Lighting 2004 TJ, changed all the lights to LED, turn signals, headlights, taillights the side markers were already LED. When I turn on the headlights, the brights come on and will not go off, turn signals and flashers do not flash. Went to NAPA they stated not drawing enough power from stock lights to LED they suggested change out the Flasher relay, did that. EP27 part number, but they also suggested another relay to stop hyper-flash 97283 relay tried both and nothing has changed.
Lighting problem after switching from stock lights to LEDs
- Thread starter larry_davis
- Start date
Did you change the side marker lights in the front fender flares to LEDs? If so, that's your issue and you need to resolve it using these threads:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...-installing-leds-as-side-marker-lights.46511/
and
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...der-side-markers-on-a-jeep-wrangler-tj.32114/
Swapping those out to LEDs will cause all sorts of wonky issues, trust me.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...-installing-leds-as-side-marker-lights.46511/
and
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...der-side-markers-on-a-jeep-wrangler-tj.32114/
Swapping those out to LEDs will cause all sorts of wonky issues, trust me.
LEDs are not just light bulbs, they are also diodes which means they do not conduct electricity in both connections like a conventional incandescent light bulb does. That causes problems in lots of circuits that depend on the bulb being able to conduct in both directions. Like the turn signal/side marker circuit.
Chris's above information is dead-on, pay attention to it. .
Chris's above information is dead-on, pay attention to it. .
First off, the EP27 is not ever proper for a TJ. EP26 is proper for 97-2000 and 2001-2006 need the LM470. EP27 can kinda sorta work but it is not proper and can blow fuses in certain situations as well as it allows the blinker to function when the key is out if the blinker is left on when the key is shut off and removed. That isn’t really a problem but the fuse issue is and so you need to get the proper relay for that. So you need an LM470.
Almost all issues with LEDs in TJs is due to the FRONT bulbs, not the side markers. The side markers depend on the front bulbs for ground. When LEDs are installed up front, the side markers can not ground properly. The solution is to look up forum member @Steel City 06 writeup on rewiring the side markers to not depend on the front bulb sockets for ground. It uses a few small inline resistors and diodes to to create an artificial dim brightness in the side marker LED for parking lamp mode. It allows the LED to run full brightness on turn signals.
If this is too complicated for you, go back to stock bulbs. It’s really pretty simple though and I’d certainly say worth doing the small amount of work to run nicely brighter and cleaner looking LEDs.
Almost all issues with LEDs in TJs is due to the FRONT bulbs, not the side markers. The side markers depend on the front bulbs for ground. When LEDs are installed up front, the side markers can not ground properly. The solution is to look up forum member @Steel City 06 writeup on rewiring the side markers to not depend on the front bulb sockets for ground. It uses a few small inline resistors and diodes to to create an artificial dim brightness in the side marker LED for parking lamp mode. It allows the LED to run full brightness on turn signals.
If this is too complicated for you, go back to stock bulbs. It’s really pretty simple though and I’d certainly say worth doing the small amount of work to run nicely brighter and cleaner looking LEDs.
There are plenty of non polar LEDs that allow power/ground to be hooked up either way. You can drop a non polar LED in the side markers and it will blink all day long and work properly with the floating ground in both headlight-on and headlight-off situations. The bullshit occurs when the front 3157s are swapped to LEDs and then the side markers can no longer reliably get their current and grounding properly due to the LED up front not allowing the circuitry of the side marker to flow that way.
A half decent solution is to only run LED side markers, but I always thought it looks weird to have a mix of fading incandescents and the sharp cutoff of LEDs operating close to each other. For me that means a quick side marker rewiring job to make it all happy and it works great.
Using a conventional led bulb in the side markers absolutely causes a problem even with incandescent bulbs everywhere else. I fully understand the issues. And there's an easier fix than resistors and diodes for the side marker it's a nothing more than a simple bridge rectifier. Not many are up to wiring in the circuit fixes for this issue which is why I recommend staying with incandescent bulbs in the side marker circuit.
I would recommend buying a non polar LED and installing it into your side marker. I can guarantee with 100% certainty it will work in all situations. If you get a polarized LED then no, of course it won’t work, or will only work when the current flows the way the bulb was setup for.
As I stated to Jerry, it’s not the side markers that are the problem but yes, this solution 100% works and works great. It truly solves the issues that are a result of the floating ground design.
You missed what I added above. Plus the type of led ("non polar") you're recommending is simply a two led bulb combination wired front to back with a center ground which emulates an incandescent bulb.
I did miss that. And that’s fine, but the important part is that they operate in either direction which means they work perfectly fine in a floating ground setup. But nobody leaves it at that, they then want to add LEDs to the front sockets, which screws everything up until they do the mod Chris listed above, or go with bridge rectifiers. Personally I think the diodes and resistors are easier to neatly conceal in a loom than rectifiers are, but that’s probably down to personal preference at that point.
I agree that for the non electrically inclined, leaving incandescent bulbs in place is smart. However for those who have the know how, I’d say the LEDs are worth it.
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