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LED Reflector Install Help

22K views 129 replies 22 participants last post by  jemerbautista 
#1 ·
I suppose it's a day for storytelling.
Alright, so on my way home from the city, I had that random mental tick that told me to to go to the truck customs shop. So I asked what these....
LED Rear Bumper Reflector Light Lamp Set Fit 2011 Hyundai Elantra Avante MD | eBay
(Camily, looks exactly like this.)
Would cost to install, and how long. Basically the first thing out the first person's mouth was $75 an hour...... Well considering I don't bring that in ONE WEEK, let alone an hour, that turned out of the option. The second person who I talked two (same place) gave me a two hour estimate, so I estimated 3. Considering these came with my tail lights for cheap, I'm not willing to pay half of what I paid for my lights, to install a bonus item. That being said, never done any wiring before, But I understand it's not hard, but I never wanted to risk royally ...... my lights because I wrecked a wire here or there.

So... How straightforward is this project? Looks pretty straightforward to me from browsing the forums; Remove a few bumper clips if you need to, bring the wires up through the tails and somehow attach it to the wire somewhere. That's where it gets sketchy for me. I've no idea where or even how to properly 'insert' the wires so that they won't fall apart in a weeks time.

I'd really like to hear everyones experience with this and how they did it, exactly what tools I need (I assume a wire stripper or cutter is needed here), if I need to solder or just electrical tape, or some odd contraption and what have you.
 
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#43 ·
Guys, this post (vlt, I think, gets the credit) some time ago. The reflector wire colors may be different but the Elantra's tail light wires should be the same colors. Just have to figure it out. And the multimeter IS the best diagnostic tool for this. Here's the post, hope it helps:

Wire colors should be different on these aftermarket products than the OEM wiring colors. If you're so unsure, take a 9v battery and test them out. It's not that difficult. and black is always ground on aftermarket products.

edit: upon reading the description, it tells you what wires to connect with (in Korean)

on the car:

pink: tail
green: brake
black: ground

on that reflector:

white: tail
yellow: brake
black...ground.
 
#45 ·
My pleasure, sir. If it doesn't, well, let's take another route. We'll get you there. Someone on here will. This is what it's all about. A brotherhood of owners with a common bond and camaraderie. :thumbsup:
 
#47 ·
Here's what we can expect to see/hear once he gets this thing hooked up:

Hours and hours of standing behind the car asking everyone from neighbors, kids, wife, old girlfriends, even the Sterno bum on the local street corner, EVERYONE, to sit in his car and tap that brake pedal so he can bathe in the afterglow. :cigareta: :laughing:

It does have an effect!!!
 
#49 ·
LMAO. You, sir, are absolutely correct! He will FIND reasons to tap the brakes. Even when passing another E on the highway and tapping them as an act of "saying hello to a fellow E owner."

I'M GUILTY: whenever I pass another E, I'll turn on my parking lights to illuminate the reflectors. I should be ashamed of myself! But I'm not. Danged hard to be humble, sometimes. :wink2:

There's not one member on any forum that hasn't been so proud of their ride so as to draw attention to it or themselves. We can't help ourselves, sometimes.
 
#54 ·
Proof that the bean counters remain in the forefront and hard at work.

"Hmm, if we shorten 3" of wire off that harness, times $0.03 savings per harness, factored by 1 million vehicles, two harnesses per vehicle=Bonus/Promotion/Job Security: Me!" You get the picture.
 
#55 ·
No doubt.

I do remember the Ford Pinto - Ford Pinto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - cheaper to pay the wrongful-death lawsuits than $11 per car.

OTOH - as I said earlier - I was really surprised the OEM "E" has a $10 harness on the tail lights themselves. On a Ford (or lots of others cars), that wire would be internal to the $350 (probably per side) taillight assembly.
 
#57 · (Edited)
Don't laugh too soon. :laughing: This old man buggered up one of his trying to get the pliars into that little working place to snap the danged thing shut.

In hindsight, I probably looked like that proverbial monkey with the football. Sometimes, it would help to be a contortionist. :D

If you're crimping, that would only mean one thing: YOU'RE CLOSE to taking pictures! LOL

Other members: Hide and watch to see if this statement is correct (we'll know soon enough): Gansk is going to be strutting around in his driveway like a Peacock on hormone therapy!
 
#60 ·
I've completed it! I'll have pics up tomorrow I'm sure :D. Thanks for the help fellas
That's it? No comments? No evaluations? No jumping up and down? No clicking your heels together in the air? Gonna leave us hanging? We can wait a day for pics. But I sure would like to hear your overall impression after seeing the difference it made. :grin:
 
#61 ·
I think I've showed them off to 4 people already! As in.. Drag them to the rear of the car and said LOOK!:cool: HUGE difference . I'll be detailing and taking pics tomorrow. I also plasti-dipped my removed reflectors .. As a test. Plan on doing the same to the LED ones installed. Just enough to match the taillights. The LEDs are super bright so not worried about weakening there brightness appearance.

HIGHLY recommend this mod. Right tools and a little guidance and it's pretty smooth and easy, WITH the bumper on.
 
#65 · (Edited)
On my Camily's, I have one illumination if the light switch is activated. All LED's are on. When the brake pedal is pushed, WHAMMO, BRIGHT city! All LED's remain on, but at a higher intensity. I didn't know if he had wired the brake wire to the tail light and vice versa, if the signal from the brake switch would even cause a change in appearance in the reflectors. What prompted my question was his mentioning "how bright they were." Is any of this comment making sense to anyone other than me? :grin:
 
#66 ·
You are quite likely correct - LED's are somewhat odd animals.

I was thinking of dual-filament bulbs and it would be simple to wire the reflectors so half the LED's came on with the tails and the other half with the brakes. (And you could mount the LED's close enough to each other and they are small enough so they LOOK like the same LED at higher intensity.

You also can get different intensity out of one LED by varying the voltage, but to do that, you would need a circuit that added a resistor when the brake light wire did NOT have Voltage - a bit harder to do, but you could probably do it with an IC.

Curious how they actually work it - not that it matters (other than that the first way, swapping the brake and tail wires would have no effect).
 
#67 · (Edited)
I can't remember if there were any resistors on those circuit boards in the housings, or not. I might venture out in a moment and see if it's viewable.

Back in...nope, not visible from the outside. If they are in there, they are behind the board and out of view.

EDIT Just returned from a second trip. Turned on the lights, all 16 LED's were lit. Laid a fire log across the brake pedal. Looked again, all 16 were lit, but noticeably brighter. There's something incorporated into that circuit board.
 
#68 ·
There is a resistor regardless - most LED's run at 2.1V - so you need a resistor to drop the 12V to 2.1.

The question is whether you are operating the individual LED's at 0.75 and then 2.1V, or if you are running them all at 2.1V but only turning half of them on unless you have BOTH tail and brake lights activated.

I looked at the YouTube video above and there is some component on the board, but I can't tell if it is an IC, transistor, capacitor, etc ...
 
#70 ·
No doubt - it's really idle curiosity on my point.

They work, they are relatively cheap. HOW they work doesn't really matter - but -

What you really know is that you have sixteen point sources of varying brightness. i.e. surface mount LED's are maybe 1/16-inch square. If the circuit board had 32 of them arranged in 16-pairs, I don't know that the end result would look any different to you.

(And I'll admit, it doesn't matter other than whether anything different happens if you swap the brake and tail-light wires).
 
#98 ·
http://www.hyundai-forums.com/231-m...d-2014-oem-tail-lights-led-2.html#post2146698

Got my answer from StressTest above.

Basically, both OkieRich and I were somewhat correct and somewhat incorrect.

They are analogous to a dual-filament 1157 bulb - there is only one LED, but separate anodes and cathodes.

Bottom line which started this whole discussion is "It doesn't matter if you reverse the brake and tail light wires (FOR THIS SET), they would still be 1/2 brightness for the parking or brake lights and full brightness for both."

(It would matter which wire you connected for switchback bulbs if you wanted say white LED's for Reverse and yellow LED's for turn signals.)
 
#71 ·
You're as bad as I am, Tiger. I've destroyed stuff just to see what made it tick! But that's half the joy in the teardown analysis, don't you think? Otherwise, we're kinda like mushrooms; just sit in a dark room and get fed a diet of crap. :laughing:
 
#72 ·
If it ain't broke .... Take it apart anyway and lose a few of the pieces and then it will be!!!

Real Men Answer C to any multiple choice questions:

Aliens from another world land and give you a device that will end world hunger, eliminate any possibility of war, and cure all known diseases. Would you?

A ) Give it to the President of the United States.
B ) Give it to the Secretary General of the United Nations.
C ) Take it apart to see how it works.
 
#78 ·
So here it is.. The finished product!















Again, anyone who is considering this upgrade, don't hesitate! Well worth the work. Anyhow, I'm about to go apply my brakes at some stop lights! Be back later :D
I have been following this thread and have now decided I need to get these fitted on the Tucson!
This weekend I will get underneath the vehicle and see how much room I have to work without removing the back bumper.
I do have ramps that I could put the back wheels up on, but not keen to work underneath just in case the ramps fail.
 
#82 ·
Yes. Instead of splicing the LED's brake wire to the brakes, splice them to the turn signal wires. You'll need resistors on BOTH wires or you'll get the hyperflash.

Or if you're feeling innovative attach a new wire to the current brake wire and wire it to the turn signal. I wonder if that would actually work.
 
#83 ·
Yes. Instead of splicing the LED's brake wire to the brakes, splice them to the turn signal wires. You'll need resistors on BOTH wires or you'll get the hyperflash.

Or if you're feeling innovative attach a new wire to the current brake wire and wire it to the turn signal. I wonder if that would actually work.
Andre, you have said it. I have wondered that, myself. Suffice it to say I'd consider trying this but only after someone a whole lot smarter than me signs off on the idea.
It would be a novel look. I'll say that.

But you first reference on splicing to the turn signals with resistors is doable. I just prefer the brake cycle. I want those daydreaming clowns behind me to see lots of red. Hence, brake lights top and bottom. The turn signal can hold its own, I believe.
 
#85 ·
Good point, Lou. Thanks. I hadn't thought that far ahead. I would've had an OCD breakdown when I discovered it. "IF," I had discovered it.

Think I'll keep it "business as usual."
 
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