LED Headlights showed up a few days ago...so was time to put them in!
Starting current with just the lights turned on:
Stuff it in and test they work and the beam pattern isn't messed up:
Low Beam:
Now to get the rubber seals back on. Thankfully, the bases come off the LED headlights:
Wouldn't just go back together as is. Had to trim the extra rubber off the seal. Still wouldn't go, until I pushed the seal all the way down so it wouldn't get pinched:
First one went back together just fine. Second one? Wouldn't turn very fat before the rubber ground it to a halt. Had to get some pliers on it to get enough torque to turn it in that tight space. (Wasn't that much force, just couldn't do it by hand at such an awkward angle)
Current after LED headlights were in:
This looked awful:
Not what I was expecting to find:
(Not a fan of "warm" white LEDs...whats the point?)
Mine:
After:
Much better!!!
Can't stop now!!! MOAR!!
Remember me blowing the tail light fuse testing the LEDs I had on hand? Here's how to stop wasting fuses, using connectors made from a dead fuse:
Look, Ma! It works:
Shaddap son, it wasn't
that smart.
Testing. Gotta figure out how it works, stop guessing!
Tail lights:
Brake lights:
No annoying voodo floating ground witchery to make this difficult. (Thank you, Honda!)
Called it quits for the first day there. Got distracted saving this guy from getting stepped on:
It was pissing down rain, barely above freezing, he was too cold and wet to do anything but sit on the sidewalk along side my building, under my balcony, waiting to become lunch for some neighborhood cat. Didn't even try to fly away when I scooped him up.
Wonder if it the same dumbass one I put back in it's nest a couple of years ago...
Back to it...
Bench testing:
Top row is positive. Brake, brake, tail lights. (wth?)
Bottom is all ground.
Of course my LEDs go +/+/-/-...though at least they're bipolar. Of course, ya gotta find which lead goes to the "low" and which to the "high", and connect those to the +'s in the right order in the socket. Sigh. Test the current draw of each lead to do that...
Rather rearrange the wires on the bulb than in the socket. So this is what I ended up with:
Both positives flipped over to the same side, one lead extend over - with heat shrink to stop it shorting against the ground leads - to where it needs to be. Both ground lead flipped to the same side. A dab of hot glue to stop them wandering during installation.
Tested in-car, then installed "permanently". Results:
Tail lights:
(backfeeding the high brake LEDs. It's pretty dull, so OH WELL.)
Brake lights:
Final current readings:
Tail and headlights:
Tail/brake lights & headlights:
8 amps saved. ~100 watts. I'll take it.
Have indicator bulbs, checked while I was in there, but...
Too tall.
Can't cut them down without wrecking them, either:
Pulled the flasher to make sure it can be modified for LEDs:
Yup, there's the shunt. Good enough for now...gotta decide if it's worth the bother, considering how impossible it is to get at the front ones. And finding smaller, but still bright enough bulbs at a reasonable price? Apparently not. Whatever. Problem for another time.
Dunno why I took this photo...current with the LEDs in, car "on" but not running. HVAC fan on low and whatever other draws are going on. Future reference, I guess?
The rotten cherry on top:
El-cheapo-grande seat covers! (just exhausted my Spanish vocabulary on that one!)
Decent, everywhere but the head rests. Much too wide there. Stuffed the headrest covers on it that came with it. (but no seat covers? WHY?)
...with the hope that they'll squeeze it in to taking a better shape more permanently. If not, nip and tuck...
Bah, whatever.
Well, we shaved off 100 or so watts after all that. Was it worth the effort? EHHHH....for that alone? Not really. For the enjoyment of overcoming each obstacle? Sure. For having bright white headlights? That's definitely worth making the effort, IMO.
(I'll give feedback on how much light the headlights put out after I drive it tonight)
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That's probably it. More likely the Buick was repainted with a Chevrolet color than a Norton color.
