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LED trouble/help


slowurroll

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Hey guys. Couple things.

 

First, is there a how-to anywhere on how to change out the third brake light bulb in a sedan? And also how to change the license plate bulbs? I can't find a write up and can't figure out how to get in there without ripping stuff apart and I'd rather make it as painless as possible. And if you know how to get to the vanity mirror bulbs as well that would be a great help.

 

Second, today I was replacing the majority of my lights with LED's and I ran into a problem. The rear stop/brake lights. Yes I checked polarity. The problem is when I am putting the bulbs in, they will come on with the bulb only being about halfway in the socket. Then once inserted all the way, the light turns off. And when it's only halfway in, I half to keep it in the same position otherwise it will shut the lights off. Obviously there is a connection problem. I have tried moving the little prongs/wires on the LED wedge to hopefully get a better connection but to no avail. I emailed the company where I got them to see if they could provide any insight but was wondering if any of you fellow legacy owners might have any info on this issue.

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1. 3rd bl is pretty easy. you basically slide towards rear glass, then lift (the whole unit) up and out; there's just some tabs that hold it in. careful not to break them they can get brittle from baking back there.

 

2. Rear plate bulbs a little more involved iirc -- maybe puts one into awkward posture to install, but really not at all difficult. undo some plastic clips to pull the liner inside the trunk lid aside to get in there, it becomes clear what to do.

 

3. Not sure... They are functioning 100% correctly (running and brake) at halfway in? If so, then yes, sounds like a contact issue -- just thicken the prongs up a bit with some solder.

 

ps. the vanities are a real pain in the ass; I wouldn't bother...

3bl.png.f53fbbaea5bdecf6652adc58fcc794df.png

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The pictures and info I posted in the link below should help you get to the license plate light bulbs (I figure 2005's should be the same or very similar to my 2009). In the 7th picture, where you can see my phone resting on the back of the trunk carpet, one of the license plate bulbs is outlined by the red box.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5074402&postcount=16

 

Also attached is what the factory service manual says to do for the 3rd brake light. Same thing that underpowerd says, except with a few pictures as well.

 

**Here are a couple other license plate bulb how to's as well. In the first one, subatwo is able to replace the bulbs by removing less stuff that I removed in the link above.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/license-plate-bulb-removal-replacement-33919.html

 

And just one more how to, to give these guys some credit for taking the time to post the pictures and information.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2667925&postcount=6

2005_3rd.brake.light.thumb.jpg.f7de21746b2cb96acd919a226660c3ca.jpg

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You guys are fantastic. Thanks a ton. I will get to those other LED's this weekend hopefully. I finally heard back from the company I bought the LED's from so I will have to see what they say. Worst case scenario I will add some solder to the contacts for a better connection.
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Well never mind. SuperBrightLeds wasn't very helpful in diagnosing the issue. They tried telling me that the 7443 bulb wedge might be too small but is the only 7443 size that they have. Which makes no sense to me. Sending them back once they get me a return label and will be buying a pair from Diode Dynamics like I did for some of my other LEDs.
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I'm interested to hear if the LED in your 3rd brake light causes a problem with radio reception. I did some research after hearing about reception issues in the thread below, and it sounds like LED's can cause a problem, sometimes.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/fm-radio-statici-242853.html

 

No update on his reception issues though.

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