Many of us have tried switching to LED tail light bulbs only to find that they cause errors in the diagnostic panel, which usually require addition of a resistor in the light circuit. Some of us have also added in extra bulbs in the vacant spot of the tail light bezel, but that requires adding in a bulb holder of some kind. Tonight, I was able to do a combination of the two approaches that was super easy to complete. Here is what I did.
First, I purchased a set of red COB 1156 led bulbs. They were $7 each from a vendor on ebay.
Next, I carefully filed off the chrome plating at the base right next to a retaining pin and soldered on a wire. I also soldered a wire onto the positive tip of the bulb. I have a large, industrial soldering gun that makes a lot of heat really quickly. It will really help to have a high end soldering gun, so you can spot heat quickly and not damage the electronics inside the LED bulb.
I was then able to install the bulb into the vacant spot in the housing, without needing to add a bulb holder. You can insert the bulb and twist, so the retaining pins hold it into the housing. On the passenger side the bulb fit more loosely, so I used a piece of zip tie to tighten up the fit of the bulb. Wiring things up was really easy, because there is a spade lug female inserted into the spot circled in red, just under the bulb opening. That is the common ground for the tail light bulbs.
I then connected the positive wire to the existing connector for the brake bulb by using a spade lug male and just trimming it down so it could be jammed in where the existing wire goes into the tail light housing.
The last thing to do was to wrap the ground plug in some electrical tape and close the housing back up.
Here is what the regular running bulbs look like.
Here is what the two bulbs lit up together look like.
In this closeup, you can see how the LED bulb in the upper left fills the whole space with more light and the projector end really focuses more light straight out the middle of the housing. I didn't even repaint inside the housings. The reflection off the bumper also demonstrates how much bigger the hot spot is in the middle and how much more light radiates out from center. The best part is that I did not have to modify my tail light housings at all and there is no error popping up in the diagnostic panel inside the car. I heartily recommend this lighting upgrade.
Jose
