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infusion124's avatar
infusion124
Explorer
Oct 09, 2016

Rerofitted Led Tail Lights, Now have no blinker, or brake.

Hello all! I've been a long time lurker And finally have something worth posting.

I have a 1995 Fleetwood Bounder on the Chevy chassis. I have just finished switching all of the marker lights and turn signal lights to LED's. The last item on my list was the tail light conversion.

Originals.
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hmcAAOSwFNZWxK8M/s-l300.jpg

Retrofitted with these.
https://www.etrailer.com/static/images/faq/Demo-Bargman-Trailer-Lights-47-84-009_644.jpg


Now the mystery, I hooked them up all correctly I have changed tons of tail lights being a boat mechanic. But I cannot figure out what is going on. I turn on the lights they light up. I press the brake, nothing. I try turn signals and only the left works. Right turn gets one click and stops. When I turn off the running lights the brake lights work but turn signals are the same.

I have purchased in line resistors for the led replacements hoping that takes care of the problem. But just in case I wanted to run the problem by you.

Thanks a ton.

8 Replies

  • MEXICOWANDERER's avatar
    MEXICOWANDERER
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2016
    A proper LED flasher is electronic

    BUT!

    Besides the normal X And L terminals is an actual pigtail wire to be connected to chassis negative. This obviates circuit amperage minimums. I chose a Sure Power. Expensive. Guaranteed 1,000,000 flash life. Overload reverse polarity and and load dump protected. Doodge in their wisdom hid the flasher way the hell and gone up toward the defrosters. Two flasher failures and two scarred and bleeding hands and forearms later I got smart.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Oct 11, 2016
    Note that the original poster is not simply putting LED bulbs in the existing fixture, but rather has replaced the entire fixture.

    This doesn't seem to be a turn signal flasher incompatibility in as much as there is no illumination of the turn signals in some cases, and at any rate that would not prevent the brake lights from working. That could still be a problem, but if so it would only be apparent once the lights are illuminating at the proper time (illuminating, but not flashing properly).
  • landyacht318's avatar
    landyacht318
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2016
    Most LED drop ins do not work correctly replacing a halogen bulb. Especially those with dimpled reflectors behind a smooth lens.

    But that will never stop anyone.

    The electronic flasher is not a cure all. I have basic reflectors and tried LEDS on all four dual filament 1157s. 2 1157s works fine, All 4 and no workee Starts acting extremely wacky..

    Front Amber LEDS were Obscenely bright and dangerous. When back to Incandescent 3196 up front and kept the rear red 1157 LEDs as these were bright and visible from all angles with enough difference from low to high to be very obvious.

    I see lots of LED bulbs in halogen signal lights/ Some are good, Some are OK, Some are horrid and I automatically detract 50 IQ points from the driver who thought LED = Improvement no matter what.
  • theoldwizard1's avatar
    theoldwizard1
    Explorer II
    Oct 11, 2016
    LED bulbs draw less current, which is why people like them.

    The "blinker" relay is a typically a very old fashioned bimetal thermal switch. When it heats up (from current running through them). This is why when either the front of the back bulb is burned out, they blink fast.

    Adding resistors defeats the goal of less current draw.

    What you want is an electronic flasher relay. (Google is your friend). Flash the same speed all the time, which means your won't know if you have a non-functioning LED turn signal.
  • CharlesinGA's avatar
    CharlesinGA
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2016
    While not an issue with the OP's '95 model, certain newer vehicles must have LED's with the resistors, or a whole host of problems will arise. Sprinter based motor homes look at the brake light circuit for the cruise control and the ABS among other things. Blow a bulb on a Sprinter, and a whole host of stuff suddenly don't work and you might even be in limp home mode. When doing conversions, make sure the vehicle can accommodate the change.

    Charles
  • mchero's avatar
    mchero
    Explorer
    Oct 09, 2016
    does everything work if you go back to the original bulbs?
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Oct 09, 2016
    Are the stop lights and turn signals separate circuits, or are they shared?

    I don't think the resistor is your problem; that's mainly warranted when the reduced current consumption of the LEDs causes the flasher to flash at the wrong rate (as it would if a bulb were burnt out). It would not affect the brake lights at all. Incidentally, such resistors are installed in parallel with the lights, not in series with them.

    I suspect you have some connections that have their polarity reversed (LEDs are of course polarity sensitive, while incandescent bulbs are not) or else a bad or missing ground connection. I may be entirely wrong.
  • Matt_Colie's avatar
    Matt_Colie
    Explorer II
    Oct 09, 2016
    I have been doing a lot of LED retrofit for different owners. That is what they can afford these days.

    There are two common problems that I run into:
    Bad grounds
    Wrong polarity

    It sounds like you have a mixture.

    With the economy still in the tank, I have been doing a lot of these conversions. It barely pays enough to get out of bed, but hey, that is what's left.

    Matt

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