JDM City Lights LED Question/Problem

[polishmafia]

I have a set of JDM headlights on my car with the socket for the city lights. I have a very strange problem with one side.

Left side;
- Works with standard bulb
- Works with LED bulb

Right Side;
- Works with standard bulb
- Does NOT work with LED bulb

I've tried the same standard bulb on both sides and both sides worked. I tried a few different LED bulbs on both sides and all of them only worked on one side.

Do LEDs need to have a certain voltage to light up? Am I not getting enough current? I'm completely stumped. Any ideas/suggestions are welcome.

[RAZ_76]

That does sound weird bro. Did you try that led that didn't work on that side on teh left side?? Did it work? If it did then the only thing left to give you this issue would be teh socket itself. Check that really good and tell me where you got teh LEDs and what size are they. Thanks slut.

[polishmafia]

Thanks for the reply, you walking STD labratory. :)

I checked multiple LEDS on one side, and they all worked. I tried those same LEDs on the other side, and nothing.

I checked the socket to see if there was corrosion or something, but it was clean. The thing that baffles me is that I can take one stock bulb, put in the left - ON, put in the right - ON. Then take the one LED, put it in the left - ON, put it in the right - nothing. :(

[RAZ_76]

Thanks for the reply, you walking STD labratory. :)

I checked multiple LEDS on one side, and they all worked. I tried those same LEDs on the other side, and nothing.

I checked the socket to see if there was corrosion or something, but it was clean. The thing that baffles me is that I can take one stock bulb, put in the left - ON, put in the right - ON. Then take the one LED, put it in the left - ON, put it in the right - nothing. :(

That is exactly why I think is not the electrical part of it. Have you tried to leave the good side empty, no bulb and then add a LED in the non working side? If it still doesn't work then you know that it's not that theory you had about voltage shortage, and leaves only the socket.

[polishmafia]

That is exactly why I think is not the electrical part of it. Have you tried to leave the good side empty, no bulb and then add a LED in the non working side? If it still doesn't work then you know that it's not that theory you had about voltage shortage, and leaves only the socket.

You know, I'm not sure if I left the good side empty and tried the bad one. I'll try that tonight.

If it is a voltage problem, how can I fix it?

[RAZ_76]

How did you connect your city lights?? To what?

[polishmafia]

Tapped into the parking light wire for the turn signals, and grounded the other wire out.

Big question is why the stock bulb (little yellow one) works in the socket, but not the LED.

[RAZ_76]

Also try this, turn them on and try and wiggle it in there and see if you can get it to come one while your doing that, if that gets it to come on then you know that it seats different then the regular bulb and you just have to find a good position for it.

[RAZ_76]

Tapped into the parking light wire for the turn signals, and grounded the other wire out.

Big question is why the stock bulb (little yellow one) works in the socket, but not the LED.


Are the bases of the LED and stock bulb the same?? Exactly the same or little different?

[polishmafia]

I tried that. I wiggled that thing around, tried at angles, pushed down and up... and nothing with the LED. Put the stock bulb back in, and it worked.

I think some douchebag sold me some defective JDM headlights! LOL jk ;)

[polishmafia]

I would say the stock bulb has a flatter surface on the bottom, and the LED is a bit more curved. I took some 400 grit sandpaper and smoothed out the bottom of the LED so it looked like the stock bulb, but that didn't work.

[RAZ_76]

Well Im the only douchebag here trying to help you..:wink:

[RAZ_76]

What the hell did you do to them bro??

[RAZ_76]

OK dude, this is the deal. If it was electrical, then LED or stock would not work on that side, period!. It's not because of electrical shortage because I believe LEDs draw less power then stock. Bottom line is that if it was the wiring, that side would not work. So , it only leaves that socket.

[polishmafia]

I didn't do anything LOL!

Thats what I don't understand. The stock bulbs work fine, but one side does not want to light up the LED bulb. Goddamn Mitisubishi shady manufacturing!

[polishmafia]

Ugh... I'll take apart the headlights and grill again tonight and fuck with it some more. Thanks dude. I'll let you know if I figure anything out.

[RAZ_76]

Found this out about LEDs
LEDs are a type of semi-conductor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-conductor) electrical component (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_component) known as a diode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode), and like a normal diode they function sort of as a "one way check valve (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_valve)", that is they conduct power and will light up only when the power is of the correct voltage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage) polarity, that is to say only when the electricity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity) is going the proper 'direction' through the LED. Applying the wrong polarity may damage the LED so it is important to protect it from voltage of the wrong polarity.

[polishmafia]

Hmm... I'll have to look at my wiring. I'm sure that I tapped into the positive for the parking light, but did I hook up the positive or negative wire for the city light?

Thanks dude. That might be it!

[spdracr]

what size bulbs can we use in there ?? Where did you guys buy the LEDs from ?? When I put my heads on I hooked them up straight to the battery to see if they worked. Only passenger side worked so I'm assuming that the driver side has a bad bulb. So I wanna get some white LEDs for them

[spdracr]

why don't you swap the connectors around and see if it will do amy difference. Its a far shot but its worth it. If you swap it from the right to the left side and the left side don't work then the connector is the reason

[Jeffylou87]

That's weird.. Did you use a voltage meter to see how much you're getting from the socket?

[RAZ_76]

He's too stupid to think of that...JK:lol:

[polishmafia]

Ray, shut your pie hole LOL

That was the absolute first thing I did, and voltage is the same on both sides.

Speedracer - I have no idea what you just suggested. Swap the connectors?

[RAZ_76]

Ray, shut your pie hole LOL

That was the absolute first thing I did, and voltage is the same on both sides.

Speedracer - I have no idea what you just suggested. Swap the connectors?


No need to swap the connectors, it will prove what we already figured out, that is not the power shortage or the light bulb. So we know that it's the plug.

[lonestar22]

led's dont look good in this spot anyway

[polishmafia]

Thanks for your unnecessary opinion on this topic :P

The one side with the LED bulb looks much better than the stock side.

[RAZ_76]

Im sure it does, dim too. Im going to replace mine soon.

[02galant]

Just put more stickers on the side that isnt working right and that should help.....

[dwjp90]

umm, raz, spd was correct, pilish try swapping so what was your gound plugs into the fuse, and what was plugged into the fuse plugs into the ground.

leds only work one way, (they have a postive side, and a negative side)

[greddy]

dwjp90 is right, my led turns only worked one way, I couldn't figure it out until I remembered that it's the only way that it works.

[polishmafia]

why don't you swap the connectors around and see if it will do amy difference. Its a far shot but its worth it. If you swap it from the right to the left side and the left side don't work then the connector is the reason

You guys said he was correct... How is his idea of swapping the left side "connector" to the right side "connector" remotely the problem? What the hell is a "connector" anyway - the wires, the socket, what?

The plan is to change the positive wire from the parking light from the positive wire from the city light to the negative wire from the parking light.

[spdracr]

the connector where the wires come out of that's what I'm talking about. But I guess rewiring the positive wire might work as well to see if its wired wrong. But arent your wires color coded ?? Mine are red and black

[Jeffylou87]

Oh man.. LED are polar but the ones hes using don't have different sides to it like a 194 that you can flip either way.. It's a round bulb with the cylinder negative and the bottom tip positive.. so it doesn't matter which way you put the bulb in..


I would try and replace the socket.. I'm not saying it would be easy to find one.. but.. idk.. It HAS to be the socket.. I mean, you're getting the right voltage reading.. Unless, did you check resistance or current?

[dwjp90]

umm, yea it does, if the wires are not hooked up correctly, the led will not light up. hold on ill put up a diagram

http://i36.tinypic.com/207xoxf.jpg

so, what you need to o, is swap the power wires, or hook them up to your battery.

[spdracr]

Try to hook it up straight to the battery and see what happens. I'm not saying that will fix it but we are the process of elimination here and the more you eliminate the closer you get to finding the problem

[Jeffylou87]

There are no wires coming from the led it's self.. And if he checked the socket with a vm and he's getting 12 volts then that's not the problem.. I know LEDs are polar but the led bulb that he is using doesn't have wires coming out of it..

Check to see if your current and resistance is ok..

[spdracr]

There are no wires coming from the led it's self.. And if he checked the socket with a vm and he's getting 12 volts then that's not the problem.. I know LEDs are polar but the led bulb that he is using doesn't have wires coming out of it..

Check to see if your current and resistance is ok..

I know that but I'd can use the wires coming out of the back of the plug (socket or whatever you wanna call it) and feed it directly from the battery and see if it works or not

[dwjp90]

yea, umm if there are no wires that go to the led, how does it light up? 8p

you are going to want to take whatever powers the led, and switch the wires and see if the led lights up.

[mrjaydeeone]

dwjp90 is correct Pete. I had this issue with mine as well. LEDs are polarized versus regular bulbs which aren't. Swapped the wires and I was fine.

[polishmafia]

dwjp90 is correct Pete. I had this issue with mine as well. LEDs are polarized versus regular bulbs which aren't. Swapped the wires and I was fine.

I didn't have time tonight to swap the wires. I'm just glad to hear that someone else had the problem and fixed it by swapping the wires. Thanks man.

[spdracr]

what bulb are you using in there ?? i got the 194 LED ones from the local store and they arent what i needed, i remember someone saying 194 and someone else saying something different so which one is it ??

[mrjaydeeone]

they are ba9s Alex

[RAZ_76]

Here Alex
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37.l1313&satitle=ba9s+leds&category0=

[spdracr]

thanks guys

[ZigenScarface]

omg noob city

[spdracr]

omg noob city

why don't you shut up and go to the lexus forums and read some more :D

[polishmafia]

Problem solved.

The positive and negative wires just needed to be switched. Thanks for the helpful replies. Thanks Ray and Jay for the troubleshooting/solution. :)

[mrjaydeeone]

good shit. No problem brother

[Beside2k]

Do you think you could please show how to fix it with pictures? i think i did understand it but i'm not all sure. So could anyone please do that?

[polishmafia]

Do you think you could please show how to fix it with pictures? i think i did understand it but i'm not all sure. So could anyone please do that?

There are two wires that run to the city light. One negative and one positive.

---- <- negative wire
++++ <- positive wire

Switch them. Its two wires, its not difficult.