How to Replace JDM Fender Light Bulbs

[BoostedAWD91]

I had to replace a bad bulb in one of my jdm fender lights and since it was the first time i was doing this i wanted to document it incase anyone else needed to do this they would know how to.

Radioshack sells these bulbs they are almost exactly the same size as the factory bulbs and they are just as bright



First remove your light assembly from you fender if not done so already. On the bottom side of the light assembly there is two screws which u must remove.

After you remove the screws, the plastic support piece will be removed and then pull the light bulb out of the assembly. The bulb is surrounded by grey rubber so you must pull that down below the bulb to where u can see the wiring where it connects to the bulb.

Cut the bulb off the wiring and then strip the wire insulation to where their will be 1 wire exposed surrounded by solder. It makes it easier if u have something or someone to hold the bulb while you solder the wires to it so it doesn't move, but i did it by myself.You can shorten the tail on the new bulb before soldering the wires to it if you want,but you don't have to. You should probably use a smaller soldering gun to do this, i used my bigger one which made it alittle more difficult but its possible.


Lastly after u have soldered the new bulb on, pull the rubber protector up around the bulb and re-install.


Hope this helps anyone else who has to do this. If u have any other questions feel free to ask /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mods feel free to move this to the How-To-Section

 

[BoostedAWD91]

Mods please move to How to section

 

This procedure can also be done with 5mm LED bulbs also available at radioshack.

If you chose to use LED bulbs, there are two things that you'll need to remember.

First, most LED bulbs require a resistor be put inline on the positive side of the circuit to bring the supply voltage down to the level that the LED uses. This voltage reduction varies depending on the LED, so you'll have to make sure the right resistor is used. The guy at the radioshack I went to had a table that shows which resistor for each voltage drop, which was helpful.

Second, the LED will have two leads coming off of it, just like the standard bulb used above. One of the leads will be longer than the other on the LED, and the longer lead is always the positive side of the circuit.

Additionally, there are LEDs available that already have resistors wired to them, which may help. Most of these already have colored housings around them though, which may not be desirable.

 

[toybreaker]

Looks like a cool little d.i.y. project!

It's important to remember that the "legs" of the led are bare and if they touch each other with the parking lites on, the best thing you can hope for is that it pops the tailight fuse (red ten amp fuse, second in from the fender in the front box,)

To prevent this, iIt's best to cover/isolate the legs with some heatshrink.

Thanks for your contribution gentlemen, and I hope folks find the information in this thread usefull. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif