Door lights flickering

[parsky1]

I bought some diode dynamics LEDs and did a swap out on my 4Runner. All is good except the door ones flicker for a few seconds after opening. Seems to be common to all doors so I’m wondering if it’s at a common connection point. Any idea on where to check?

 

[parsky1]

Seems to be related to the door switch. You just barely touch it and the led flickers. Door dash light never flickers…

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

It’s interesting that I’ve noticed an issue with my rear passenger side door. First if I unlocked using the fob and opened that particular door the dome light wouldn’t come on and after a few seconds the truck would re lock itself. I thought the door light bulb was out and installed some led bulbs. When I started messing with the actuator to test it on and off i noticed the bulb flicker. I removed that actuator and put some white lithium grease around the plastic part under the rubber cover and it seems fine now. I’ll probably end up replacing it at some point but it was an easy fix. Electrical cleaner or something else may have been better but so far so good.

 

[parsky1]

It’s interesting that I’ve noticed an issue with my rear passenger side door. First if I unlocked using the fob and opened that particular door the dome light wouldn’t come on and after a few seconds the truck would re lock itself. I thought the door light bulb was out and installed some led bulbs. When I started messing with the actuator to test it on and off i noticed the bulb flicker. I removed that actuator and put some white lithium grease around the plastic part under the rubber cover and it seems fine now. I’ll probably end up replacing it at some point but it was an easy fix. Electrical cleaner or something else may have been better but so far so good.

I think it’s poor contacts. Either they are all bad/worn or the contacts are a poor choice for the reduced current of LED bulbs. The high voltage and high current has a cleaning effect on poor contacts. Lower current loads require special materials like gold. The issues with gold is that it gets destroyed easy when there is too much current on the contacts. Delicate tradeoffs to be made. I’m hoping a new switch fixes it. Otherwise I’m thinking a big capacitor in parallel with the LED to increase the load current momentarily upon contact and smooth out contact bounce.

 

[LOSTR4]

The LEDs need to be almost siliconed in...they're a lot more fickle in how they stay in the harness than the OE halogen versions...I have experienced the same thing and you can either liberally apply dielectric grease or use silicone to keep them in place without rattling...it's worked for me with the LED replacements I've installed...