Anyone use LED turn signals?

I bought 4 13 LED hyper white signals from midnightmoose.com and they really dont work when I stick them in. They blink if the headlights are already on but if they are off, they dont blink at all. One of em even started smoking for some reason. I bought those ohm loaders and they didnt do anything and I hooked it up as per the directions. Anyone have luck wit LED signals?

 

[Tonedeaf]

i replaced my rear turn signals with LEDs and it started hyperflashing cause of the low energy draw. later on i replaced the front ones as well and the turn signals wouldnt even come on they would just start buzzing. i eventually replaced the rear ones with a regular bulb and left the front ones (which are hyper flashing). dont really know if this helps just lettin ya in on my personal experience with LEDs

 

[Afboy143]

i had the same exact thing happen. Do they even blink in the front at all if ur headlights/turn signals are off?

 

[huskyfan23]

Why are they supposed to blink? They're part of the turn signal? I remember hearing you need a resistor to get them to blink properly.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I am using LED turn signal bulbs with sucess. I had to use the resistors though because they wouldn't blink (they worked with hazard lights, though). They're in my '92. If you'd like I can get you digital photos of the wiring later today if you'd like. Lemme know (post back).

 

[Afboy143]

yeah man that would be awsome, i really would love to get these thingers to work!!!

What kind of resistors did you get?

 

[superedge88]

I have looked into this and have found a better solution than the resistor. One of the main reasons for using led bulbs in the first place is for low energy consumption, which equals more amperage to run other add on electronics.
So you can see why I was against the resistor fix. The resistor is merely taking the energy that was used to produce light in your old incandescent bulb and expelling it as heat, this fools the stock ford flasher into thinkin that an incandescent bulb is being used. In most cars you can go ahead and get a "heavy duty" flasher to replace your stock one, most of these heavy duty flashers are not load sensitive, much like the flasher in our explorers/mountaineers that that flashes the hazard lights. Sadly though in our case, no one makes a "heavy duty" load insensitive flasher for our vehicles.
So the only way to go about things is to get a couple of generic load insensitive flashers from the hardware store and hook them into the 12 volt signal before the stock ford flasher, and simply bypass the stock flasher. This will give us both the benefits of cool led lighting and the low energy consumption.
Oh, and I though that I might recommend the 25 led turn signal bulbs that are found on ebay, they are what I have been using, and they work great! (no smoking, and they use the reflector as well)

 

[huskyfan23]

I have a feeling the LED signals are just for a different look. What are you gonna run with the little power you saved by switching to LED's? About the flasher, I bought one of those flashers to do a flashing third brake light. You can pull the stock flasher out of the fuse box and wire up the new one. There are also special ones for LED's.

 

[superedge88]

I have a feeling the LED signals are just for a different look. What are you gonna run with the little power you saved by switching to LED's? About the flasher, I bought one of those flashers to do a flashing third brake light. You can pull the stock flasher out of the fuse box and wire up the new one. There are also special ones for LED's.

It's not that I am going to actually run something using the ~20 watts of power that I get by running leds, it's the fact that it can be the small differences in an electrical system that can make a difference in the long run. For instance, if it can be a small difference that decides whether your headlights or interior lights dim when installing an aftermarket audio system. I will also be changing my headllights to HID to free up 40 watts of power as well, which would bring me to around 70 watts of freed up power, and that makes a big difference.

 

[superedge88]

Oh, and husky fan, why did you decide to flash your third brake light? I'm curious

 

[Tonedeaf]

i'm about to do that (installing the flasher on the third brake light) to my X. The main reason i'm doing is so that I am more noticable (spelling) when i start to stop. Plus i just like the look of it.

 

[huskyfan23]

Oh, and husky fan, why did you decide to flash your third brake light? I'm curious

I like the look and it's more noticeable when I brake.

 

[superedge88]

Hmmm, cool. Just to let you know in case you don't already. It is illegal to flash your third brake light. Not trying to be an ass, just letting you know just in case.

 

[huskyfan23]

Why's that? If many new factory vehicles come with it? I've had cops behind me and they haven't done anything.

 

[DDEBEXP]

superedge88 , do you know where to get a decent hid kit for a good price? Thanks

 

[superedge88]

Why's that? If many new factory vehicles come with it? I've had cops behind me and they haven't done anything.

Explain "factory vehicles" Do you mean new vehicles are coming with this stock off of the assembly line? If so it is news to me. I build all types of law enfocement vehicles and it is even illegal for them to have flashing third brake lights, if this law has been changed then call me uninformed.

As far as a good affordable HID kit for DDEBEXP, well I am still in the hunt for a good inexpensive one, but I can let you know which one I end up deciding to get. I would do a search on this forum, I bet you can find some good leads.

 

[huskyfan23]

Yeah, vehicles with it from the factory, and I think it's illegal on main brake lights, not third.

HID: Look for Philips/Osram/Hella ballasts, and Philips/Osram bulbs. Those are what stock HID-equipped vehicles use.

 

[superedge88]

Yeah, vehicles with it from the factory, and I think it's illegal on main brake lights, not third.

HID: Look for Philips/Osram/Hella ballasts, and Philips/Osram bulbs. Those are what stock HID-equipped vehicles use.

I'm not the authority on this, but I was told very specifically that you can't blink the third brake light. Oh well, it doesn't matter to me either way, if you don't get hassled then I say go for it, as for me, I will shy away from it.