Possible to convert all running lights to LED?

[spicypeanut]

Hi guys,

I was just thinking. Gee, wouldn't it be nice to convert all of the old style bulbs to a new, less amperage drawing LEDs? Maybe by converting all the lighting over to LEDs I will be able to run MORE off-road lights?!

 

So my question is this. Can we buy LEDs for all the running lights, head lights, and tail lights? And if we can is it as easy as unplugging the original and plugging in the new LEDs?

 

I've been looking here at their listings, but any better sources?

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?searchType=global&N=0&Ntt=1978+Subaru+Brat+LED+Bulb

Edited March 26, 2014 by spicypeanut

[sjschlag]

does it use the same socket as the old style? Sure! I don't really think there'd be any problem with that! In fact, I might get some to replace my turn signals and stuff!

 

As far as the headlights, I believe those are sealed beam (at least on the GLs they are), so you'll need to find some LEDs that are complete sealed headlight units...

 

As far as running more lights (bar lights, etc.) you should probably calculate out how much current those new lights will draw vs. savings with LEDs to figure out if it will mess up your battery...

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

I Kindly suggest you to Avoid using LED's for the Main HeadLamps and Fog Lights, and you'll be Avoiding many future problems, such as pretty bad illumination pattern, low visibility and blinding the incoming traffic.

 

All the other bulbs could be changed to LED's without problem.

 

Kind Regards.

[Uberoo]

LED headlights haven't come along far enough to replace conventional bulbs, but all of the other exterior lights can be replaced with LED lights.I plan on doing the same thing to my 78 brat.I look at it the same way you do.If the original tail,brake,turn signals use 60 watts then I can add another 60W light before I have to think about upgrading the alt.Or I can keep the same number of lights and have the alternator actually charge the battery.

 

make sure to change the dash lights/dome light to LED too.

 

Or if your wealthy and made of money you could always replace your 55-100 watt offroad lights with LED offroad lights at 200-500 each.If your like me than one LED light is 20X more expensive then all of your other lights combined...regular bulb offroad lights are easy to find for very cheap or free.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Uberoo

[MilesFox]

I am sort of going to hijack this thread as i was going to ask about the same thing for ea82. So i will join this discussion.

 

I have seen online LED bulbs available for 194 sockets and 1156 and 1157 sockets, available fir white, red, and amber. FOr an ea82 the front marker lams oare some 67 bulb and an 1157 will not fit in the housing, but some types of LED are big around as the base, and others more the shape of a traditional bulb.

 

I am disappointed with auto store selection for replacement bulbs, as they remind me of the cheap throwaway led flashlights you find for 3 bucks in a gas station. Some of the other strip light kits seem appealing, but not for retail markup price. And the idea of bulk strips seems more cost efficient for inventing lighting arrays.

 

I would think the higher priced ones, or at least the ones withthe square led's in the bulb would be better quality than the dome looking led elements. I am consiering strip LED's and cutting them down and making panels to use in the tail lamps instead of one centralized bulbs.

 

To add to discussion, i would like to contribute some questions.

Recommended manufacturer? Which supplier gets the best price? What color ranges are they on the kelvin scale? I am not partial myself to too blue a color like 6000k, but more like 5000k or 3700k. Who has used them and what is your impression?

[Uberoo]

The only thing I know is you want to use LEDs the same color as the lense because otherwise too much of the light gets absorbed in the lense.

[MilesFox]

I have puchased some LED products, and bartered with a buddy for 194 style led assemblies. I will be installing them and taking pictures compared to normal incandescent and colored incandescent bulbs.

 

What i have: LED 194's in both bright white(bluish) and warm white (yellowish)

generic autozone dual density Red 1157 LED lamps

red and yellow 194 generic auto store led's

1156 amber incadescent

1 meter each of strip led, both white and red, from radio shack.

 

I will be trting the following combinations, and taking pics once the sun goes down:

Front marker lamps, 194 socket, the amber element (as i cannot find a 67 bulb for the marker itself): Blue LED, warm LED, amber 194, white 194(oem), red 194.

For the rear turn signal(amber, 1156) :1156 white incandescent, 1156 amber incandescent, 1157 red LED(i would have to go purchase an amber 1157 led, 1156's unavailable

rear marker lamp, 194 socket: white, red, amber incandescent, red and amber LED, blue and warm led

tail lamps: 1157 incandescent, 1157 dual density led RED

front turn signals: amber 1156 incandescent, white 1156 incandescent (may purhase amber led 1157)

 

strip led's, cut down by pairs wired in parallel, to make ighting arrays to fill out the lamp housing lens in the dark areas and corners. These will supplement the bulbs in their oem sockets. I will see if the leds look better projecting thru the lens, or hidden that they give ambient light to the interior of the lamp housing. I will try red and white as that is what i have. I would like to find amber or the turn lenses.

 

I want to trace out the top and inside of the headlamps with the white led's much like late model cars.

 

I may consider a amber halo ring inside the headlight around the halogen bulb.

 

I may consider an led projector bulb in the headlamp as a daytime running light

 

I may consider strobe controller for turn and brake lamps.

 

I mat consider actual strobes for tail and turn lamps.

 

I wish not to alter the stock appearance of the lamp housings for 1986 model year

Edited March 28, 2014 by MilesFox

[Uberoo]

Your test will be flawed.LED's have to either have clear lenses or be the same color as the lense because they emit a "pure" color of that exact spectrom. if you put a white LED behind an orange lense the orange will filter out all visible light that isn't orange.With a normal incandesent bulb its "white" light is a vast mixture of all of the color spectrums with mostly red and yellow light.A white LED doesn't have alot of red or yellow so you wont really be able to see it.Same with a red LED behind a amber lense, or in the case of the dash lights a white LED goesn't have alot of green/amber.

[MilesFox]

Since my post earlier, i scored a paor of bright white led, and soft white led 194's. I opted for auto store generic amber and red 194 pairs. I found at radio shack a strip led for 12v measuring 3 ft, 3 led's per group, you can cut them down and wire up sequentially as each bank is in parallel 12v. I had figured out that a 12 v led lamp with resistor uses a 680 ohm resistor. average led pieces range from 2.5-5.0 volts, average 3.5 v. I will have to do some ohm's law, but i can fashion led's for the rear wiper switch, etc.

 

I installed the soft white leds in the tailgate lamp and the map lite. The dome lite has a bright white (bluish) festoon LED. The ashtray will get a amber 194 incandescent.

 

The red and the amber generic led's are installed on the front and rear marker lamps.

 

The soft white and bright white led's in the red marker lamp looked the same, although brighter than the 194 incandescent. you can see the led arrangement patter in the lens. The colored led's are more rich in color. The red LED has a slight purplue hue, but the blue spectrum filters out in the lens.

 

The taillamp and brake lamp have amber 1157. I cut 4 strips of led and installed them to the bulb housing of the taillamp, and traced the interior of the lamp itself with srtip led's for the brake. Originally during prototype, the trace was the tail and the inner part was the brake, but the trace was much lighter. I oriented the elements to shine laterally across the lens rather than project rhough it, which distinguishes the elements as bright dots. I could have gone for that look, but this is an 1986 taillamp. The idea in mind and goal was to use the led's to full in the whle lamp assembly and light up the dark areas, for uniform light without a bulb profile. The amber lamp is still there for a natural feel, and the bright to dim response as we are used to instead of the blink response of led's alone. I had tinned the lead wires from the led elements and inserted them into the terminals of the opm plug rom the back side. This can be permanent with some dielectric grease, and no modification to the lamp housing or wires. The elements are secured with clear silicone.

[MilesFox]

Hare is an update. First off this thread with my input is EA82, so this shhold be moved to older generation or technical or mod foruns (thanx)

 

Here are the photos of the various lamps un shrouded, and in their assemblies. Photos taken with iPhone 4s

 

First, i am sorry i do not have a 194 incandescent bulb as a control. Instead i have a 194 amber incandescent to compare with, as they are installed in the map lite.

 

194 na incandescent The right bulb will be the constant with the left bulb being the others

 

let me know if these links work for you as i am trying to display them from an on line host.

 

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bdgtRuKbhM0/UzZNiogO3hI/AAAAAAAACaA/hEBw0E1gD4k/w844-h633-no/led_0026.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Mzn236bF93x9vihehO2fUBEjD6ztA0zr9c5dwJXH-Tw=w844-h633-no

 

Bright white LED (bluish)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rV2ukrcMxNk/UzZOe446sJI/AAAAAAAACcA/kIJ0Rr_tAM8/w844-h633-no/led_0041.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hjFvykTZgaw/UzZOW1Y74kI/AAAAAAAACbw/OZs8aXLEEb8/w844-h633-no/led_0040.JPG

 

Warm White LED

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BS6zomHIPIE/UzZOdxNfiQI/AAAAAAAACb4/AOwT9W3GVKM/w844-h633-no/led_0042.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3HOd7LQ5F6o/UzZOSUVe3OI/AAAAAAAACdU/6D-yDGjIbFA/w844-h633-no/led_0039.JPG

 

Amber LED

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qmSlgzUGBYs/UzZOoBpHdhI/AAAAAAAACcY/tUkJJMUNtko/w844-h633-no/led_0044.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Uvd7JOi8Awo/UzZOnXc-HnI/AAAAAAAACcQ/WujRVdUV9Vk/w844-h633-no/led_0045.JPG

 

Red LED

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-87uS1xlY1_4/UzZOrnwAagI/AAAAAAAACcg/xiGvkJhdsrE/w844-h633-no/led_0047.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XcuAiM24O-0/UzbEp26uhdI/AAAAAAAACcw/LPMpOKiqrEg/w844-h633-no/led_0046.JPG

Edited March 30, 2014 by MilesFox

[spicypeanut]

So I went to Kragen and bought LED bulbs that are compatable with CANBUS systems and that are the correct replacement for my Brat. I put a front running light, rear brake, rear reverse, and rear turn signal in. They do not work. The running lights work, but if I press the brake pedal, the front running light illuminates. Bascially I had to take all of them out except for the front running light, and the rear reverse light. If I try to add in the turn signal (both front and or rear), or the brake light. The turn signal won't blink. It just stays constant.

 

Is there any way to run an LED light on my front and rear turn signal, as well as the rear running / brake light?

[cubastreet]

For turn signals you would need to run an electronic blinker. The oe one requires the correct current draw or it won't work. This is why it doesn't work when one bulb blows.

[spicypeanut]

For turn signals you would need to run an electronic blinker. The oe one requires the correct current draw or it won't work. This is why it doesn't work when one bulb blows.

 

 

Will I need to add one one each turn signal bulb as well as the brake light? And what exactly is an electronic blinker? Would putting one of these on each turn signal bulb and brake light work?

 

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/vehicle/1978-subaru---installation+accessories/59---528377/

[cubastreet]

No a resistor just wastes the energy by turning it to heat. You want something like this

http://m.ebay.com/itm/150619347919

 

Don't know why your brake lights aren't working, could be that the sockets are wired the wrong way. This doesn't matter for incandescent bulbs but leds only conduct electricity in one direction.

[spicypeanut]

No a resistor just wastes the energy by turning it to heat. You want something like this

http://m.ebay.com/itm/150619347919

 

Don't know why your brake lights aren't working, could be that the sockets are wired the wrong way. This doesn't matter for incandescent bulbs but leds only conduct electricity in one direction.

 

Since the wires only have a + and a - should I get a relay that only has 2 plugs? I'm not entirely sure how the wires should get plugged in.

[cubastreet]

You have to locate the one that's already in your car, under the dash somewhere is where they normally hang out. Then you need to order a relay with the same plug as your original one. The one I linked to looks pretty standard but you'll need to check. Pop in the electronic relay and you should be good to go.

[spicypeanut]

You have to locate the one that's already in your car, under the dash somewhere is where they normally hang out. Then you need to order a relay with the same plug as your original one. The one I linked to looks pretty standard but you'll need to check. Pop in the electronic relay and you should be good to go.

 

Oh okay, that makes a lot more sense. Thank you for guiding me in the right direction. I was way off originally! I'll take a look in my factory manual, find where it is and try to post a picture so the next person that is thinking about doing this can see what to do!

[Uberoo]

So with that being said, which of the two relays is the turn signal relay? the two wire connector or the 3 wire connector?

[spicypeanut]

So with that being said, which of the two relays is the turn signal relay? the two wire connector or the 3 wire connector?

 

I was going to take a picture but, it is the 2 pronged one.

[Uberoo]

On my 78 brat both are 3 wire/2 pin connectors.One is white and one is pink.The actual flashers look the same.

[josehitz]

Right now I don't use any of the electronics-based lights with the engine running at all, ...

 

www.duilawyerrightnow.com/

Edited April 22, 2014 by josehitz

[peacewize]

So what's the skinny on this guy's because I've been thinking about led all my runnig lights as well. Plug and play?

[spicypeanut]

Basically I've replaced nearly all the lighting on my car to LEDs. I've had to do a bit of testing (meaning, buy this online if it works use it. If it doesn't try something else). I've gotten the wrong colors, too many of 1 connection type or the other etc. major trial and error lol). But in the end I've almost got it. When you swap out the turn signals, you need to get one of these so they blink correctly.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/car-install-supplies/fl2-red-led-bulb-electronic-flasher/779/833/

 

The final hurdle I seem to have is if I install the dual intesity led in the rear brake light and touch the brake pedal, ALL of my running lights turn on. Take my foot off the brake pedal, everything that just came on turns off. I don't understand it.

[apintonut]

Basically I've replaced nearly all the lighting on my car to LEDs. I've had to do a bit of testing (meaning, buy this online if it works use it. If it doesn't try something else). I've gotten the wrong colors, too many of 1 connection type or the other etc. major trial and error lol). But in the end I've almost got it. When you swap out the turn signals, you need to get one of these so they blink correctly.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/car-install-supplies/fl2-red-led-bulb-electronic-flasher/779/833/

 

The final hurdle I seem to have is if I install the dual intesity led in the rear brake light and touch the brake pedal, ALL of my running lights turn on. Take my foot off the brake pedal, everything that just came on turns off. I don't understand it.

crossed wire on the turn signal\brake power lead into the park lights

[spicypeanut]

crossed wire on the turn signal\brake power lead into the park lights

 

What do you mean, could you elaborate please? I haven't done any wiring modifications other than swap the actual bulbs out.