saturn vue led tail light bulbs

[mickyads92]

So I recently purchased two sets of 3157 led bulbs and of course now I have a machine gun in my dash. I am sure someone else has run into this issue, I was wondering where I could locate the flasher relay in my 2003 vue so I can slow things down a bit and have a nice normal click click.

[BobbyP]

You will need to add a loading resistor across the led lamps to put a load on the flasher circuit. A quick fix is put your incandescent lamps back into the front of your VUE, leaving the LED's in the rear.





If you notice there are many cars, that kept the incandescent lamps for the turn signals, but LED's for the brake lights. i.e. Aura, Accord...

Safety - The LED lights illuminate faster and are better suited for the brake lights to give you an edge letting the car behind you that you are stopping.

The turn signals don't need this timing edge for safety...

The flasher is a thermal device and requires a significant amount of current flow to properly flash. Look at this link below to understand how it operates.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/turn-signal2.htm

The led draws possibly 1/20th the current of the lamps you replaced, and mechanical flasher circuit will not operate properly inless it has a proper load.



They sell electronic flashers that flash the lights at a certain rate despite the load.

I find it easier just leaving the front lights incandescent and let them put a load on the OEM flasher.

[mickyads92]

I have normal incandescent bulbs in the front though... I was going to just put the LED's in for brake lights but I got two pairs. I knew this would be a problem since I had LED tail lights in my Regal GSE but all I had to do was change the flasher relay. If it is going to be overly complicated ill just take the LED bulbs out.

[mickyads92]

still havent found a viable solution to my little problem... I was thinking about soldering a resistor right onto the bulb in order to prevent me from having to use those wire taps to use the external resistor. Can anyone tell me what type of resistor i need to solder directly to the bulb? Any quick response will be greatly appreciated.

[RB42]

Since the external resistor is drawing the same power as a normal bulb (or close enough) to simulate a normal bulb, you need a resistor that can handle several watts of power and dissipate it efficiently. In other words, you need a big a55 power resistor with a metal case to get rid of all that heat.

It's not going to fit in your reflector or right next to the led bulb anywhere, that's why they remote mount theirs. And be careful where you mount it, because it WILL get warm or hot. That's the entire purpose of the resistor, - to use the same amount of power as a light - but convert it all to heat instead - so the flasher slows down.

If this seems like a waste of energy, you would be correct. So, the only benefit you get with your LED bulbs is faster on-times and maybe a color shift. You would never know if they stopped working either - as long as the power resistor is connected.

The real solution would be to modify the flasher circuit to handle low power devices. Since the wiring diagrams just show it as a black box, I can't tell how easy that might be...

Perhaps, if you had the space or a way to mount them, running LEDs in parallel with the normal bulb might be the best way. You get faster On times, no issues with flash rate, and if the bulb burns out you still kindof have LEDs and an indication you have a problem.

Maybe using superbrights and drilling thru the back of the assembly to mount them - like you do for alarm LEDs in the dash? You would also have to wire the LED's in a way that can handle 12-16 volts without burning out and lighting up evenly.

[mickyads92]

Originally Posted by RB42

Since the external resistor is drawing the same power as a normal bulb (or close enough) to simulate a normal bulb, you need a resistor that can handle several watts of power and dissipate it efficiently. In other words, you need a big a55 power resistor with a metal case to get rid of all that heat.

It's not going to fit in your reflector or right next to the led bulb anywhere, that's why they remote mount theirs. And be careful where you mount it, because it WILL get warm or hot. That's the entire purpose of the resistor, - to use the same amount of power as a light - but convert it all to heat instead - so the flasher slows down.

If this seems like a waste of energy, you would be correct. So, the only benefit you get with your LED bulbs is faster on-times and maybe a color shift. You would never know if they stopped working either - as long as the power resistor is connected.

The real solution would be to modify the flasher circuit to handle low power devices. Since the wiring diagrams just show it as a black box, I can't tell how easy that might be...

Perhaps, if you had the space or a way to mount them, running LEDs in parallel with the normal bulb might be the best way. You get faster On times, no issues with flash rate, and if the bulb burns out you still kindof have LEDs and an indication you have a problem.

Maybe using superbrights and drilling thru the back of the assembly to mount them - like you do for alarm LEDs in the dash? You would also have to wire the LED's in a way that can handle 12-16 volts without burning out and lighting up evenly.

I purchased the correct flasher relay and then soon after gave up trying to dig out the original one out of the center console/dashboard. I have the huge resistors and wire taps in place now. As for them burning out and me not being aware every morning before I go to school or work I do a walk around to make sure everything is spiffy. I even converted the interior lights to LED