Replacing cabin lights with LEDs

[Grant11]

I'd like to completely replace the incandescent lights in my car with LED lights: 1, because it looks better. IMO 2, They use less energy and if I left them on all night it'd be less likely to kill the battery. 3, They're cooler (in actual temperature, not awesomeness measurement)

Is it as simple as getting LED bulbs that fit the sockets and putting them in or do I have to do something else?

 

[dparm]

Some cars will complain about bulbs being burned out due to the reduced resistance. Depends on your car.

The problem with LEDs is there is no filament and hence the reflectors and lenses don't distribute the light well. It's either spotty or just looks awkward.

Suggest you try one or two and see how it looks, or ask other auto owners of the same model to see how theirs turned out.

 

[Grant11]

Is there any way to retrofit a reflector or make something to reflect it better?

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: Grant11
Is there any way to retrofit a reflector or make something to reflect it better?


I like your passsion but were talking cabin lights here, is it that important to you ?

 

[Grant11]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
Originally Posted By: Grant11
Is there any way to retrofit a reflector or make something to reflect it better?


I like your passsion but were talking cabin lights here, is it that important to you ?


Not really, but I like LEDs because I'm a nerd with no friends. So my only friends are the LED's light waves. Or are they particles? WHO KNOWS?!?!?

 

[wrcsixeight]

There are huge quality differences in the LED bulbs available.

A lot of complaints of not enough light, too blue a light, and poor light distribution.

LED's are very directional, and it really depends on the housing's design whether you will find them acceptable.

A lot of LED's try and fire radially to take advantage of the reflector, and this helps, but an incandescent bulb makes a pin point of light so even a radially firing LED will not hit the reflector the same way as an incandescent.

It's really about experimentation and what is acceptable to you. You might luck out, or you might join the vast group of LED disparagers on the first attempt.

Some LED's also cause radio interference, mostly on AM stations

 

[Grant11]

Good thing no one listens to AM radio then.

Edit: is there a universal socket type in most dome/map lights or is it pretty model-specific?

 

[tommygunn]

Replaced my dome light with an LED. No issues so far, and it dims properly, but depending on how it dims (pulse-width modulation or voltage) it might dim erratically. Some system might fuss about burnt out bulbs, but I doubt in the interior such a system exists on any car (if you can't figure out a bulb is burned out when your car is dark inside, a warning light won't help you).

Turn signals on LED's need mods to the flasher unit usually, since most have a doubler so you get that "fast flash burnout" mode.

Biggest issues?

Mounting new lights (mine replaced a festoon bulb with a small 48 LED wafer. I needed to build a little mount for it out of balsa wood to fit it inside the dome cover. The stock setup was just a peice of two sided foam which immediately fell apart from the heat from the bulb. Its not "hot" but hot enough to).

Also the LED I bought was insanely bright (by insane I mean, I can light up a ditch outside the [censored] car with my dome light) and people always telling me how insanely bright it is, but its better then staring at the floor in a pale light fighting to see something. I can pretty much disassemble a Swiss watch in my car with ease, its great.

Only other issue is the LED gives off ultraviolet light I think, or maybe just because of the brightness, but insects love the thing. I have left it on all night long by accident and it didn't kill the battery, so that was also a bonus.

 

[BigBuck]

The best ones for dome and map lights I have found are the ones mounted on panels. They have multiple LED's facing in one direction and throw out a ton of crisp, bright white light.

Kind of like these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Warm-White-Car-I...r#ht_2887wt_979

 

[lt1man]

Ok, if you are going to buy leds, go to VLEDS.COM . Stay away from ebay and cheap made in China lights. VLEDS are quality lights, I have used them. See their pics and reviews from other customers. They are pricey, but HIGH quality. You get what you pay for.

 

[suspiciousmind]

I've replaced almost every bulb in my car with led....be careful, they're addicting.

Do your research and you'll be rewarded.

Try this

 

[Grant11]

Originally Posted By: suspiciousmind
I've replaced almost every bulb in my car with led....be careful, they're addicting.

Do your research and you'll be rewarded.



LOL that website is a joke, people with a Lexus LFA already have LEDs and wouldn't be going to a 3rd party website to buy their parts.

 

[suspiciousmind]

Originally Posted By: Grant11
Originally Posted By: suspiciousmind
I've replaced almost every bulb in my car with led....be careful, they're addicting.

Do your research and you'll be rewarded.



LOL that website is a joke, people with a Lexus LFA already have LEDs and wouldn't be going to a 3rd party website to buy their parts.


I'm not suggesting to buy here...it's the best research tool i've found to find out what LED fits where on almost any car.

 

[Grant11]

Originally Posted By: suspiciousmind
Originally Posted By: Grant11
Originally Posted By: suspiciousmind
I've replaced almost every bulb in my car with led....be careful, they're addicting.

Do your research and you'll be rewarded.



LOL that website is a joke, people with a Lexus LFA already have LEDs and wouldn't be going to a 3rd party website to buy their parts.


I'm not suggesting to buy here...it's the best research tool i've found to find out what LED fits where on almost any car.

I'm saying it's a joke because the only car I see in the list is the lexus LFA.

 

[HerrStig]

SuperbrightLeds.com lots of technical info along with the products. I got a nice warm white "festoon" bulb for a Toyota product dome light, brighter than the OEM and won't burn out. I'm not aware of a car with burnt out bulb monitors on lamps you can SEE when you open the door. No problems there. Brake and trun lamps are another story. I got a couple of REALLY bright LED backup lamps, more light, less current draw, without the worry that bigger filament lamps would melt the lens.

 

[bigdawg74]

Words of warning: the bulb listing on superbrightleds AS WELL AS the listing from sylvania is sometimes not 100% accurate. I would HIGHLY recommend pulling out the bulb you are interested in replacing and cross reference it with the diagrams/specs listed. I upgraded half of my Tucson last week. My festoon bulb (dome light)led was a winner, the radial bulb (map lights) led not so much, but still better than incandescent.

 

[HerrStig]

Once you figure out what the bulb is, and pulling it is a good idea, there is enough info on the Superbright site to go on, or you can call them on the phone. Turn signal and brake lamps are by design pretty standard - once you fguure out what they are, but interior lighting is manufacturer's choice. "Warm white" bulbs produce anout the same coloration as the filament bulbs they replace.
The wedge base bulbs in the rear of several of my Toyota products are a PIMA to get to, you have to remove the socket from the reflector by twisting it to get the bulb out and there is NOT alot of room for fingers. It is a pleasure to have lamps in there which will outlast the car.