Maybe because the taillights are so dang tiny!
I wish there was a good option for headlamps on a S1 without serious mods
(semi)ditto on my Rover: I’m going to scare up all these bits and see how they work on Margaret.
What changes have you made in the electric system to be able to install LED lights? I have an old car, and when I went to the master to install the LED bulbs I bought from vont.com, he said that the electric system in the car is too old. I need to make some modifications can install a better alternator and replace some cables so the LED bulbs can work correctly. I already got all the modifications and installed the LED bulbs and luckily everything is working without any problems, and I can see the road better with the new LED lights.
Installing flasher units that will operate with the low loads of the signal bulbs or load resistors in line to allow the current units to work. Many previous posts on the subject.
If you car is positive earth you need to make sure the LEDs are reverse polarity
I bought both front and rearLED lights from XKS. I ended up speaking with the inventor thanks to XKS and got some great advice (I was having trouble). He suggested that I go from each light’s ground connection and follow each connection path to the battery and measure the resistance to ground. A I recall, after a lot of scraping of old paint and rust I got each connection down to around 1-2 ohms. The other thing I did, after changing flashers and fooling with electronic flashers was to install a purchased heat sunk resistor at each corner of the car to ensure I had enough resistance to work the flashers. There is enough room just inside if you remove each light receptacle. Only needed on flasher sockets.Mike Moore
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sorry to revive a long, old thread but I am a little confused. Do I have to replace both flasher units to get both the hazards and the directionals to work with LED lights?
Yes - if you want to gratuitously spend money for no performance gain. (A pair of LED lights consumes insufficient current to make the flasher can work properly, so a new LED compatible flasher can is also needed.)
The smart move is to do nothing until you need to buy a new bulb for one of the turn indicators. Then, at this point, purchase two LED bulbs and replace either the front OR the rears. This leaves you with one spare bulb for the remaining pair of filament bulbs and you operate new LED bulbs on the other two. You halve the current usage and the flasher cans still work because one filament bulb plus one LED bulb consumes enough current to still make old flasher cans work.
Looked at on a wider basis, there is a massive wastage of resource manufacturing new bulbs and flasher cans when the old ones still work. Given that the indicators or hazards see little usage per journey, it is a massive waste to simply gratuitously replace them simply because the marketing people have labelled them as an “upgrade”. You may indeed consume less current operating the indicators, but this is for only a few seconds at a time and is more than offset by the effort to manufacture the replacement parts.
Your choice.
kind regards
Marek
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I went the all-LED route for the headlights, running lights and brake lights along with the turn signals; to increase the visibility of the car to other drivers. For the same reason I added a third brake light at the top of the hatch glass. It can’t hurt and it may well prevent my getting hit. I used the highest lumen LED bulbs I could find for the reversing lights since the originals are at best pathetic.
I also put higher lumen LED in the map and interior lights, reasoning if they are going to come on they might as well be useful. Maybe it’s my 72 year old eyes, but the regular bulbs were pretty marginal in terms of light output.
The lowered amp loads, except for the headlights, were not a consideration.
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As discussed some time ago, converting brake lights to LED makes a huge difference, in that it warns the driver behind you about 4/10 of a second sooner. When switched on, LEDs instantly produce light. Filament bulbs start heating up, passing through infrared, deep red, etc until they become white or yellow (depending on type) sometime later. And the bigger the bulb (like brake lights) the more massive the filament and the slower it heats up. BTW a mechanical switch that closes the minute the brake pedal is touched saves similar time over a hydraulic switch. The latter must wait until the brake fluid is pressurized. I don’t remember the figures, but these improvements convert to many feet of extra braking distance for the guy behind you to avoid bumping you.
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That, and increased reliability, is what drove me to make that upgrade as well.
sound logic maybe but on my car two incandescents will run the directionals BUT, not the indicators on the dash.
Also, when you have 60 year old bulbs…you NEED new ones because they get dimmer
and did you need TWO LED flashers to make the little devils work?
No, I wired load resistors into the front turn signals. They provide enough resistance to allow the stock flashers to work. Sure they increase the amp draw of the flasher turn signals and emergency flashers, but as Marek correctly points out above, who cares. Itr’s not like the signal bulbs are on constantly, unless you are an old man on the interstate.
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Yes, and I mentioned which ones. Easy to replace.
I use a pair of Diode Dynamics XP80 bulbs for brakes. I think they’re still the brightest 1156 bulbs on the market at 510 true lumens. Also added a HMSL and a mechanical brake light switch. This after a close call with a monster SUV.
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you got one from England and one from Superbright? Is there some advantage there or is the “uncomplicated life not worth living”?
I have a 69 S2 coupe and decided , for safety reasons, to replace my front turn signal bulbs and rears, brake and tail with LEDs. The original incandescents are anemic and with the small size of the car, I wanted to be seen. You DO need one style of flasher for the turns, and another for the hazards. If you are interested I can post my shopping list. I got the leds from Superbrite and , I think one of the flashers. The other flasher I got from another source but had the model number. Put them all in and all is well. The turn signals click njcely. The hazards dont click, but not a big deal IMO. Afew years ago, I put in Halogen headlights and wired in relays for them at the back of the instrument cluster. Much brighter than the Lucas units. Many thanks to thelews for his help and advice.
Clicking flasher for turn signals:
Amazon.com: CEC Industries EF33RL 12V Heavy Duty 3-Pin Electronic Flasher Relay for LED and Incandescent Bulbs (1-Pack) : Automotive
The flasher from Superbrite will work for both but is silent, thus the CEC to have the clicking sound. You will need to ground the ground wire, easy.
Ok, why not two CEC? Does using the Fl3 on the hazard have the advantage of not needing a ground?
TIA
Marek made an array that fits in the reverse lamp ( series 1) that has both the reverse and red brake lights leds …… very good