LED Reverse Lights and More

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 10:30 AM

SO, I had one of those dome lights, it eneded up getting too hot, wires melting and blew the dome light fuse. I replased the fuse and the light with a standard buld and now it just stays on constantly, even with the switch on "doors" any help in tracking that down?

JP_Extreme · 10-30-2009, 10:38 AM

I did the same thing and replace mine with one from oznium and half of my LEDs are burned out now after only being in the car a little under 3 months and the only time they are ever really on is when my doors are open so I will probably get a red LED bulb to replace it from superbrightleds.com.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 10:51 AM

Well, my problem is that the light never turns off when you close the door, even after several minutes.

is there a controller for the dome light somewhere?

JP_Extreme · 10-30-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcarmchl

Well, my problem is that the light never turns off when you close the door, even after several minutes.

is there a controller for the dome light somewhere?

Yeah you have a dimmer switch but that won't make it turn off any quicker that is why they have 2 different settings on your light so you can chose just by flipping the switch. Wish I lived close too most of you guys so I can check it out and see if I could help with these kind of problems or help do other stuff you want.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 10:58 AM

I can get it to dim, for that matter I can turn it off by moving the switch to off. Just trying to get the auto dim to work...I have a feeling that when the board shorted and burned the fuse that it might have burned up some kind of controller at the same time, just not sure what to look for ...kinda hoping that PCH will see this and he can help me out!!!

JP_Extreme · 10-30-2009, 11:02 AM

It might of caused a short to be burned somewhere in the line. But that is the only suggestion I can think of that and look at all your fuses again. Sorry I can't be more help but that is all that I can suggest you to look at.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 11:17 AM

all the fuses are good, I think there is some kind of door relay control or something that has control over the entry lights.

PCH · 10-30-2009, 11:32 AM

The time delay on the dome is controled by the Door Lock relay. It's about $300 and very sensitive to current overload.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 11:40 AM

Great, thats what I thought...tahnks victor.

PCH · 10-30-2009, 11:52 AM

That's the blue relay in the pic. You can get to it from under the dash too.
Since you are saying the wires melted, may be try to see if the fault in the insulation is making the light stay on. The power to the light goes from the fuse through the Blue/Yellow wire. And ground/dimmer control wire from the relay is Red/Yellow, so if it melted and shorted to the chassis somewhere the light would be on constantly.
Usually when the reay is fried the door locks will not work, so may be it's only a short in the wire. Disconnect the connector from relay and if the light still stays on - the wire is shorted. If it goes off- relay is bad. The switch on the light needs to be in "door" positon.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 11:58 AM

I knew that was the relay, just wasn't sure if I had the right one.

from your description I would need to disconnect red/yellow connector to determine if it is a short or faulty relay correct?

PCH · 10-30-2009, 12:02 PM

Just unplug the white connector with all the wires from the relay. Doable from under the dash.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 02:55 PM

thanks, I'll do it as soon as I can!!

alright, went home for lunch...here's what I got...I unplugged the relay, moved from off to door-didn't get full power but got small, and I mean small amount of light.

moved to on position got full power.

this was with the led bulb.

I plugged the relay back in and replaced the led bulb with a standard d3175 forom AZ, moving the switch to on I get light, but with the standard buld I get nothing on the doors setting, I have not tried pulling the relay with the standard bulb yet. I have not had any issues with the door locks at all, just the dome light.

there is a little heat damage on the inside of the dome light fixture, could the switch itself be the issue here or does this sound more like the relay?

PCH · 10-30-2009, 04:07 PM

I'd take a really good look at the base of the dome light where it melted and where the bulb's metal ends sit. I'd like to believe the relay is still ok.

rcarmchl · 10-30-2009, 04:19 PM

I took the bade out and there are some heat marks/damage there. the switch it not smooth, it kind of catches, the light will flicker and then it will come on - this happens on both the door and on settings.

So i guess now I need to find a base to try in it!!!

PCH · 10-30-2009, 05:22 PM

You can connect a test light to the 2 wire connector instead of the whole dome light and see how it acts.

DoWoRkJeRr · 10-31-2009, 01:12 PM

in the process of getting my LEDs exchanged. Turns out that the Reverse Light bulbs are not 7440 they are 1156.

so now that i know this, this is what i plan to exchange for
http://autolumination.com/images/aut...1157m2w_wm.jpg

RazoE · 10-31-2009, 03:41 PM

nope, 1156 has a single filament at the bottom, 7440 is a wedge bulb, sort if like a big 194, like the license plate lights..

1156 will not fit...

PCH · 10-31-2009, 04:22 PM

May be some kind of aftermarket tails

rcarmchl · 10-31-2009, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PCH

You can connect a test light to the 2 wire connector instead of the whole dome light and see how it acts.

care to elaborate on how to do that?

ok, nevermind...figured out the test light. I get full poweron the blue/yellow wire but get nothing on the re/yellow side. bI put the switch back in and get full power on the on setting, get about half power on the doors setting but still the light does not dim. I think I need to try another dome switch to be certain, but it sounds like therelay may be gone...