Replace Individual LEDs in Tail Lights

[Casa de Mesa]

Well so far so good...

Separating the lens from the housing was *very* easy. Just a heat gun and some patience. Came apart in under 15 min and I was going slow.

Onto the LED job.

[Casa de Mesa]

I accidentally ripped off the lens on one of my taillights, so took them both apart and reglued them: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...081#post191081 Heat gun, razor blade and patience was all that was needed.

I didn't try taking the entire thing apart though, but I'm pretty sure it would have disassembled pretty easily if I had removed the screws. Just be careful with the chrome, as it's super easy to damage.

The link heinzboehmer provided above took me to a different post for some reason. Dropping this here for anyone looking to find this: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...081#post191081

Also, I'm about to start the journey of fixing some tail light LEDs. Going to try to separate the lens from the cover, as one of the tail lights has gunk inside of it from a failing lens seal. It needs to be fixed anyway.

I'll try to take pics and if I find anything useful of sharing along the way, I'll add to this thread.

Also, found this video about gluing the lens back in place. Thought it was directionally helpful:

https://youtu.be/JM5mOcGS71o?si=7b50Z0yBbymSWIaX

[y2k_o__o]

sweet! Got a link to the piranha LED parts?

Here's what I found on aliexpress, and these piranha led seems to have the same metal base as ours. Not really sure if it has the same wavelength as our OEM ones.

I haven't taken my LED light apart yet. If someone already has the LED board out, please compare the dimension against the diagram below

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004344029448.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.2 5.25f5VwpLVwpL1z&algo_pvid=dda7bbb7-9c82-43e2-83f2-69ab666559c9&algo_exp_id=dda7bbb7-9c82-43e2-83f2-69ab666559c9-12&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%2216%22%2C%22eval% 2 2%3A%221%22%7D&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21CAD%213.62%213.62 %21%21%212.47%212.47%21%402101d9ee1738992222421770 9ec11b%2112000028837198917%21sea%21CA%21100962474% 21X&curPageLogUid=9saC5QfqV8TN&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

I can see that positioning the LED accurately would be a challenge. so I have to think of a way to align them before de-solder the old ones out.

[y2k_o__o]

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.

I have a pair of tail light that has the cover detached already. How do I remove the chrome reflector and reach the PCB?

[firm0707]

Dears,

Many thanks for your replies, guidelines and advise.
Just finished my work on it. I've only changed few of turning signal LEDs for now. But now in a future I guess it wouldn't be a great issue to open it again and replace whatever I'll need.

After resoldered I closed it using buthyl tape.
Planning to perform the same on the left one (unless I have my friend Dremel)) ) to have a possibility to solder at any time.

[heinzboehmer]

Could I kindly ask you?

Version like this?

Thanks!

Yep!

[firm0707]

Red, common anode.

Could I kindly ask you?

Version like this?

Thanks!

[01 Carbonragtop]

This is slick write up.

[Pklauser]

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

[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.

[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]

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.

[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!

[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?

[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.