LED tail lights on 2014.

[Robbber1]

Just purchased a 2014 FFE. Window sticker says LED tai lights. However the lights are bulbs. Anyone dealt with this?

 

[unplugged]

Window sticker says LED tail lights. Anyone dealt with this?

The rear LEDs are the most understated LEDs on the market. The best time to observe the LEDs all around the car, is when you open the doors. Walk around to the rear and you will see a strip of lights above the regular bulb. This strip, if you look closely, is made up of a string of LEDs. (You have to look VERY closely.) There you go.

 

[WattsUp]

Yes, the LEDs are there (I've verified by taking the incandescent bulbs out, and the LED strip can still be seen illuminating).

But, IMO, it's a bit of false advertising. You expect that the car has cool LED brake lights, but it does not.

 

[jeffand]

Here is a YouTube video on how to upgrade some of your lights to LED.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0w38IpKR1o

 

[EVA]

The video is excellent - Jeffand did a fantastic job on it (especially the bulb part numbers!). After doing this on two cars, you'll want a little more help - there are a few steps that I stumbled with badly that the video makes look really easy (after you know the tricks they are easy).

Supplemental instructions and another video to watch for the side lights:
http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1041

 

[jachady]

Yes, the LEDs are there (I've verified by taking the incandescent bulbs out, and the LED strip can still be seen illuminating).

But, IMO, it's a bit of false advertising. You expect that the car has cool LED brake lights, but it does not.

I swapped the rear park lamp and brake lamp sockets in the housing. Remove the housing, remove the sockets, shave off the locating tabs, put the park lamp socket in the top of the brake housing. Put the brake lamp socket in the lower. Now when the park lamp is on it is separated from the LED strip by the reverse bulb making it very visible at night. The LED is only obscured when the brake lights are on. I'll try to get a picture up later.

 

[jeffand]

I have replaced the rear parking light, and the brake with LED lights. One of issues I had was that the brake light would come on faintly when the brakes were not on. To fix the problem I installed 1/4 watt resister in parallel to drop voltage to the level below what the LED needed to come on. I think it was 1500 ohms. You should be able to get these at Radio Shack. The LEDs I used they were purchased from Super Bright LED. As for replacing the turn signals I have not found any thing that works correctly. When you install a LED it causes the turn signal to blink rapidly.

 

[unplugged]

When you install a LED it causes the turn signal to blink rapidly.

You also need a resistor for the turn signal lamps. Probably the same, but since I haven't switched mine out, I don't know for sure what resistance you need.

 

[WattsUp]

Make sure you properly heat-sink whatever resistors you use. Otherwise, they'll eventually burn out, potentially leaving you with no brake and signal lighting. Also, a very hot resistor might damage something... melt wiring, causing a short-circuit, or perhaps even melt and deform your tail light assemblies.

Btw, ready-made resistors with heat sinks for exactly this purpose (LED automotive lighting) can be found all over the place on eBay. They should be firmly mounted to a metal surface (most likely a body panel).

 

[jeffand]

A load resister is not needed for th parking lights, a small load resister was only needed for the brake lights to keep them from coming on dimly. The turn signals you will need to load the circuit more to keep the LEDs from blinking rapidly. I have not replaced the turn signal yet. I own a 2013 FFE, and this should work on the 2012s.

 

[davideos]

There is a load resistor that will mount easily and will not have any issues with heat distribution. It also provides the exact resistance needed for the circuit and produces the required amount of light...the original incandescent bulb .

 

[jachady]

Here's some photos of my taillamps after swapping the bulb sockets. Now the LED strip is noticeable. I was going to wire it so they were on all the time the car was running like my front LEDs but they aren't bright enough to see in daylight.

 

[WattsUp]

Whoa... does it say "electric" all around your car?

 

[jachady]

Whoa... does it say "electric" all around your car?

Yes it does. 8 Inch tall by 5 foot long of ELECTRIC. I'm the new vehicle sales manager at Havill Spoerl Ford Lincoln in Fort Atkinson, WI. So obviously we're doing a little more promotion. Plus we just like it.

 

[jachady]

Looks like this-

 

[jachady]

Here's photos of a factory FFE vs mine