strange led ? not dash

[3bears]

so i relaced all my exterior lights....blinkers, parking, brake and back up with LED's. a week or so go and no issues...so today.... when i hit my brakes the right side dash turn signal indicator lights up but dull. But after a few hits...it goes away.. turned brake bulb around...pulled panel and checked my ground....is it just the led bulb being funky...a bad one.
btw...I did just replace housings and switched out to the 2001 and up tail lights I did pull the panels...plugged into oringinal harness...and reattached the grounds on the 10mm bolt...or what ever size that was..
stupid me...i threw out the old bulbs so dont have one to switch into
the led bulb or do i have something else going on ? I assume it must be related to brake light ..somehow.. did not have this issue b4 swtiching to the 2001 light housings or led bulbs.
all other lights work great. and am happy with the brightness of them all, aside from this issue

 

[Devbot]

It was a while back when I did my dash but I'm fairly sure BOTH my turn signals had current bleeds and required incandescent bulbs. I've never heard of a current bleed that comes/goes so it very well could be the LED, but might be worth checking into. I don't think it would be a short if you never noticed anything before. Regardless you're probably gonna need another couple bulbs. They shouldn't be more than a buck at autozone, if that. Unfortunately with the dash its a lot of trial and error, but thankfully it comes out much easier than most vehicles

 

[3bears]

It was a while back when I did my dash but I'm fairly sure BOTH my turn signals had current bleeds and required incandescent bulbs. I've never heard of a current bleed that comes/goes so it very well could be the LED, but might be worth checking into. I don't think it would be a short if you never noticed anything before. Regardless you're probably gonna need another couple bulbs. They shouldn't be more than a buck at autozone, if that. Unfortunately with the dash its a lot of trial and error, but thankfully it comes out much easier than most vehicles

no all the bulbs are outside of the car, I did not change anything in the cluster so i cant imagine its a bulb in the cluster.

 

[Devbot]

Oh my mistake, I would be almost certain it's a bad bulb or maybe a relay issue then. You very often need a new relay with LED turn signals to prevent hyperflash, not sure if it can prevent other issues but it might be worth checking out

 

[Skulking]

When you say it lights up but dull but after a few hits it goes away, is it blinking, or is it on solid? By a few hits, do you mean that after you have hit the brakes a few times the problem goes away and doesn't come back?

 

[3bears]

1) yes i put in a relay for LED's for turn signals....btw...stupid location for relay.
2) it is dull, does not blink...just comes on when I hit the brakes and if I hit the brakes a few times it goes away and does not come back for the rest of my drive time even if I shut down for like 15 minutes while shopping...no problem....sits over night....guess what...there it is
3) had my grandson get in and hit the brakes...in morning..when it was playing this game...all the lights work as they should

think its just a gremlin making fun of me for some reason, glad that little bugger ( gremlin) is just doing that...little fricker could play a lot worse games

 

[Devbot]

Sounds like just a cheap bulb to me, or just bad connection. I don't see a way a short or something could do that

 

[Skulking]

It sounds like the brake light is somehow feeding power back to illuminate the turn signal indicator, but the only thing they have in common is that the brake lights and rear turn signals ground to the same point. And I can't explain why it only affects the indicator the first time, or why hitting the brakes a few times makes it stop until the car sits overnight.

 

[Devbot]

It sounds like the brake light is somehow feeding power back to illuminate the turn signal indicator, but the only thing they have in common is that the brake lights and rear turn signals ground to the same point. And I can't explain why it only affects the indicator the first time, or why hitting the brakes a few times makes it stop until the car sits overnight.

Well an LED in the 3rd brake light will trip things like ABS, if he has one installed maybe it's messing with turn signals too? Just shootin in the dark here

 

[Skulking]

Well an LED in the 3rd brake light will trip things like ABS, if he has one installed maybe it's messing with turn signals too? Just shootin in the dark here

Sure, but the 3rd brake light and the ABS are connected as part of the same circuit. The turn signals and the brake lights aren't part of the same circuit in any way except that they share a rear ground connection. My bet is on an issue with the rewiring on the right hand rear brake light.
[MENTION=124615]3bears[/MENTION] You have concerns that it might be an issue with a bad LED. Since it is only the right hand turn signal indicator which lights up when you hit the brakes, swap the LED's from the right hand lights to the left hand lights and the left hand lights to the right hand lights. Swapping all 3 from one side to the other and then seeing if the left hand turn signal is the one that comes on when you hit the brakes should either confirm or rule out the LEDs as the source of the problem. If it follows the LEDs, then it's a bad LED, if it stays, then double check the wiring work you did.

 

[3bears]

Sure, but the 3rd brake light and the ABS are connected as part of the same circuit. The turn signals and the brake lights aren't part of the same circuit in any way except that they share a rear ground connection. My bet is on an issue with the rewiring on the right hand rear brake light.

[MENTION=124615]3bears[/MENTION] You have concerns that it might be an issue with a bad LED. Since it is only the right hand turn signal indicator which lights up when you hit the brakes, swap the LED's from the right hand lights to the left hand lights and the left hand lights to the right hand lights. Swapping all 3 from one side to the other and then seeing if the left hand turn signal is the one that comes on when you hit the brakes should either confirm or rule out the LEDs as the source of the problem. If it follows the LEDs, then it's a bad LED, if it stays, then double check the wiring work you did.

thanks.....that will be my next step....however...I do reme,ber now...and for got to bring up...that it has a aftermarket trailer connection relay box thingy and that wiring was and still is a mess that I planned to go back and clean up. wonder if can be related

 

[3bears]

Well an LED in the 3rd brake light will trip things like ABS, if he has one installed maybe it's messing with turn signals too? Just shootin in the dark here

thanks , I should have clarified that yes I said I replaced all the exteior bulbs with LED's. What I did not say was EXCEPT the third brake light bulb....I learned that one years ago...when I put in an LED.....than found out that did not work, then put in a standard...but slightly smaller bulb...and that caused issues when it bounced out of the socket.....yes that 3rd brake light can cause issues..

 

[Ed_C]

I run LEDs in all the brake lights (including 3rd), have no issues with ABS or cruise like a lot of people have. They're not the cheapest ones, first taillight bulbs I used were Sylvania Zevos which I reused in my Tundra after switching to VLEDS; 3rd brake light is also VLEDs.

thanks.....that will be my next step....however...I do reme,ber now...and for got to bring up...that it has a aftermarket trailer connection relay box thingy and that wiring was and still is a mess that I planned to go back and clean up. wonder if can be related

Sure can.