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L.E.D hazard bulb issue...plz help!?


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Hey guys,

Just replaced all of my bulbs with LED bulbs in my 78 280z. All work fine except my rear hazards. My front LED turn signal bulbs blink fine for turn or hazard mode. As soon as I remove and replace both original halogen rear bulbs, they turn solid and no longer flash. I can replace one rear with an LED and another with a halogen and they blink. It appears the old style rear bulbs are causing something to happen that the new LED's are not. Any idea what is going on? Appreciate it!

 

 

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Old style flasher units use a bimetal element that heats up to provide the flashing. Your new LED bulbs don't pull a fraction of the current that the incandescents do, so they don't cause this heating in the flasher.

 

To make this work, you'll need a modern electronic flasher unit (they flash based on a built in digitial timer instead of heating metal) so they always flash at the same rate no matter the load the bulbs provide.

 

I don't have the diagrams in front of me, but you may need two flashers (one for the turn signal circuit, one for the hazards)

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In the '78 280Z you need to replace 2 OEM flashers with 2 electronic flashers. One  for the emergency flashers and a separate one for the turn signals. The first is found high on the drivers side kick plate above the ECU, the second is above the steering column. They are available in the exact configuration as your originals so you don't have to do any additional ground wiring and they will be totally plug 'n play. I purchased mine at Superbrightleds.com. Sorry but I don't have the part numbers at this time but you can pull your originals and they will cross reference the numbers for you. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Question for those that are running the timer based setup. Do you have problems with the running lights/headlights on?

I accidentally only ordered one of these so I figured I would install it under the steering column. The flashers work great now with no other lights on. When I turn on the running lights though, one side just grows a bit brighter and stays on. Am I missing something here? Or do I need to replace the second one on the passenger side before it will work with the running lights on?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got the second electronic flasher in. Turn signals work fine when the running lights are off, but with them on they seem to only get brighter and stay on. 

Anyone having the same issue? I can tell the bulbs get brighter when I flick the turn signal, but they just stay on and don't flash. I'm thinking of cutting the connection to the bulb for the running light so they are only a turn flasher instead of a running light/turn signal combo.

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I had to put load resistors on all four lights and am using OEM flasher relays. I tried load resistors on just the rear and it wouldn't work. Order 4 of them, put them in parallel with the bulbs like the instructions say and it should work.  Just for kicks put the old bulbs back in and see if it works. If it does, you just need to add the load resistors. If it doesn't you have another (wiring) issue. 

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I had to put load resistors on all four lights and am using OEM flasher relays. I tried load resistors on just the rear and it wouldn't work. Order 4 of them, put them in parallel with the bulbs like the instructions say and it should work.  Just for kicks put the old bulbs back in and see if it works. If it does, you just need to add the load resistors. If it doesn't you have another (wiring) issue. 

I guess I will explore that option. I'm pretty sure it all worked with the old bulbs and old flasher. I was excited for the new flasher as they don't take nearly as long to flash. In the instructions it says two load resistors per bulb, given 4 bulbs, does that mean 8 load resistors required? 

Edited by seattlejester
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  • 5 months later...

^That ended up being my temporary fix. I just swapped out my rear ones to incandescencet, I imagine throwing in load resistors on the actual flashing circuit would be the same, but for the time being swapping just the rear turn signals back gave me back turn signals with headlights.

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Seattlejester, which electronic flashers were you using, just out of curiosity?  I have not observed the specific issues you were experiencing, so I'm wondering if the choice of flasher was causing the problem.

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