LED Turn signal conversion

[mpheng]

I've been wanting to change the turn signals front and back to LED's and I've come across great prices on this website. The lamp replacement guide says the bulb is 7443 and I was wondering which one would fit front and back.

http://dx.com/s/7443

 

[webby]

this what you mean?
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/bulb-sizes-lamp-replacement-guide.5990/

 

[mpheng]

Yes that is what I mean. I want to switch them to LED's but not sure which one would fit in the sockets (size wize)

 

[Adrizzzle08]

I have 7443's in my headlights and 7440A's in my taillights. I've converted every single oem bulb to an aftermarket LED bulb and I came across a few problems... First when I did my LED DRL's I got a "Check DRL's" message on the I-Mid and the orange " i " lit up on my dash and doesn't go away. I also can't use it as a high beam with the headlights turned off, I can only use them as high beams with the headlights turned on. I think it may have something to do with me needing resistors. Second, once I finished converting all the rest of my oem bulbs to LED's (brake taillights, reverse lights, rear turn signals and front turn signals) all but my reverse lights turn on when i press on the brake pedal and on my dash board both turn signal green arrow indicators turn on as well. When I flip my turn signals either left or right, both of them turn on as well with both the rear turn signals as if I had turned on my emergency hazard lights. At night when I turn on my headlights, all my turn signals and all brake lights even my third brake light stay on and wont turn off and the green arrow turn indicators stay lit on my dashboard. They don't flash as if when you would use your turn signals, they just stay on. Again, I think all of these errors may have something to do with lack of resistors. @webby @KennyGS @MrsJrotax101 mind sharing your thoughts or input on this situation??

 

[KennyGS]

I'm unfamiliar with LED replacement bulb issues. I believe @Nix has personal experience and knowledge, and certainly our sponsor @XenonDepot should be able to provide more information and guidance.

I wish I could be more helpful.

 

[ADExternal]

For your DRL problem, I believe someone made a DIY how to install them without getting a light/error. Link please @webby. For your other problem that makes all your lights blink, I don't know for sure since I never came across the problem but as an engineer, I would put my money down on you having a grounding problem. To very briefly explain why I came to this conclusion. Since the multifunction switch only has one power inlet (due to fuse) then to have all lights blink mean they are all completing their circuits somehow. Also, you didn't mention if the LEDs in the turn we're hyper blinking or not. If they're not when you swapped the LEDs then you might have worse problems.

 

[Adrizzzle08]

Yes they are hyperblinking, but I'm not trying to fix that, i actually like that.

 

[Mikeorock]

I just ran into a similar problem yesterday. Theses are for my spec d headlight blinkers.they are from japan or something. They look awesome. But when i put them on, the hazards stay on . They dont even blink they just stay on. I cant even use the blinker. Let me know what you find out i will do the same.. Will it mess the car up?

 

[K24seven]

I've heard that you need resistors

 

[webby]

I personally do not know the answer. I just know that you will lose functionality in your high beam headlights if you swap your drl over to LED bulbs.

 

[Tom's Si]

You may need dual intensity bulbs or switchbacks for led bulbs depending on front or rear turn signal or brake lights etc. as far as drl led I recommend the kit from ijdmtoy.com it has the wiring and resistors included and no errors. Led work for high beams but as mentioned they are not practical

 

[Nix]

The resistors will "fix" both the hyperflashing and the "i" bulb out signal being on. You definitely need particular bulbs as I have found not all LEDs work properly even if they are the correct size. Something to do with the wires on the bottom of the plastic connector. Some seem to have 2 or 3 wires and I think in them trying to make "universal" fitments for any car running that size base the bulbs end up doing funky things. It sucks but it's happened to me more than once.

I had looked into swapping the turn signal bulbs but placing resistors just seemed like a hassle at the time.... however... I did swap my DRL bulbs for LEDs and they look great but throw no light at all. My projector low beams are throwing a wide enough pattern that I really haven't used my high beams in a couple years. I have been having an issue with the airbag light staying on, aka no airbags working, since I put them in. I have the resistors and everything wired up nicely and I have no warning lights on the dash or trouble flicking them to "high" briefly. There is a definite brightness change but again, almost no light output for night time. I am probably going to end up removing them if I can't get the airbag issue resolved. Definitely not worth dying for "cool" DRLs.

 

[ADExternal]

Now that I think about, Nix brought a good point why they all blink. It ties in what I mentioned before on how you have a ground problem and your wires are being looped. Because I have the oem uae headlights, I forgot that the usdm version uses one bulb for both parking and turning. The bulb you are using is connecting both circuits together. Parking light circuit uses the same wire line and since the other side turning is connected to the parking bulb as well, it makes it blink drawing power from the otherside so it didnt matter which blinker side you turned on.

 

[Adrizzzle08]

Today I found that switching my rear LED turn signal bulbs back to OEM got rid of my hazards staying on. I can use them now, but in doing so I no longer have LED rear bulbs. They look cool, but I may just have to switch everything back to OEM. The hyperblinking is still there, but as I mentioned before I don't have a problem with them hyperblinking as I tend to switch lanes on public roads or on highways just as fast as the stunt drivers on "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" so yeah lol. In the long run, I will probably just have HID's for my heads and fogs. Everything else will just be OEM. My DRL's will probably be converted from LED's to Sylvania Silver Star bulbs or something that steers away from the OEM halogen look. I hate halogen...

 

[XenonDepot]

We don't really recommend LED's in turn signal applications because they run at a reduced power. This often can cause the hyper-flashing (fast blink) or generate light out indicators on vehicles. The only fix for this would be to wire in resistors to your vehicle wiring to simulate the difference in the load.

John

 

[Adrizzzle08]

We don't really recommend LED's in turn signal applications because they run at a reduced power. This often can cause the hyper-flashing (fast blink) or generate light out indicators on vehicles. The only fix for this would be to wire in resistors to your vehicle wiring to simulate the difference in the load.

John

Tried this and it didnt help at all.

 

[XenonDepot]

What load resistor did you use? It's possible that you simply used the wrong load.

STeve