LED Lights

[leeandsasha]

Here is what I bought from Superbrightleds.com

 

Brake Lights: 3157x25 Red X2

Reverse Lights: 921x12 Cool White X2

Map Lights: WLEDx6 Cool White X2

Plate Lights: WLEDx6 Cool White X2

F Turn Signal: 3157x25 Amber X2

Rear Marker: WLEDx6 Red X2

 

Here is where the problem starts. Sylvania and Ford say 2825 (W5W) is in the front map lamps and rear courtesy lamp but I can tell you on my Edge the front map lamps are 2825 but every thing in the back is a festoon bulb including the courtesy lamp.

Now according to the superbright site all 3 digit lights should be able to be replaced with a WLED series light well if the 578 series is a festoon bulb then it obviously can't be replaced with a WLED series.

 

The only other problem I had was the 921's don't fit into the socket very tight so I had to do a little cutting on the LED case to get it in but I resealed the internals with some silicone to keep them water tight.

Did you also nuy the LED flasher as well or individual resistors. I bought the same bulbs as you from them and the 3157 bulbs blink super fast. If you bought the flasher which one did you buy from them.

 

Thanks, Lee

[Lex Talionis]

helloooo... you asked the same question 2 times but I already answered it in post 75, plus in post 54 he says he did not use an LED flasher (which cant be used anyway) or inline resistor as he did not care about the hyper flashing

 

all the answers to you question are already here

[jpeckinp]

helloooo... you asked the same question 2 times but I already answered it in post 75, plus in post 54 he says he did not use an LED flasher (which cant be used anyway) or inline resistor as he did not care about the hyper flashing

 

all the answers to you question are already here

 

Let me help you Lex.

 

Lee, no I didn't buy a flasher relay and I didn't use the resistor pack either. The fast click doesn't bother me and after a few weeks you don't even notice it anymore.

[leeandsasha]

Here is what I bought from Superbrightleds.com

 

Brake Lights: 3157x25 Red X2

Reverse Lights: 921x12 Cool White X2

Map Lights: WLEDx6 Cool White X2

Plate Lights: WLEDx6 Cool White X2

F Turn Signal: 3157x25 Amber X2

Rear Marker: WLEDx6 Red X2

 

Here is where the problem starts. Sylvania and Ford say 2825 (W5W) is in the front map lamps and rear courtesy lamp but I can tell you on my Edge the front map lamps are 2825 but every thing in the back is a festoon bulb including the courtesy lamp.

Now according to the superbright site all 3 digit lights should be able to be replaced with a WLED series light well if the 578 series is a festoon bulb then it obviously can't be replaced with a WLED series.

 

The only other problem I had was the 921's don't fit into the socket very tight so I had to do a little cutting on the LED case to get it in but I resealed the internals with some silicone to keep them water tight.

Did you have to use one of their LED flashers or did you use individual resistors on the tail and turn signals? I bought the same bulbs and mine super flash and I was told I need an LED flasher from superled or resistors. If you bought the flasher where is it located on the Edge and which one did you buy since they have 8 on their website.

 

Thanks, Lee

[jpeckinp]

Did you have to use one of their LED flashers or did you use individual resistors on the tail and turn signals? I bought the same bulbs and mine super flash and I was told I need an LED flasher from superled or resistors. If you bought the flasher where is it located on the Edge and which one did you buy since they have 8 on their website.

 

Thanks, Lee

 

 

Sure did, I used that one right there.

[leeandsasha]

why thanks for the answers, for some reason my puter was not pulling up all the new posts on the site. Well now to complete the stereo. Edited June 6, 2008 by leeandsasha

[Flacoart]

Just a quick question what will be the replacement part number for the 578 festoon dome light? i am planing on buying it at that superbrightled.com website.so if anyone has that part number that will be great.

[lexington1]

Anyone have any luck changing the puddle lamps to LED's? I saw that lex did custom install, but I think he has an 07 (I have an 08). Seems that it has a screwdriver slot to remove the lens, but dont want to break the thing if its sealed.

I just changed all of my interior bulbs to cool white LED's and looks pretty good. Would look better if the puddle lights matched :yup:

[Lex Talionis]

Anyone have any luck changing the puddle lamps to LED's? I saw that lex did custom install, but I think he has an 07 (I have an 08). Seems that it has a screwdriver slot to remove the lens, but dont want to break the thing if its sealed.

I just changed all of my interior bulbs to cool white LED's and looks pretty good. Would look better if the puddle lights matched :yup:

 

no, I have an '08.

 

screw driver slot just pops open and drops down the entire enclosed bulb unit. as far as I know, I am the only one to ever make LED puddle lamps - and thus have them on an Edge - and doing so remains dispensing with their enclosed bulb unit. trust me I researched it pretty deep before jumping in as even trying to cut open their unit to retreive the bulb and swap it out with an LED would be a at best and a :censored: at worst

[lexington1]

Thanks Lex. After I posted, I couldn't let it go and promptly went out and broke the lens off the passenger side puddle light.... doh. I should be able to repair with some good ole' american glue/epoxy etc, but now that I have it off......

I need to take a closer look at the setup in there. Wondering if it can just do a straight swap for an LED like inside the car.

I undersand the closed piece to some degree (I live in seattle). But all the other lights interior/exterior or relatively painless to replace. Seems they could have engineered a better setup. What if one goes out, are you supposed to replace the whole mirror unit? Ouch.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

Cheers

[Lex Talionis]

Wondering if it can just do a straight swap for an LED like inside the car.

 

no... unless you cut apart the sealed/enclosed bulb/holder unit. The things are roughyl $50 per 1, so not worth the test to find out IF you can cut it open with a dremmel tool AND extract the bulb AND even hope you can find a right size/fit LED buld IF you can even cut that thing open successfully AND then you would have to epoxy it all back together. believe me, if you could do it the way you think you could, I would not have made my own. I would have just swapped bulbs of course like I did on the rest of the car

 

But all the other lights interior/exterior or relatively painless to replace. Seems they could have engineered a better setup. What if one goes out, are you supposed to replace the whole mirror unit? Ouch.

 

this is not an inside light, it is not like everything bulb in the entire car. it is not painless and easy to access the bulb itself - or at all.. that is why it is $50 per puddle lamp as it is an enclosed unit. Not sure how you broke yours, mine pop right out and they are just plug and play. so, if one goes out, yep, you toss the entire bulb/puddle lamp/lens system and pop in a new one. the whole mirror is never messed with.

 

for those that care.. my 1 of a kind LED puddle lamps we are talking about are right here

[lexington1]

Hey Lex,

yeah, breaking the lens was just plain dumb luck i guess. who knows what would happen if i tried the same thing on the driver's side. i did pull the bulb today from the broken unit and it is a festoon type about 32mm. Not a size available from superbrightleds.com but the the other lights changed in the interior weren't exact fits either, so i might be able to make it work.

So, since I broke one, I might as well screw around and see if i can make your original plan work.

I'll let you know.

[Lex Talionis]

Hey Lex,

yeah, breaking the lens was just plain dumb luck i guess. who knows what would happen if i tried the same thing on the driver's side. i did pull the bulb today from the broken unit and it is a festoon type about 32mm. Not a size available from superbrightleds.com but the the other lights changed in the interior weren't exact fits either, so i might be able to make it work.

So, since I broke one, I might as well screw around and see if i can make your original plan work.

I'll let you know.

 

try this guy http://stores.ebay.com/US-Home-Direct - it is where I get all my bulbs

 

yep, now that you busted it already, screw it.. the goal now would be to see if there is a way to cut around the base or lens with like a dremmel, remove the lens, get to that bulb, replace bulb, epoxy or glue the lens back on.

 

how about take some photos of that unit you have now that it is opened and the bulb itself and post the up.

[lexington1]

Ok, sorry for the delay. Had to wait for the lights to arrive and find a spare moment. I was able to complete the mod as planned tonight. It looks great and now matches all of the other LED's inside and out. Getting the lens off isn't easy and I don't even really know how to explain how I did it.

Basically got a small, sharper screwdriver in and slowly pried it off. I didn't go with a dremel as there is a small lip on the clear lens in the inner part of the fixture.

I also removed the reflector so the LED would fit better. No need for it as the LED is direct lighting.

Here are some pics: (hopefully I do this correctly)

 

Pic of the open unit and stock bulb, new LEDs in units with reflector removed (notice the not so clean edges of the fixtures from lens removal), final install pic didnt work well, but you get the idea, :

[Lex Talionis]

Ok, sorry for the delay. Had to wait for the lights to arrive and find a spare moment. I was able to complete the mod as planned tonight. It looks great and now matches all of the other LED's inside and out. Getting the lens off isn't easy and I don't even really know how to explain how I did it.

Basically got a small, sharper screwdriver in and slowly pried it off. I didn't go with a dremel as there is a small lip on the clear lens in the inner part of the fixture.

I also removed the reflector so the LED would fit better. No need for it as the LED is direct lighting.

Here are some pics: (hopefully I do this correctly)

 

Pic of the open unit and stock bulb, new LEDs in units with reflector removed (notice the not so clean edges of the fixtures from lens removal), final install pic didnt work well, but you get the idea, :

 

 

well done! so my original premise was correct back in my thread about being able to open them up and swap bulbs.

 

well, this is 1 time it appears breaking something turned out well as it allowed you to throw all caution to the wind and go ahead and experiment on a $50 part ($100 for the set). And sure enough, it was doable.

 

I will still try the dremmel to make a cleaner edge as I see the screw driver pry method really butchered the edge/lip up a bit.

 

BTW, it looks like you got the bulbs from the eBay guy as they look like what I used in the rear trunk? did you?

 

UPDATE: I just took a dremmel tool with a nice thin diamond cutting blade and made a perfect cut all the way around the base of the lens and viola.. pooped the lens right off with a very clean edge & no breakage. literally took me 30 second per puddle lamp.

Edited February 14, 2009 by Lex Talionis

[lexington1]

Right on Lex.

Yeah mine got beat up with my method. I forgot to mention that I cleaned them up prior to re-attaching the pieces together with a razor/box knife.

To re-attach I used epoxy, which filled any gaps or rough edges.

I think the bulb I showed/used was purchased from http://www.superbrightleds.com/ but I believe they are also available from the vendor you used at http://stores.ebay.com/US-Home-Direct .

I think the USHD store has many more options. Oh yeah the color of the bulb was "cool white".

Are you using a different color? Would have been fun to experiement with other colors, but I didn't want to buy 8 different bulbs.

 

Thanks for all of your help Lex.

 

Next mod up... HID kit.

[lexington1]

Saw the thread on tails, missed it. Sorry about that.

Edited February 20, 2009 by lexington1

[Lex Talionis]

Anyone else here having their LED bulbs start to flicker and go bad after say about a 6 months to a year? In the last month I have had 2 LED bulbs go bad and the guy is trying to tell me I need resistors.. that would be like 10 different resistors and where do you place them in dome light or map light or license plate light given spacing. I have always 100% understood you need them for turn signal applications, but not just when switching out bulbs in the car like I have..

 

anyone else had LED bulbs NOT in turn signals start to flicker after extended use?

[dadrett]

it tucks back in with the wire harness behind the taillights.

also:

for gluman post #65 (pg 4)

for Lex Talionis post #75 (pg 4)

for leeandshasa post #79 (pg4)

 

I recommend U locate resistors out in open because they'll get too hot :extinguish: to touch; enough to deform & maybe melt black taillight "bucket" or bumper. Burn paint too. Engine compartment is easy - there’s lot of open space. Make simple bracket from 20/22 gauge aluminum sheet. Aluminum will act somewhat as a heat sink. Attach w/existing bolts. In rear I ran wires through spare tire compartment to under car & mounted resistor on flat (no bends) aluminum sheet (1 3/4" x 12") attached with existing rearmost outside muffler heat shield bolt. Good source of resistors is Mouser Electronics in Texas. I used four 50 watt, 6 ohm aluminum power resistors (one for each corner). Mouser #71-RH50-6.0. Cost (Aug. 2008) was $4.26 each plus tax and shipping. These are wired in parallel with bulb not in series. On other cars U may find different requirements. :yup: My '05 F-150 needed only two 50 watt, 3 ohm (one for each side.) But, interestingly enough, they have to go in the rear. I first installed in front, but cruise control wouldn't work. :blink: My guess is Ford uses some small amount of current to allow cruise to work but not enough to light bulbs. (I have since been told that cruise is disengaged via high mount brake circuit.) I moved one to rear & cruise worked again but would kick out when I used turn signal on that side. So other one got moved to rear as well.

(1) Passenger side front, (2) driver side front (resistor "ears" tapped for attachment screws), (3) wires from right taillight through tubing w/caulking in & around tubing which serves as grommet, (4) closer view of left side, (5) "bumper"/stop covers wires (6) wires through hose (using existing hole after removing plug) to under car. From start to finish only two holes drilled, by using existing bolts & holes. If I can manage a lift or similar I'll have pic of rear bracket.

Edited April 16, 2009 by dadrett

[dadrett]

I've taken apart and put back more cars than I can remember, but I'll be damned, I can't find that flasher. It was easier to wire in the resistors, just don't wire them across the purple/white wire common on all 4 bulbs, use the other 2. I epoxy'd them to the back of the rear assemblies above the bulb and alongside the headlights in the front.

gluman please :read: my post #95 about heat problem when mounting resistors.

Edited April 9, 2009 by dadrett

[dadrett]

Partial quote from Lex's post #75 (pg 4)

...so, inline (LOAD RESISTOR KITS) seems the only was to address the speedy flasher :shades:

 

Please :read: my post #94 about wiring resistors in parallel not series. I'm concerned that use of the word inline might sound to mean that U cut hot turn/brake wire & splice in resistor. Rather, U connect resistor across brake/turn wire & ground wire.

Edited April 9, 2009 by dadrett

[dadrett]

Did you have to use one of their LED flashers or did you use individual resistors on the tail and turn signals? I bought the same bulbs and mine super flash and I was told I need an LED flasher from superled or resistors. If you bought the flasher where is it located on the Edge and which one did you buy since they have 8 on their website.

 

Thanks, Lee

leeandsasha, please :read: my post #94 about use of resistors. As jpark post #68 (pg 4) & Lex T post #75 (pg 4) indicate there is no flasher available.

Edited April 9, 2009 by dadrett

[dadrett]

I have my bulbs but realized it seems nobody has done the 3rd rear brake light? Anyone convert this to led? do you know what bulbs are there?

Converting to '08 LED high mount brake light costs $79.94 :blink: + 7.79 tax :angry: according to Ford parts. On ’07 there are 5 W5W bulbs in high mount light. Remove black bulb holder from red lens. Bulbs go thru openings with 4 positioning tabs spaced 90 degrees apart. Tabs interfere with LED bulbs I bought from eBay seller EnKMall. If U have same situation, carefully drill out, file, sand tabs so openings become round holes ½” in diameter. Insert red #194 LED bulbs, observing polarity, reassemble, & reinstall. Bulbs cost $11.98 (shipped free)

PS: Pulling out 194 bulbs is easier when wearing nitrile gloves. They get U some traction.

'07 assembly w/incandescent bulbs. (Pic of '08 LED unit @ Post #103)

 

4-28-09 - Ever notice how we use excuses to find bargains? (Of course not buying is even cheaper. :yup:) Purchased & installed ’08 LED high mount unit. More in Post #103 on next page.

Edited April 30, 2009 by dadrett

[jpeckinp]

My guess is that converting to the '08 LED high mount brake light would be very costly. The two pieces in the '07 unit are about $75 each. In the ’07 there are 5 #194 or equivalent bulbs in the high mount brake light. Remove the black bulb holder from the lense piece. The bulbs go thru openings with 4 positioning tabs spaced 90 degrees apart. The tabs interfere with the LED bulbs I used (eBay seller EnKMall). If U have same situation, carefully drill out, file, sand the tabs so the openings become round holes ½” in diameter. Insert bulbs observing polarity, reassemble, and install.

 

High mount is LED from factory.

[dadrett]

High mount is LED from factory.

:yup: but wasn't added until '08. '07 uses incandescent (filament) bulbs which can be replaced w/red LEDs

Edited April 9, 2009 by dadrett