LED Mod Thread

[Sparky]

Well nobody can say they didn't see your tail lights!

 

[richphotos]

Thanks yall! This was a challenge compared to the simple wiring of a first gen s-series

 

[Matt]

Very nice.

 

[richphotos]

Well nobody can say they didn't see your tail lights!

You can say that again!
Each tail light is outputting around 500 lumens when braking or using the signal.

 

[richphotos]

Here are the lights at night.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Here are the lights at night.

AMAZING work just truly amazing. Good job! If you ever plan on making more I would buy them in a heart beat. And have you thought about what to do about the reflector in the door panel. I really want a light in there

 

[richphotos]

Thanks very much for the kind words. I am happy with how they turned out, worth the 20+ hours. I wish I could figure out a good solid way to make these quicker to sell, and I also wish someone still made the opti-drive pwm. I have copied the circuit in express PCB and changed a few things around but I do not want to print any of them because I do not want to run the risk of a lawsuit or something even though it would not be the same design, just the same function.

As for the reflector in the doors, I am pulling the panels off in the next couple of weekends to coat the inside of the door with por-15 (repairing the rust at the bottom seam of the door and coating from the inside to help further prevent moisture from getting to it)
Anyways, I will be taking a look at that area to see what would go into putting a light behind it (a couple rows of 5050 LED strip)

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Thanks very much for the kind words. I am happy with how they turned out, worth the 20+ hours. I wish I could figure out a good solid way to make these quicker to sell, and I also wish someone still made the opti-drive pwm. I have copied the circuit in express PCB and changed a few things around but I do not want to print any of them because I do not want to run the risk of a lawsuit or something even though it would not be the same design, just the same function.

As for the reflector in the doors, I am pulling the panels off in the next couple of weekends to coat the inside of the door with por-15 (repairing the rust at the bottom seam of the door and coating from the inside to help further prevent moisture from getting to it)
Anyways, I will be taking a look at that area to see what would go into putting a light behind it (a couple rows of 5050 LED strip)

Great. 20+ hours well spent. I have gotten really good at getting the panels in my car off. Both off in five minutes.

I will be looking closely to what you go with in the door reflectors to get some ideas as to what to put in there

 

[richphotos]

I will definitely post them up for you and I will take photos of the process as well if others want to do that. I will try to tackle that in the next couple months. I am in lazy mode.

Here is a quick quote tonight involving the tail lights "why are they so bright"
me- "so people know the truck is stopping and we dont get rear ended, and they look awesome"
other person- "Have you been rear ended before"
me- "no"
other person- "then why do you need them so bright"

I laughed and walked away.

 

[gpking]

I've had these specific LED's in my front markers for a while and just noticed today that they both flash when only one directional is activated, but only when the engine is running and the parking lights are off.
This does not happen with regular T10's, or other LED T10's, just these T10's.
I am completely dumbfounded as to why this happens, but only when the engine is running.
Only the left signal is on in this clip:

(When I pull the left T10, the right one stops being back-fed).

I am curious as to why only these LED bulbs cause this to happen?

 

[richphotos]

So you have tried other LED t10s and regular t10s and they do not have this issue?


Sounds like it may be a wiring problem in one of the bulbs.
I have had a similar issue with cheaper LED bulbs
Leave the one in the passenger side and put one of the t10 led bulbs that you know is working on the driver side and see if the issue continues.

If it does, put the one back in on the drivers side and swap the passenger out with a t10 LED that you know works to rule out either the left or the right bulb being an issue, or both being an issue.

I hope this makes sense, it does in my head.

 

[Sparky]

Does the 3157 bulb flash at all also or just the small one?

(I thought they were 194 bulbs, same as T10 I guess?)

 

[richphotos]

t10 fit 194, 168, 158 and 2825

 

[Blckshdw]

If the LED bulbs have a diode bridge built into them, they don't "see" the polarity of the turn signal vs parking light signal. Any current that reaches it, will light it up. You can confirm by testing it with flip flopped connections via 9v battery or test bench.

 

[gpking]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, this is only an issue with these specific bulbs, and they were pretty darn expensive compared to what I usually buy (and pretty good quality).
I guess the diode explains it. The thing that confuses me is why one side is backfeeding the other through the parking light circuit (I assume), only when the engine is running.

My only idea is to keep the same bulbs, but wire the socket in with the ground wire from the 3157's. But I'll have to go outside and test that.

 

[Blckshdw]

Yes, this is only an issue with these specific bulbs, and they were pretty darn expensive compared to what I usually buy (and pretty good quality).
I guess the diode explains it. The thing that confuses me is why one side is backfeeding the other through the parking light circuit (I assume), only when the engine is running.

Yeah, if those bulbs were more expensive than the others, I'm almost certain there's a diode bridge built into the circuitry. The good thing about those, is you don't have to guess which what you need to plug them in, or worry about flipping them around in the socket cuz they didn't light up. The downside is exactly what you're experiencing, due to our corner bulb setup.

As far as only happening when the engine is running, 14V > 11.xxV, so there's just not enough voltage leftover to light up the other side.

 

[gpking]

I'm amazed it took me this long to notice. I guess those few extra volts while the engine is running is enough to power the opposite bulb.

I experimented with a spare T10 socket connecting different wires to different places, but I could not accomplish anything besides the bulbs having just 1 function, which is basically no better than polar LED's.
I guess I'll have to get back to the cheap bulbs because "non-polar" or a similar keyword is something you don't see in the description of these bulbs.

 

[richphotos]

I am not sure why I did not think of this.
The corner bulb setup has pretty much been the same on these since first gen blazers/jimmys.

Was driving around Minneapolis today and found a cool alley, happen to have the camera with and decided to snap a good photo with the tail lights lit up.

 

[Matt]

If the LED bulbs have a diode bridge built into them, they don't "see" the polarity of the turn signal vs parking light signal. Any current that reaches it, will light it up.

Carlton,

Do you think these type of bulbs might help my no front indicator issue?

 

[Blckshdw]

I doubt it, seems to only affect the corner bulbs due to not having a dedicated ground wire. Your issue is with the 3157 sockets right?

My (attempted) solution in your case would be custom front turn signals. Of course that means opening the headlight. But a 12" piece of ABS plastic with a switchback LED strip stuck to it, tap the wires into the stock wiring, or get a 3757 pigtail for a PnP application would work nicely.

Edit: feed that LED mod bug @Matt it needs to eat!

 

[Matt]

You're killing me! Yeah, it's the stupid CK sockets on the front indicators...why can't I just change the sockets to "normal" ones?

 

[Blckshdw]

You're killing me! Yeah, it's the stupid CK sockets on the front indicators...why can't I just change the sockets to "normal" ones?

Cuz that would be the easy way, and since when have you ever known me to make mods easy?

 

[Sparky]

If the front sockets on later TBs are non CK you should be able to splice them in.

Just make double sure that they are before you chop the wiring

 

[Matt]

AFAIK, most of the later MY ones are non-CK. Hell, some of the 02's are non-CK, I believe.

 

[Blckshdw]

I believe the sockets unplug from the wiring harness, so swapping should be a PnP deal

 

[Sparky]

Oh yeah, good point I forgot about that.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Items used:

• 5mm blue 5000mcd, 120 degree viewing angle, flat top LEDs
• 470 ohm 1/4W resistors

I had adding a DIC cluster on my list for some time before I actually did this mod, and I found a deal on a used Ebay cluster that I had to jump on. This turned out to be much more of an adventure than I planned, so here’s the story with some pics.

Started off by collecting all the goodies I’d need. GM radio harness for the pins, and to make a test bench so I didn't have to keep taking my cluster to the truck to check for polarity (LEDs of course) and testing the lights.



I didn't want to take a chance of bad stepper motors, so scooped up a set of those too.

Between my handy pick tool and metri pack removal tool, I managed to get the pins out that I needed.

Some blue needles, since that's the theme I'm going with... Just had to eventually get a cluster.

I found a deal I couldn't pass up on an 02 DIC cluster, so I jumped on it. Took the guy a while to ship it to me, but when it got delivered at work, I couldn't wait until I got home, so I ripped the thing open right at my desk. Sure enough, the cockeyed needles were staring me right in the face...

OK, so good, I didn't waste $30 on those stepper motors... Then I took the face gauges off and saw this!!

Umm, that's a standard cluster!! So I emailed the guy back, calmly, and asked him if he had the right one to send me. After a day or so back and forth, turns out they had 2 TBs in their inventory, one with DIC, the other without, and the tags on the parts got switched. He shipped out the correct one later that day. Since I decided I didn't want to spring for a new steering wheel and clock spring, I'd go the route that others did and mount some momentary buttons on the dash.

I got my hands on a spare 4WD switch placeholder (thanks JimmyJam), and ordered some blue LED backlit momentary buttons.

I didn't want to have all the raised stuff behind the buttons, so I ground it down with the trusty dremel, with the intention of smoothing it down and painting it.

Test fitting: They were a lil larger than I expected, but I got them to fit. One of my mounting holes was a bit off, but I'm sure it will be one of those things where I'm the only one who notices.

I wanted the hubs on the needles black, not silver, so I used a paint marker and hooked them up. Came out pretty good.

LEDs installed!

Then it was time to do a test with my original white faced gauges on the DIC cluster, and ran into a problem. (not pictured) The cutout for the standard face is only big enough to display the standard odometer, nowhere near wide enough for the DIC display. Looking through the backside of the faces, the room is there, but the overlay would need to be modded. I tried wet sanding and using a polishing pad with my dremel to try and get through the adhesive and backing, which for the most part succeeded, but the clear plastic became faded, hazy and warped in some areas.

So I decided to cut the whole section out, buy some clear plastic sheeting, and try NiteShading it so when the display is off, it appears black like normal, but you can still see the display clearly when running.

After that was done, put together a 6 connection weather pack (cheaper than the comparable metri pack connectors) conected up one end to my buttons and went to do a test in the truck.


3 of the 4 buttons lit up properly, while the 4th one flickered and blinked. I was worried I had a bad one, and they came from China. Although I had my stock cluster still plugged in, I pressed the buttons anyway. Moments after I did that, I noticed that even though my parking lights were still on, the lighting for the headlight switch, cluster, HVAC, overhead console etc were all out. Toggled the switch a couple of times, and noticed the doors were still lighting as they should. Crap, blew something... Found the fuse in the back and replaced it. Time to investigate.

Take the control panel back inside, remove the quick connects and test the faulty button on my power supply. Worked fine, so had to be an issue with the connectors I was using. Decided to scrap those, and solder everything up, although that would make it much more difficult since there are 2 wire bundles that go to all 4 buttons for the lighting power/ground.

I'm wondering how I backfed the illumination circuit, so I decided to swap the polarity for the LED rings for the hell of it. Guess what? They lit up anyway. Damn false advertising!! Since I was using the 2 ground outputs on the same wire, when I pushed the momentary button it sent current through the light and backfed into the illumination system, popping the fuse.

So off to radio shack I went, and picked up a bunch of diodes. Soldered everything up, and gave another test on the bench. Looks promising.


Installed the blue needles, and my tinted face plate, and gave that a test as well. No hot spots from using flat head LEDs BTW, so I was quite happy about that.

A last minute check in the truck to make sure everything worked properly prior to getting the mileage programmed and this mod adventure is complete!

Side note, I didn't even realize until after I took the new cluster back out, that I meant to check if the tint job I did was too light/dark. Considering it didn't dawn on me while installing or cycling through the different DIC options, I think I got it just right!

Here's the final install.

@Blckshdw My dad finally agreed to help me replace the bulbs in my speedometer using his superior soldering skills saying that since some of them are out especially the 100 - 120 KM one I was more prone to get speeding tickets

And of course that would be a good way to learn how to solder for me as well!

Anyways I have a few questions about the mod:

1. You stated in the above quoted post about some resistors. Are they required for the LED swap on the speedo or for the DIC buttons. I couldn't really tell

2. Is polarity really important. If so what exactly has to be done to ensure the right polarity

Thanks a bunch

 

[Blckshdw]

for whatever reason, I'm not able to quote your post in my reply

By the short answer to both of your initial questions is yes. LEDs take much less voltage, and more importantly, less current than regular bulbs. So resistors are required or you'll fry them the instant you power them up.

Polarity is mandatory. Current has to go in one end and out the other. Think of it like eating food. You're quite happy when it goes through you in a certain direction, very unpleasant to think of it going the other way... in the case of an LED, it simply won't light up when connected backwards.

To test polarity, use your volt/multi meter (you should have one if you work on your own mods and maintenance) there are YouTube videos showing how to use them properly, as well as a thread on this forum I believe.

A low tech polarity tester some have used is to take an LED, and solder the proper resistor to it for a vehicle application. Then touch the leads to whatever you're testing. When it lights up, the position leg will be on the positive source, the negative leg will be on the ground.

Some useful reading for you as well.
http://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/how-to-get-started-with-led-and-resistor-mods.839/

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

for whatever reason, I'm not able to quote your post in my reply

By the short answer to both of your initial questions is yes. LEDs take much less voltage, and more importantly, less current than regular bulbs. So resistors are required or you'll fry them the instant you power them up.

Polarity is mandatory. Current has to go in one end and out the other. Think of it like eating food. You're quite happy when it goes through you in a certain direction, very unpleasant to think of it going the other way... in the case of an LED, it simply won't light up when connected backwards.

To test polarity, use your volt/multi meter (you should have one if you work on your own mods and maintenance) there are YouTube videos showing how to use them properly, as well as a thread on this forum I believe.

A low tech polarity tester some have used is to take an LED, and solder the proper resistor to it for a vehicle application. Then touch the leads to whatever you're testing. When it lights up, the position leg will be on the positive source, the negative leg will be on the ground.

Some useful reading for you as well.
http://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/how-to-get-started-with-led-and-resistor-mods.839/

Great! I will have a look through the thread.

If you don't mind do you have a pic of how the LED bulb looks like with the resistor attached?

Or do you just solder it to one of the legs of the LED

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just really excited

EDIT : BTW loved the explanation about polarity

 

[Sparky]

Yep it is just soldered to one of the LED legs.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Hey everyone, if anyone is looking to do the Instrument Cluster LED Swap, found a great How to video

Yep it is just soldered to one of the LED legs.

Positive Leg? It says so in the above Video

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Hey everyone. Just got a LED strip of 5M. So I am currently looking at every possible place to use them. Anyways I was thinking of the door handles. I saw a BMW I believe that when you unlocked it, the door handle would light up, perimeter lighting.I believe it should look really good on our handle design. I am thinking of wiring them into the Dome lights circuit. So if I open any of the doors the strip should light up. What are your comments

 

[Blckshdw]

It's been done before, not recently though. I think the pics were on the other site. The guy used a small section, just 3 LEDs, and wired them up the way you are thinking.

 

[NateDG]

I would think this would look awesome as long as the light dispersion is good and even (unlike my back-lighted grill badge ). Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Capote]

Hey everyone. Just got a LED strip of 5M. So I am currently looking at every possible place to use them. Anyways I was thinking of the door handles. I saw a BMW I believe that when you unlocked it, the door handle would light up, perimeter lighting.I believe it should look really good on our handle design. I am thinking of wiring them into the Dome lights circuit. So if I open any of the doors the strip should light up. What are your comments

View attachment 77471

There's a tiny hole of a gap, underneath the door handle towards the keyhole where you can have wires ran from.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

It's been done before, not recently though. I think the pics were on the other site. The guy used a small section, just 3 LEDs, and wired them up the way you are thinking.

Planning to use three LEDs as well. I will take a look at the OS

There's a tiny hole of a gap, underneath the door handle towards the keyhole where you can have wires ran from.

Is it visible when you lift the door handle. I will try to get some pics!

Ok so I was taking measurements yesterday and had 4 main things/ideas to use the 5m of LEDs.

1. Footwell Lights: These will be tied into the Dome Lights Circuit, so they come on when I unlock the car, or open any of the doors. I would also like to have a control box mounted somewhere for these lights, so I could control them if I want them off (say on a long drive) or maybe even a slow strobe (fade in and fade out maybe). That will probably be in future, but for now I will be wiring them to the Dome Lights.

Front Driver Area needs about : 50 cm

Front Passenger Area needs about : 40cm

Rear Seats both need about : 30cm

There is a smooth black plastic rod going across the foot panel for the front seats and rear seats as well. A really great place to attach the LED strips in!

2. Running Board Lights: These would go in the space between the running board and door sill. Each side requires about 150 cm, so that's 3m already for both sides. This will also be wired in the Dome Lights circuit for the same functionality as above

3. Door Handles: There is a small square emboss if you'd like to say in the inner part of the door handle. Perfect spot for mounting three LEDs (5cm) for each handle! Now this I want wired differently to what I stated above . I want these to be powered by the Perimeter Lighting System. So these lights ONLY come on when I unlock the TB at night. DON'T want these to be wired to the dome lights circuit, as I think it would be a little too much.

Anyho yesterday I read the Wiring Diagrams PDF from cover to cover and couldn't find anything about the Perimeter Lighting Circuit. So if anyone can chime in I would appreciate it

4. Hood Lighting: I saw this Mod on the other OS, a fellar living in Dubai did this to his Trailblazer as he used to park in a dark parking garage. Me I would just love to get rid of carrying a torch all the time. So it was two LED strips across the Hood (bottom and top). I want to add two more strips going "up and down" the hood to create a complete Square of LED strip. The lights should be enough to cause ! This will have a switch seperate from any circuit to flip them on and off at will. The original modder had an idea to locate a hood ajar switch from the 02 model and add it to his LED strip so they come on when the hood is raised. If I can find the part I might go that way as well. For now a switch will do.

Across the Hood is about 80cm

"Up and Down" the Hood is about 50cm

CALCULATIONS :

1. Footwell lighting would require about 1.5m in total

2. Running Boards require 3m of LEDs in total

3. Door handles require a modest 0.20m

4. Hood lighting would be 2.6m

GRAND TOTAL : About 7.5m

Before anyone jumps on me to say I am 2.5m short. I know . Hence the Hood Lighting mod is not a priority at the moment. So if I strike it out (for now) I will be able to get the other three done.

Now a question I have is would the battery be able to sustain all the added LEDs, or do I risk a discharge?

Just something to ponder about before I get in gear and go LED crazy

Also what is the best way to get the LED strip wiring to the Orange wire for the Dome lights circuit? If it is the Orange wire

EDIT: I do apologize for no pictures cause I always like to explain stuff with pictures

 

[Sparky]

The LEDs won't take that much power, you're not going to be leaving them on constantly either so you should be fine.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Regulator had them for awhile

 

[Sparky]

I want to put some LED strings under my hood. I feel stupid though because I did buy some LED rolls a while ago, but got the non waterproof kind

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

I want to put some LED strings under my hood. I feel stupid though because I did buy some LED rolls a while ago, but got the non waterproof kind

Under or on the hood?