weird electrical stuff, because I got my cruise control back after swapping normal bulbs back in.

 

This doesn't really make any sense to me, even after studying the wiring diagrams.  Are you sure it's not a coincidence?

 

As far as the brightness, all LED bulbs are not made equal.  In my experience the ones sold by parts stores are hot crap.  You can also buy amber and red LED bulbs that greatly reduce the amount of light filtered through the lens.  These are especially useful behind the instrument cluster, as bright white LEDs tend to wash out the thin color filters on the guage cluster over time.

[ghetdjc320]

Only issues I’ve come across with LED’s is the flasher modules which can just be swapped to an led flasher. You can also get an led resistor to simulate the load of an incandescent bulb if needed. I prefer the original look of traditional bulbs but I did add led bulbs to the backup lights. 

[Parei_doll_ia]

1 hour ago, scaleless said:

 

This doesn't really make any sense to me, even after studying the wiring diagrams.  Are you sure it's not a coincidence?

 

As far as the brightness, all LED bulbs are not made equal.  In my experience the ones sold by parts stores are hot crap.  You can also buy amber and red LED bulbs that greatly reduce the amount of light filtered through the lens.  These are especially useful behind the instrument cluster, as bright white LEDs tend to wash out the thin color filters on the guage cluster over time.

Idk, but that and the cooling system is all I've worked on recently, and it stopped working around the time I put those bulbs in. I thought it was something I did when swapping the WJ booster in, but I remembering it working after I did that. I did the LEDs a little later and didn't use cc for a while after. Doesn't make sense to me either.

 

They were Phillips bulbs, and not cheap.

[watchamakalit]

I run all led exterior lighting except headlights. I feel better knowing my aging wire harness is carrying a little lighter load. There are 2 kinds of flashers, thermal and electronic. Leds don't draw enough current to activate the thermal flasher correctly.  Swap to electronic flashers and your good to go. 

[Muncher]

Only the top socket in the rear of mine work with led the middle one led messes up all of the lights on the vehicle so I just have a mix

[cruiser54]

Never an issue here. I've probably done 6 or more MJ/XJs. 

I got most of my bulbs from onewaylight.com. They come in a nice kit. 

[Andy in Pa]

Gonna bump this back up because I got what was listed on Amazon as an electric flasher that works with LED's, and amber LED bulbs to convert the front marker/turn signal bulbs to LED's (This is on my 89 MJ).  Reason was I found a bad socket.  I assume it went bad because of age, and due to the heat of the incandescent bulbs.  New socket installed (Dorman 85898 works perfectly), put in the new flasher, put in the LED bulb on that side, and now it flashes rapidly and the relay is not "clicking" when I hit the turn signal.  Worked fine with the incandescent bulb in the front, and LED's in the back.  I have not changed the Hazard flasher yet, would that make a difference?

 

Superbrightleds.com has one they sell for this (their part # CF12), but it doesn't click, and I kind of like that clicking sound in case I forget to turn it off. 

 

 I have read plenty that says I just need the electric flasher (not thermal), but it doesn't seem to be working in my case.  With this flasher it does say it works with mix LED's.  Maybe that means it doesn't work with only LED's...

 

Here is the flasher I used...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MJGC28B?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

Thoughts?  Anything helpful you can add?

Thanks,

Andy

[gogmorgo]

Reading the reviews it seems like quality is hit or miss on that flasher. The description also doesn’t give huge amounts of confidence. A couple people in the reviews say it behaves like a standard thermal relay. Looks like it’s just got a capacitor that charges and discharges instead of a proper electronic timer. 

An electronic flasher relay will work with any kind of lights, or any combination. 

[Andy in Pa]

15 hours ago, gogmorgo said:

Reading the reviews it seems like quality is hit or miss on that flasher. The description also doesn’t give huge amounts of confidence. A couple people in the reviews say it behaves like a standard thermal relay. Looks like it’s just got a capacitor that charges and discharges instead of a proper electronic timer. 

An electronic flasher relay will work with any kind of lights, or any combination. 

Yep, I really didn't think anything about it, and just ordered it thinking it would work.  Its a flasher... simple circuit that any shadetree electrical guru could design, but I guess even for that its "buyer beware".

[gogmorgo]

2 hours ago, Andy in Pa said:

 but I guess even for that its "buyer beware".

Pretty well goes for most of the trash on Amazon.