LED tail and entire circuit resistance

whitej47 · 10-26-2009, 07:24 AM

V= iR...no really tho. I have a question directed to those of you with LED tails. I have the following tail lights on my box:

Also, I converted my third tail light using an LED strip from a Camry spoiler. I wired up the lights so they all work properly Blah blah blah. I really like how the whole set up looks and I think it's a great subtle change that really gets noticed.

I have one problem...lately I have been stepping on my brake pedal and the 3rd brake light has like 1/10 of the light out put coming from it. Then, when i remove my foot from the pedal, the "VSC, Trac off, ABS" lights in the dash come on. When I shut the car off, the lights remain off until I start the whole brake pedal routine again.

As far as I can tell, this does not affect the performance of the car at all. I know the resistance of the LED tails lights is like 1/25 the resistance of stock. Is there any chance that the lower resistance of the TBL conversion is causing a short or something somewhere?

Thanks in advance. I have had this set up about one year and it just started happening a month ago. It is really more annoying than anything.

PCH · 10-26-2009, 01:22 PM

I have LED 3rd stop and Tails with no issues. Does the problem happen regardless of the parking/headlights on or off?
Try to disconnect the Noise Filter (it's next to the top of the right rear shock- just remove the little cover and you'll see it), see if it changes anything.

PCH · 10-26-2009, 01:38 PM

Here is a pic of the filter:

whitej47 · 10-26-2009, 06:42 PM

Ha I have seen that and always wondered what it was. It happens regardless of what else is on...one more thing, I noticed it only happens when I am down shifting to slow down.

Q: if it were a noise filter issue, would it have happened since the start of the mod?

I will try that and let you know either way. Thanks for the post!

dunno...no edit button. anyway, these are my tails.

PCH · 10-26-2009, 07:11 PM

I have the same Sonars, only with red lens.
The filter is just a capacitor. I've seen it fail once before but with different result- it was blowing a fuse.
Hopefuly you can narrow it down by disconnecting some of the parts of the circuit like your added 3rd light, filter, any of the tails and watching for changes. And make 100% sure none of the tail light wires are pinched.