VCCA Home Forums Thread Like Summary - Here's a puzzle for you.

I converted the tail lights on the 38 to BA15D sockets so I could use 1154 bulbs with the intent to swap to brighter LEDs. I bought several brands of LED from different sources on line. All claiming certain Lumen levels much brighter than the 1154. I tested all of the bulbs in a separate socket and all but two work normally in that test socket, those two were internally wired backward and would work if I swapped the wires on the car (not going to do that). The issue is all but two of the LEDs don't work normally when plugged into the sockets on the car. The 1154s work normally in the car. Testing the sockets with my multi-meter shows over 7v to the contacts with the ground meter lead on the housing. The two LEDs that do work in the car are a tad dimmer than the 1154s, both by eye and by a Lumen app on my phone. The baffling thing is why do they all work OK in the test socket but not in the car when the sockets in the car test good? I tried running an extra ground wire to the socket housing just in case but it made no difference. For now I'll stay with the 1154 incandescent but my mind won't let go of the why they work in one socket and not another when all sockets test good and the 1154s work in all the sockets. Automotive electricity makes my head hurt....

Tiny,

I'm no help on your fig newton problem. Sorry.

It may be that the car is merely rejecting the new fangled LEDs. Besides, are't the 1154s bright enough to alert anyone driving behind you that you are there? They used to be.

Best,

Charlie