Simple $10 LED PIU Front Turn Signals Fix

[Trader0000]

The front amber turn signal LED’s have gone bad on my 2014 PIU. One side about four months ago and now the other side has gone out. These are the infamous Whelen proprietary lighting package lights. I planned to go with new bulb sockets with LED bulbs. I read that the 3157/4157 bulb socket would fit the PIU headlight lens housing. I ordered a set but they do not mate to the light housing.

With the light sockets not fitting I decided to see if I could bypass the Whelen controller and check to see if in fact the amber LED’s were burnt out. I traced the wiring and the amber LEDs were bad. However one side of white flasher LED’s did energize when I applied power directly to the OEM socket/LEDs.

With this in mind I rewired the white LEDs using the turn signal wiring. This is a simple solution but there was a problem. The state law does not allow white color turn signal lights. I decided that if I could tint the bulbs amber it would solve this problem. I found Krylon Stained 9034 Glass Tangerine orange tint paint at Ace Hardware for $6.99 plus tax and it worked well.

This is how I got my modified turn signals to work for under $10.00. It was done by jumping the turn signal flasher control wiring directly to the socket/LED. This bypassed the Whelen module controller. Then spray painting the LED bulb amber tint. Here is how to it’s done:

• Remove the turn signal socket/LED bulb from the headlamp housing by removing the u-bracket that covers the black Whelen controller module. Also remove the side running light socket. This will give you some room to remove the socket/LED bulb.
• Once the turn signal socket/LED bulb is removed from the headlight housing, cut the Red wire (+12 VDC LED power). This is the Red wire that sits between the Whelen module and the socket/LED. Cut this wire approximately 1/2” from the end of the Wheelen module. Strip the wire end of the Red cut wire that is on the socket/LED side by 3/8”. This Red wire will later get a butt splice connector for a red jumper wire.
• Cut the White/Black wire (-12 VDC) that goes from the Whelen module to the socket/LED approximately 2” from the module. Strip the wire end of this cut wire on the socket/LED side by 3/8”. This White/Black wire will later get a butt splice connector for a black jumper wire.
• Cut a piece of red colored and black colored wire approximately 8” long each. These two pieces are the jumper wires.
• Install the Red 8” Jumper wire to the Yellow wire that feeds into the Whelen controller module. Use a quick wire splice displacement connector. Face the splice so the jumper wire will cover across the module towards the socket/LED.
• Install the Black 8” Jumper wire to the Black wire that feeds into the Whelen controller module. Use a quick wire splice displacement connector. Face the splice so the wire will cover across the module towards the socket/LED. Install the wire splice displacement connector offset from the Red Jumper wire connector so when you tape the loom it does not have a budge.
• Take the Red Jumper wire lead and cut and strip the end so it will meet the cut Red wire on the socket/LED. Connect it using a crimp butt connector.
• Take the Black Jumper wire and cut and strip the end so it will meet the cut White/Black wire on the socket/LED. Connect it using a crimp butt connector.
• Apply electrical tape to the two cut dead leads from the Whelen modular to prevent any electrical shorting.
• Test to make sure that connections are good and the LED lights work with the turn signal lever.
• Apply tape or wire loom to exposed wires.
• Cut a hole for the socket/LED in a piece of cardboard to be used as masking.
• Insert socket/bulb into cardboard and paint the bulb. Use several light coats with a couple of minutes in between to desired color. It took 8 light coats to give me the correct amount of tint. When you think you have the correct shade turn on the blinkers and double check the tint. The white LED light is very bright and additional coats of amber tint maybe needed. The paint was under $7.00 and was purchased at Ace Hardware store.
• Let dry and then install socket/LED back, reinstall u-bracket and side marker light.
• The socket/LED only goes in one way. Be careful not to scrape the orange paint.
• As a note, the passenger side LED light will point inward and the driver’s side will point out.

This is a cheap alternative to solve the light issue.

 

[JohnyFixit91]

I almost did this myself after reading the article, I thought it was nice & quite clever for the price.

One alternative is more expensive, but local, if it's convenient, or if you're in a hurry, I was, [Everything @ Oreillys].

$15 for 3157 Sockets & Incandescent Bulbs.

$47 total (Sockets w/LEDs & Fuses).

3157 (GM) LowProfile Socket $9.49ea
15A LowProfile Mini Fuses $4.29
3157A LEDs - $21.99

These costs don't account for Electrical tape/Connectors/Solder/Multimeter, whichever tools you choose to use.

I also cutoff the pigtail going to the rubber 'Wigwag Module' that connected to the running light connector and used that as my splice.

On my '15 PIU I was able to fidangle the Low Profile 3157 sockets into the housings and purchase LED 3157A (Amber) Bulbs. Now the 3157 Sockets (GM) have 3 Black wires, One wire, goes to two Pins, and the other two wires go to the other two seperate pins. I'm assuming Trader0000's colored connector is the same.

Now remember if anyone goes this route, LEDs are for Off-Road use only (disclaimer), AND they are POLARITY SENSITIVE.

I used the Two Prongs for my Ground (x2 Bigger Female Prongs on Sockets), and the smaller two seperate female prongs for Power, One prong enables a brighter LED (I used for turn signal) and the other as the Marker light LED when the FCL switch is turned on. Multimeter (Ohm & Volt meter) with be your friend here.

If you feel like you burned out the LED and the switch is on, check Fuse 30 under the Driver side Dash or turn the LED backwards, the side marker light will be off if the fuse is blown too.

Remove the 10mm on top of the Headlight Housing and hold it towards the front of the vehicle to rotate and slide the Wigwag out and finagal that Low Pro Socket into place, rotating to the sweet spot of course. Pushing it in somewhat hard as I rotated it did the trick for me as did removing the Bracket as Trader0000 did.

I rotated the LED to where the heatsink was vertical to maximize reflection and dissipate heat better as, heat rises, the "Waves/Valleys" don't stack the heat to the next "Wave/Valley". Whether that realistically makes a difference or not, my mind thinks so.

If in doubt use the OP's method, the white LEDs are pretty bright. I discovered that my Wigwags were fine however the Hard Rubber Black Module had a couple capacitors that became desoldered and applying pressure or tightly wrapping tape where they were, made the turn signals work again, til the tape loosened anyways.

Wiring the Wigwag Bulbs worked for me too, except I accidently burnt out 1 of 3 LEDs while testing it.

So to summarize my rediculous writing, Get;

3157 Sockets & Bulbs, then wire as follows;
WigWag Bulb - Yellow to Harness Black
Red to Harness Blue is the Turn Signal
Red to Harness Yellow is Marker LED.

The Harness changes Wires colors with the Wigwag pigtail, so I'm referring to the Side Marker 'Harness' Colors.

Here are some confidence photos

 

[JohnyFixit91]

Heres a Photo of the Capacitor/Resistor problem if anyone cares.

I forgot to mention, if you have Hyper Flash, Disable the 'Front Cornering Bulb Outtage' in the BCM with Forscan. It may be labeled as 'Bulb Outtage Front Cornering' or something like that.

I decided to Cut away at the Rubber piece by piece. As you can see part of the circuit is melted into the rubber instead of the Circuit Board.