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Electrical guru's. Possible tail light problem.

Old Apr 18, 2010 | 03:55 PM
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Electrical guru's. Possible tail light problem.

I put a set of LED tail lights in a couple weeks ago. They look/work awsome. I don't know if I have a problem or not though.

Only sometimes when I put it in reverse my lamp out will flash. It is usually so quik that it only chimes and won't even light the dash. It never stays on, just a half second flash (Both back up lights DO work). I have also noticed that - occasionaly - when I open the door the tail lights will flash. Today I noticed when I opened the door to get out, the gauges jumped. Lastly sometimes my remote start will set off the factory alarm now.

All of these problems seem to only be sometimes...I don't know if they are related, if I have a bad ground, tail lights are backfeeding, or what...
What do you think?
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Old Apr 19, 2010 | 04:58 PM
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I would change them back out and see if the problems go away. The reverse lamp out is common with LED lights as they do not draw as much current as the incandescent stock lamps, that is how the truck knows about lamps that are out. Some of the LED set ups have resisters wired with the LEDs to fool the computer. The tail lights flashing is a little more concerning. If the problems go away without the new tail lights trace out the internal wiring looking for lose wires and bad connections. Unfortunately most of the aftermarket stuff we can get is cheaply made.
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Old Apr 19, 2010 | 06:05 PM
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Actually I should have mentioned that...The tail lights are LED but the back up lights are incandescent. But - they are not the same style bulb as the stockers, they are just an 1156 (I think) just a single filiment socket type bulb not the spade type from factory. Is there any chance the current level could be close or less with the socket bulb? Is it possible that the bulb is as cheaply made as most aftermarket stuff causing a current fluctuation?
...Maybe I should just change em back first before I get too far into the 'what if's'.
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Old Apr 19, 2010 | 08:46 PM
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You need a "RL-2525 Marker Lamp Load Resistor" about half way down the page:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...gi?product=CAR

The one above it "RL-650" is for the TS circuit if you put LED's in it as well..It stops the fast / no flash..
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Old May 3, 2010 | 06:38 PM
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FYI for anyone curious...I changed the bulbs and all is well...is there such a thing as crappy chinese bulbs? I guess I got them.
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Old May 5, 2010 | 11:17 PM
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You bet there are crappy Chinese bulbs, like everything else. The hard part is finding things that are not.
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Old May 6, 2010 | 06:22 AM
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I purchased some LED replacement bulbs off of Fleabay. One burned up, nearly caugth fire, now my turn signal is not working correctly on that side of the truck, flashing very rapidly. Also caused a fuse to blow on the other side of the truck. Not sure which part I will need to change to fix the turn signal,
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Old May 7, 2010 | 11:51 PM
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When I did mine the bulbs were wired so that the turn signals shorted out. I was able to replace the fuses and it was OK. The rapid blink is the burned out bulb indication. The LED bulbs make this happen if you do not add the load resister. I purchased a set of new socket/circuit boards and reworked them to accommodate the LED bulbs. After a while I got sick of the rapid blink and dim signals and put the incandescent bulbs back it.
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