LED Turn Signal Resistor Spec

[Xiufeng]

2013 Civic HF. Just installed LED turn signals front and back with resistors over the weekend. They function properly and look good. I like LED's instant light up compared to halogen's breathing feeling. I believe this can do better grabbing other drivers' attention and with the added extra brightness, ultimately improve safety.

However, since then I've been thinking about the specs of the standard 6Ω resistors: is 6Ω the correct resistance for Civic turn signals?

I've looked up the original bulb specs in the owner's manual: the rears are 21W, and fronts are 28/8W. So assuming the circuit provides standard 12V, the resistor itself consumes 24W, already over the original rear bulb. Adding that by my LED bulb's claimed 8.4W (rear, can't find the number for front but they are the same series so shouldn't be too far off), the whole setup on one side draws over 54% more current (0.95A) in the rear, and about 16% more current (0.37A) in the front.

I know 1.32A, or for arguments sake 2.64A for both sides in the worst case scenario, doesn't seem that much of a deal. But does anyone know if this is going to have any long term negative effectives on the circuits? After all, it's like it's driving an extra half of a high beam 60W bulb blinking when I turn my hazard lights on.

 

[webby]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AJVS6sEE54c


I know some have used this guys product. He makes them for your specific vehicle, and it requires no cutting of any factory wiring. Just plug and play.

 

[Xiufeng]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AJVS6sEE54c


I know some have used this guys product. He makes them for your specific vehicle, and it requires no cutting of any factory wiring. Just plug and play.

Yeah, I've seen this and some other videos from this guy. I'm very interested in how it works. If someone knows, please let me know. And now that I see it again, I noticed I'm using exact the same bulb from the look of it.

Honestly, I'm not confident at all about my wiring in the front since I had to do the whole cut-tap-tape-mount thing blindly behind the fender. The front wiring harness is just too short to reach either up to the engine bay, or down out of the fender. Without getting the bumper cover and wheel well lining completely off, I either see it, or barely get my hands in, not both. Civics are generally easy to work on, but for the short list of things that are not, they are really PITA.

That being said, I'm just not comfortable buying something off of email. But it's just me. Thanks for mentioning it for others' benefit.

 

[webby]

Others have said 6 ohm was correct when they did theirs. There are other companies that sell kits but they do require tapping into the wire which is why I mentioned those above.

As for working on things, I high suggest pulling the front bumper. The first time may be intimidating if you’ve never done it, but once you do it once you can make quick work of it. I’ve taken the front off so many times to do headlight work. It makes things so much easier. Watch this tutorial and you can decide
https://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/2012-civic-hid-retrofit-headlight-installation.2531/

 

[webby]

Also you’re using 2 resistors if you watch the video, not 4.

 

[Xiufeng]

Others have said 6 ohm was correct when they did theirs. There are other companies that sell kits but they do require tapping into the wire which is why I mentioned those above.

As for working on things, I high suggest pulling the front bumper. The first time may be intimidating if you’ve never done it, but once you do it once you can make quick work of it. I’ve taken the front off so many times to do headlight work. It makes things so much easier. Watch this tutorial and you can decide
https://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/2012-civic-hid-retrofit-headlight-installation.2531/

If correct means turn signals work without hyperflashing, then yes, mine work perfectly as well. They are just drawing more current than they used to by my calculation. And my resistors came with the bulbs as a kit. (this one if anyone is wondering)

As with pulling the bumper, I appreciate the suggestion. But it is a little bit harder for me. I live in an apartment complex and have to do it in the parking lot with cars come and go around me constantly. Not a lot of working room. But it is not impossible if it really comes to that. Just need to be a little bit more creative. Thanks for the tutorial!

 

[Xiufeng]

Also you’re using 2 resistors if you watch the video, not 4.

Yeah, that's one big reason why I'm super curious about how it works. I did get my hands on the wiring diagram and it looks like the front and rear turn signals come in parallel out of something called "MICU". So I'm wondering how it fixes front and rear hyperflashing when only installed on one...

 

[webby]

why I'm super curious about how it works.

@ethlar may know? I've not seen the diagram or ever looked into how they are wired.

 

[ethlar]

@ethlar may know? I've not seen the diagram or ever looked into how they are wired.

i think he just put the big resistor in a project box and put pigtails on to make it plug and play. The wiring is probably identical to how you should wire in a resistor with t-taps

 

[webby]

i think he just put the big resistor in a project box and put pigtails on to make it plug and play. The wiring is probably identical to how you should wire in a resistor with t-taps

but I think he's still trying to figure out why it only needs 2 and not 4 if I'm not mistaken?

 

[Xiufeng]

but I think he's still trying to figure out why it only needs 2 and not 4 if I'm not mistaken?

Yes, exactly. I don't know anything about the "MICU" on the diagram that I have. I don't know how wiring up one of that customized module could fix both front and rear. As far as I can tell, front and rear are wired in parallel, at least from the point out of the "MICU".

 

[ethlar]

i think because the resistor is bridging the positive and ground on the circuit with or without the bulb present its tricking the bulb detection component into never hyperblinking. the left side and right side signals may be somewhat linked in the micu even if they go to separate pins for front and rear to the harness

old school blinker modules regulated the speed of the blink by the bulb resistance, i want to say its a simple R-C circuit. Newer cars may have a digital regulation for the blink speeds and just use a binary logic for if the bulb is detected or not, but still uses resistance to check

 

[Xiufeng]

i think because the resistor is bridging the positive and ground on the circuit with or without the bulb present its tricking the bulb detection component into never hyperblinking. the left side and right side signals may be somewhat linked in the micu even if they go to separate pins for front and rear to the harness

old school blinker modules regulated the speed of the blink by the bulb resistance, i want to say its a simple R-C circuit. Newer cars may have a digital regulation for the blink speeds and just use a binary logic for if the bulb is detected or not, but still uses resistance to check

My curiosity is trying to push me to buy one of those decoder, crack it open, and see what's inside. My fear is I might see a PCB with a chip on it. The casing looks like plastic so it shouldn't only work by resistance, knowing how hot my standard 6Ω resistor gets.

 

[ethlar]

My curiosity is trying to push me to buy one of those decoder, crack it open, and see what's inside. My fear is I might see a PCB with a chip on it. The casing looks like plastic so it shouldn't only work by resistance, knowing how hot my standard 6Ω resistor gets.

i think the plug and play decoder is the same resistor just in a case with some thermal compound since it gets warm enough he says to install on metal

 

[Xiufeng]

i think the plug and play decoder is the same resistor just in a case with some thermal compound since it gets warm enough he says to install on metal

If so then it must be of different resistance, instead of 6 ohm. Otherwise it would be completely equivalent to my resistor. And I need one for each of the four corners, 4 in total, but he only needs two in total in the rear (or front, technically, it’s just way easier to install in the rear), and he claims that each one of his “box” will apply to both front and rear on the same side.