HELP - LED Taillight Install
 

OK, so I bought some LED tail lights, went to install them... before screwing everything in... tested.... the dreaded fast flash!!! But wait, there already IS a 12 ohm resistor on the assembly... I called the place that sold me them, they are shipping out resistors, but what's the point? what do I do?! I pulled the plug on the resistor, and yep it's 12 ohm according to my testor... what's the resistance of the normal bulb?!

You can see the gold/red resistor above the lowest light... the other light operations worked fine...

thanks guys!!!

Is the resistor any good? If it is, not sure what good a new one will do.

Not a problem w/ Eagle Eyes. ;)

resistor
 

the resistor shows 12 ohms across it.

12 ohm resistor for 12v = 1 AMP

1 amp at 12v = 12 WATTS.

how many watts is the factory bulb back there?

according to this:

http://www.bulbtown.com/3057LL_LONG_...E_p/3057ll.htm

the factory bulb is 27 watts...

So that means what we really need is a 5.3 OHM resistor.

unless of course it's really running at 14v in which case a 7.2 ohm resistor would be needed...

well
 

well, the company that sold them to me is sending me new or different resistors. I googled 6 ohm resistors, they are the same size / mounting as my 12 ohm ones. hopefully this is what they are sending...! Pics of the install coming when it's done

STS -- I don't know if you ever checked out my posts about this on the other site, but I'll bet you that the problem is SOMEWHERE IN THE LIGHT, and not in the resistor.

I'm sure that the company who sold you the lights is insisting that you have to try new resistors first, but it's not going to be the resistors. It's going to be a problem in the light, and there's nothing you can do to fix it (unless you want to try tearing your lights apart, at which point you won't be able to return them). You're going to need new lights.

Do BOTH lights blink too fast, or only one? If only one, then switch resistors and see if that fixes the problem. Bet it won't.

I was forewarned by a mechanic friend who works at an automotive store than that he always orders TWO sets of the same lights for customers because something ALWAYS doesn't work. He said that most aftermarket LED lights are a crapshoot as to whether or not they'll work properly. I can back up his experiences with my own.

You can screw around with testers and whatnot to your heart's content, but I think you're chasing your tail (no pun intended). Send you light(s) back for one(s) that work!

well
 

after much reading some model years look for more of a load than others. a 27 watt bulb is a 6 ohm load. the new resistors are in the mail.

its not hard to test, since the wiring is under the tahoe, just unplug stock and plug in new.

The resistors have shipped, I hope they are 6 ohm ones, if not i will double my 12 to make a 6, and test that, if all fails, I will return them for a refund or bitch to my credit card company and leave them stock...

photos of the install / before / after will come once this is sorted...

This is hopefully what they are sending 2 of.

http://www.eautoworks.com/product-Led-33226.htm

well
 

so i wasnt even more POd when I wire in the new ones; I pulled a 12 ohm from the left one, and wired it parrallel on the right. making it a 6 ohm resistor... guess what...

IT WORKED FINE! normal blink rate!!!

so, as long as they actually sent 6 ohm ones we are golden! if not, I will call again!

A japanese woman on the phone... really happy and nice, but hard to understand..

That's awesome. Good for you. Sounds like your luck might be better than mine. Either way, it's frustrating to get something that just doesn't work out of the box.