blebarge

So, I have an '88 Firebird GTA and recently decided to purchase LED lights for all the rear brakelights, running lights, and turn signals. And the front turn signals as well. I got them all put in and decided to give it a try. The first issue, as I went to activate the turn signal, the filament for that action would turn on, but not click and turn on and off. My dad came to take a look and we determined there wasn't enough current to click over the flasher. So we hooked up a couple ballast resistors, one on each side, and it started clicking, but at a very slow rate. And though the flasher was clicking over, ALL the lights began flashing. Right and left, however it was the running light filament that flashed on the opposite side of the flasher we activated. Now, turning on the running lights solved the issue of cross flashing (as the filament was always on, instead of flashing) but caused the lights to once again stop flashing. Ultimately we tried VARIOUS setups with more and less resistances on just about any combination of filaments and wires. And still had all sorts of issues. Including stepping on the breaks causing the FRONT running lights to activate.

So anyway sorry for the long post, but these lights are getting aggrivating as I have spent over $120 on something we simply cannot get to work properly. So if anyone has any advice, or better yet has delt with this problem, I would be willing to hear EVERY suggestion.

peterc005

Replace the two pin thermal flasher cans with three pin solid state flasher cans. The extra wire goes to earth.

The LEDs do not draw enough current to switch the older thermal flasher cans.

mjdavis68

iTrader: (1)

You have to change your flasher to a Electronic one and ground each one of the sockets or ground the sockets in a series of one ground

blebarge

So, why do I want a three pin? Any reason I should get that over a two pin? I'm not questioning your judgement, I just don't want to go get it and not have it plug in because of the extra pin.

peterc005

Two pin cans work on a thermal (heat) basis. The electrical load from the bulbs causes heat, which opens the circuit so the bulbs go off for a second. Another problem with this setup is trucks with lots of bulbs, which would draw a higher current and cause then flasher to run too fast.

As LEDs use less current, the load is smaller and does not generate enough heat to open the circuit.

Three pin cans use a transistor to control the switching, which is not dependent on electrical load. For high or low (LED) loads use a three pin flasher can.

blebarge

Alright I'll have to give that a try. Gotta work tomorrow, but I should be able to get around to it Tuesday.

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Will be interesting to see if you get the side markers to work as turn signals with those LEDs.
Simply replacing the bulbs with LEDs will not be enough, as you'll either have turn signals OR running lights, because you can't reverse the polarity on an LED.

blebarge

So, I added the electric flasher (it was a two pin, so is it thermal and that is why it is acting weird? They said it was electric and it clicks at a steady rate) anyway, with running lights ON it works exactly as it should. However, with the running lights off, I am still getting that cross-blink problem. Also, with ALL the LEDs in, it still doesn't blink, but adding some resistance should solve the issue. Any ideas on the cross- blink anyone? For now I will just always leave my running lighta on.

someone972

iTrader: (2)

I think I've seen two-pin cans with an extra wire that you can ground to a ground-point somewhere. I think the third pin/wire is necessary because with the solid state electronics, you need both power and ground at all times for the circuitry inside in addition to the output, whereas the two-pin version just acts as a simple switch so it does not need the constant ground.

As for the cross-blinking, I looked at this wiring diagram: http://austinthirdgen.org/mkportal/m...ody_wiring.gif

My best guess is that when the blinkers are on, the current is feeding though the LH/RH marker lamps (can be seen in the bottom left of diagram) into the circuit for the running lights. Might be worth looking into, I'm not sure which lights the LH/RH marker are referring to, but maybe try removing them and see if it still cross-blinks.