Replace Individual LEDs in Tail Lights

[AWE46M3]

Also - did anyone actually post about how to remove and re-attach the outer cover rather than cutting open the whole housing?

Bumping an old thread - Any luck with the turn signal LED’s?

[cobra]

Bumping an old thread - Any luck with the turn signal LED’s?

Yes and no...

I bought a spare LED tail light from eBay to tool around with. I have several observations...

- Don't try removing the clear lens cover if yours is already attached well. It will be difficult to reattach and make it look perfect. I cut open the back side instead to access the circuit board. That said, if your seal is already broken, might as well pop it off the rest of the way.
- My LEDs all work fine - something is wrong in the circuit board that causes them to not light up. It seems like an overly complex design to turn on a few LEDs so I haven't been able to troubleshoot it.
- The brightness of the LEDs or driver circuitry varies from year to year so getting a used light unit and swapping it is a gamble.

These lights are super cheaply made and delicate.

My recommendation is just cough up the $ and buy a new one if yours breaks.

[sev]

Argggh my left tail light's blinker assembly died and its pristine. Is there no way to repair the blinker portion? I dont want to have to order a new one.

[Marknoir]

Hi. I wonder if it’s ok to revive this thread? I think I figured out how to and with what to replace the blinker yellow LEDs.

[sev]

Hi. I wonder if it’s ok to revive this thread? I think I figured out how to and with what to replace the blinker yellow LEDs.

yes of course.

[Marknoir]

Bumping an old thread - Any luck with the turn signal LED’s?

Hi. Original LEDs, s mentioned before, were “snapLED”, no longer available. BUT, the so-called “piranha” LEDs are easily available. They seem to be identical in soecs, and squarish appearance, but have different attachments. I’m currently waiting for them to be delivered, have to replace one yellow led in my taillight. If it’s ok to revive this thread, I can post here.
I removed original led, it just snaps off. Then I sanded the copper contracts, used some acid flux and spread some solder on it with iron at 488F. The Piranha leds will get soldered directly to the tinned contacts. You can solder any regular clear body/yellow light led in there, with a 2v rating, and it will work. Piranhas just look exactly as oem. You need to determine the polarity, but I will write it up as soon as I get and install them.
hope this helps.

[sev]

Hi. Original LEDs, s mentioned before, were “snapLED”, no longer available. BUT, the so-called “piranha” LEDs are easily available. They seem to be identical in soecs, and squarish appearance, but have different attachments. I’m currently waiting for them to be delivered, have to replace one yellow led in my taillight. If it’s ok to revive this thread, I can post here.
I removed original led, it just snaps off. Then I sanded the copper contracts, used some acid flux and spread some solder on it with iron at 488F. The Piranha leds will get soldered directly to the tinned contacts. You can solder any regular clear body/yellow light led in there, with a 2v rating, and it will work. Piranhas just look exactly as oem. You need to determine the polarity, but I will write it up as soon as I get and install them.
hope this helps.

sweet! Got a link to the piranha LED parts?

[specializedbndt]

This sort of information is gold. Ive often looked at my tail lights and worried about what im going to do when the LEDs start to fail. I also learned something new. Ive done a lot of soldering in past but never heard of solder paste!

[Marknoir]

sweet! Got a link to the piranha LED parts?

Hi
they are available on eBay from a couple of vendors. Before I post a link, I want to post my progress. Was it fine technically? Yes. Are they close to oem? Mechanucally they look nearly identical. Color-wise… We have a problem: oem color is cold yellow. New ones are warm yellow/gold, sort of orangey. And they are also brighter. I’m trying to find other options. Regular leds can be soldered-in, so the color is the main culprit.

[Marknoir]

sweet! Got a link to the piranha LED parts?

here are the eBay links - but remember, the color is more orangey, and they are brighter:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/151412474659?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=cbokmWsbQlG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=WY3yTBXVSY2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/itm/161155960285?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=dDMSUc-fQd-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=WY3yTBXVSY2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Marknoir]

Ok. So I’ve tried five different regular LEDs. I found two which are exact color, two too cold (lemon color), and one same orangey s the Piranha. But exact colored ones are brighter than oem, which can be ameliorated by placing a tiny high Kohm resistor in series. There are two problems however: 1) regular LEDs don’t have the same wide dispersion as oem or piranha, and 2) they are at least 1/8” - 3/16” taller. So we don’t have an exact match, but I think any is better than a non-working one. If anyone is interested, I will post digikey links. Cheers.

[Pklauser]

I've long wanted to upgrade to LED tails, but I wonder if my pre facelift lights are actually more reliable 😅

[01 Carbonragtop]

This is slick write up.

[firm0707]

Red, common anode.

Could I kindly ask you?

Version like this?

Thanks!

[heinzboehmer]

Could I kindly ask you?

Version like this?

Thanks!

Yep!