I need some help here guys,

I recently installed some very cool looking LED bulbs in the license plate lights above the license plate...

Now, when i start up the car now, I get that warning light in the tacho about an exterior light bulb being blown ...... none are actually out .. not even the LEDs above the license plate

Here's my cut ... the LED doesnt produce enough of 'something' (watts?, Resistance?) to allow the system to function properly ... therefore, the sensor is triggered and goes off ...

Does anyone know how this system works to detect if a light is blown? If so, anyway around it? (no fuse pulling?)

Thanks in advance

 

I believe the only way about it is by adding a resistor to the LED light. I'm not too knowledgeable in regards to this topic so maybe someone will chime in with a better answer.

 

You may just need to put a resister in line with the new lights so that the system can read the drop in power thus the system would think that it is working properly.

*** He beat me to the answer.

 

That's what i was thinking at first, but then i began to think ...

If the system detects if a light is out normally, does the resistance change when a light bulb is blown? I thought the wattage would or something??

If it is resistance ... then i need to figure out the ohms of the LED vs the halogens ... then do math (also considering they would be in parrallel?)

 

i think if you put the resistor in series with your leds, the resistance will be even higher and look more like a blown bulb to your mc. you want to actually draw more current, so put the resistor in series with the leds. use a resistor with the same resistance as the bulb and make sure it is rated high enough so it can handle the current. If you really wanted to get sneaky, just wire the bulb itself in parallel but hide the light output with tinfoil or something.

 

You will need a parallel resistor that will handle whe original wattage of the OEM lamp. The current that it takes fools the lighting computer module into thinking that it has a good lamp in the circuit. The Resistance will be low ~1 to 10 ohms or so, depending on the original bulb wattage , You can calculate this using OHMS LAW if you know the current that the original lamp takes. It will get HOT as it has to dissipate the heat. One down turn on most leds is they dont have any built in voltage regulation therefore their life can be appreciably shortened in an automobile application. Voltage in a automobile will vary from ~~ 12V to 18V in varying conditions.All your dash lights are fed from a voltage regulator so they dont have that problem.

 

Any other tips or more detail getting the bulb warning light to turn off after the instal of LED license plate lights would be greatly appreciated!

 

These are the 3 options for removing the bulb warning from the license plate bulbs:

Inline load resistor
http://www.v-leds.com/Load-Resistors...-p4481145.html

There is nowhere to put this inside the hatch so I would trace the license plate bulb wires to the cubby in the boot on the passenger side. Make sure you mount the resistor on metal and do not let it touch any wires, plastic, or anything that can melt. It doesn't get incredibly hot but it CAN melt the right material. They're not really dangerous just put it on something metal. I have one of mine held on with a ziptie and it has been totally fine.

The resistor has two wires coming off of it. Put on on the license plate positive and the other just screw into the frame or something grounded. These, specifically this brand, work great and are the easiest option.


Solder on a component resistor
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...watt+resistors

This is the route I went until I can get the third option to work. Get a little 1W, I think 100Ω, resistor and solder it to both ends of your LED bulb. I only needed one resistor on one bulb to get rid of the error. This is the cheapest route.


Code it out
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...beginners.html

I believe the bulb checks can be coded out of the car with NCS Expert. I haven't done this yet because I'm waiting on my cable to arrive.