1st attempt at LED Turn Signals

Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:32 pm

Quickar had a sale on amber superflux type LEDs so I bought a bunch. So now had to do something with them.

So here is my first attempt at LED turn signals for the Camaro.

I opened up the stock turn signal, and removed the factory diffuser. I was hoping to use it, but because of the angle it's mounted. It was making the LEDs look wierd. So what I did was made my own diffuser using one made for a fluorescent light.

And here is how it looks when the turn signal is going.

And a night shot for comparison. LED on the left, and factory bulb on the right.

Here is a video of the LEDs 'blinking'
[youtube]fUIfVH-Gj1k[/youtube]

I still have some bugs to work out, I got a 'LED Ready' flasher for the car, but for some reason if I turn on my parking lights. The right turn signal indicator lights up inside the car. Not sure why it's doing that.

My goal is to get these working without having to use load resistors. Since those resistors defeat the whole purpose of using LEDs in the first place. Hoepfully I can get these to work perfectly.

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:41 pm

Awesome!!! Really cool that you got a video too.

brent · Post by **brent** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:59 pm

That is really cool Chris. I like the LED look.

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:04 pm

i wish i knew how to do this.. i want to shave my tail lights and add some custom LED strips in their place so bad..

Purple RS · Post by **Purple RS** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:15 pm

Very nice. Are those dual intensity so you can do park lights and turn signal?
Real similar to what I want to do with mine.

When and if I try this, I may not use a diffuser, I have a set of clear lenses (not presently on the car) that I have tinted quite dark.

The only reason the load resistor is needed is because of that side marker, I forget which one offhand, but either the marker or the turn signal is dependent on the load of the other light to work, that's why they flash opposite each other. If you get that figured out, I'd like to know. :)

brtnboarder3241 · Post by **brtnboarder3241** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:19 pm

very nice broo...

cargodz · Post by **cargodz** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:19 am

You can definately tell the difference between the two

And I can tell a big difference in the video with the side marker... You gonna do those too?

Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:34 am

Thanks everyone!

Ya I plan on doing the side marker too, I'm going to buy a clear marker and hopefully I can get it open and get at least 1 strip of LEDs into it.

I also need to figure out why that indicator comes on now when I turn on the parking lights. It didn't do that before I guess I'll need to look at the car schematics and see how that works. To me it seems like it's getting feedback or something causing it to come on.

oh and Purple, yes they are dual intensity. I'll pose some more pics once my battery is charged back up. I left the key on all day, and it drained the battery pretty bad.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 4:35 am

I thought the Camaro was blue?

Looks excellent so far!

Thu Aug 30, 2007 5:07 am

Ryan from Ohio wrote:I thought the Camaro was blue?

Looks excellent so far!

I wanted the newer style front and rear bumpers, and the car I got them from was red :)

But I do need to think about what color I'm going to paint this car. I actually saw a silver (just a tad darker then the 4Runner) on a Camaro, that really looked nice. But not sure if I want another silver car.