LED Kit gone bad? lights cutting out

Duluth4Runner

Duluth4Runner

New member
the previous owner to my runner put in an led kit in the dash and all the lights where the heat/air is. The lights on the a/c used to flicker and now has completely gone out. this wasnt really a big deal for me, but the other day the whole left side of my gauges went out where the water temp and tachometer are. they flicker now but are out most of the time. So now I need to fix it. so my question is if it sounds like the wires are just loose or if I need to buy a new led kit to replace it. I took apart the heat/air unit and couldnt find any loose wires and moved everything around to try and fix it. so that makes me think that they have gone bad but at the same time why would they flicker if they went bad? any suggestions are appreciated thanks!
 
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My digital climate control leds flicker all the time or sometimes just cut out all together. I've had them for a while, so I think it's just time for new ones. This may be the same solution for you as well.
 
LED's are solid state technology devices that were actually invented in 1927 but first produced in 1962 and were initially only available in red.

The prodominent failure mode for LEDs is gradual dimming. Abrupt failure is extremely rare. LEDs can last 35,000 - 50,000 hrs while 10,000 - 15,000 hrs is typical. Leds are encased in resin and are unaffected by shock and vibration.

Replacing them will will have the unintended affect of fixing the wiring / connections. So... I'd just check the wiring and connections.

Yeah, i "googled" it. My $0.02. :hiding:

P. S. "Flickering" would only be caused by varying the current (dimming) but are voltage (threshold) dependant. Or, in other words,... Poor connection. LEDs are also temperature sensitive. F. Y. I.
 
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Kinda doubt it's the LEDs. Probably the notoriously fickle circuit board in that auto climate control. Mine does the same thing. The PCB needs to be removed and the soldered joints reflowed. There is a guy on eBay who does this for about $100.
 
it is your LED's that's how all mine went out when i got my first set. It starts with a flicker and eventually dies completely. don't buy your new ones from autolumination cause they will do the same thing after a few months. Just get some factory bulbs or some other LED's and you'll be good
 
GottaBeTRD said:
it is your LED's that's how all mine went out when i got my first set. It starts with a flicker and eventually dies completely. don't buy your new ones from autolumination cause they will do the same thing after a few months. Just get some factory bulbs or some other LED's and you'll be good
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come to think of it, mine came from autolumination. Technically they lasted around a year, but still.... They should last longer than that! I don't want to buy crappy ebay led's though. Where should I look to? Maybe superbrightleds? They just don't seem to carry enough for what bulbs I need.
 
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Autolumination sucks. Mine would flicker and go out too. Get them from vleds. Haven't had a problem with any of theirs and I have LEDs from them in everything that I possibly can.
 
I got lucky with the autolumination ones too to where i got a year out of them. In fact My key ring bulb from them is still going strong and its been 2 or 3 years. But yeah, after a year my other bulbs starting flickering and going out one at a time.

I tried Superbrigh's bulbs and had some burn out within 6 or so months, I tried them again and this set have been working for a good while now. I would recommend using Vleds first, (If you can find the bulbs you need) they are always sold out but they will be the best place for LED's My second choice is superbright.
 
Qyota said:
Kinda doubt it's the LEDs. Probably the notoriously fickle circuit board in that auto climate control. Mine does the same thing. The PCB needs to be removed and the soldered joints reflowed. There is a guy on eBay who does this for about $100.
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can you elaborate?
 
Sure. The soldered connections on the PCB in the auto climate control get old and brittle. Once a connection on the board is compromised, it never works perfectly all the time. That's why you get the flicker. I have the same problem, and my LEDs are high quality, from superbrightleds.com. The auto climate control is notoriously glitchy...sometimes the buttons don't seem to work, or the fan speed or temp knobs seem to do weird things when turned. It all comes down to the circuit board having bad connections. It is my intention to send my board to the eBay guy, but I don't currently have a spare $100 laying around.
 
Qyota said:
Sure. The soldered connections on the PCB in the auto climate control get old and brittle. Once a connection on the board is compromised, it never works perfectly all the time. That's why you get the flicker. I have the same problem, and my LEDs are high quality, from superbrightleds.com. The auto climate control is notoriously glitchy...sometimes the buttons don't seem to work, or the fan speed or temp knobs seem to do weird things when turned. It all comes down to the circuit board having bad connections. It is my intention to send my board to the eBay guy, but I don't currently have a spare $100 laying around.
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yea, I pretty much 2nd this. Whenever I turn my temp knob up or down fast it will go the opposite way or skip numbers to a number that's not even close. For instance, going from 80 turning it down fast will skip to 70 all of a sudden.

My gf just calls them dancing lights, cus they flicker to the music lol
 
ARKRWLR said:
yea, I pretty much 2nd this. Whenever I turn my temp knob up or down fast it will go the opposite way or skip numbers to a number that's not even close. For instance, going from 80 turning it down fast will skip to 70 all of a sudden.

My gf just calls them dancing lights, cus they flicker to the music lol
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mine does this too with the climate jumping all over the place. so is my best option to get it done by this guy? Im also having issues with the dash LEDs so i need to fix that as well
 
4-Ripcord said:
my autolumination bulbs are all still going strong a year and a half later.. just saying.
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you shouldn't have said that... j/k, My bulbs from them lasted longer than most people here too, but one in the dash went out and then everything in the HVAC went out. I decided to swap everything out so I don't have to do it again
 
Qyota said:
Your auto CC is also 2+ years newer!
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I don't have stupid auto climate control. manual controls are so far superior!

GottaBeTRD said:
you shouldn't have said that... j/k, My bulbs from them lasted longer than most people here too, but one in the dash went out and then everything in the HVAC went out. I decided to swap everything out so I don't have to do it again
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Yeah once one goes out they are all getting replaced.

For what its worth, both of my Ozinium dome lights are nearly halfway burnt out. Meaning only half of the LEDs on each one even light up anymore. Those are getting replaced soon.
 
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