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Old 04-10-2011, 06:07 PM   #1
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Help RE: Depo LED Tail Lights (wiring)

Hello. I PMed a couple people on here and I was curious if anyone else has come across this-

Our 986 Boxsters have a rectangular harness for the tail lights- one plug does it all-

I purchased depo tails for my car and the website states they are direct plug and play with no modification needed- however- they dont have a rectangular female harness plug, they have two wires with round connectors.

Can anyone shed some light on this???

Im waiting to hear back from the company but didnt know if any of you have dealt with this in the past....

Thanks!

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Old 04-10-2011, 06:32 PM   #2
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the "round" part plugs into the "hole" where the light bulb is plugged in to the wire...
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Old 04-11-2011, 03:25 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonycarreon
the "round" part plugs into the "hole" where the light bulb is plugged in to the wire...
The bulbs dont get plugged into the round parts, theyre a positive connection- they actually look like the male end of a light bulb. Nothing on these lights makes sense. There is no rectangular plug for my wiring harness. :-/
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Old 04-11-2011, 04:38 AM   #4
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sorry for the grainyness (it's dark in the garage) but...



you have to remove the bulb holder (the plastic assembly that houses the bulbs and connects to the electrical wiring) from the old tail lights, pull out the bulb for the tail lights (leave the turn signal and fog light) and plug the depo light's socket into the hole for the tail light in the housing.
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Old 04-11-2011, 05:02 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonycarreon
sorry for the grainyness (it's dark in the garage) but...
Thanks for the picture- I really appreciate you doing that for me- I will have to re-look at things either on lunch or when I get home- I just dont recall seeing that wire in your picture with the round connector- I swear my car only has a rectangular connector about 2 inches long...? Ill have to re-look. Thanks man!
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Old 04-11-2011, 05:11 AM   #6
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yeah the old lights should have the plastic assembly that contains all of the bulbs. you'll have to reuse that. there's no way to just remove the old taillights with the housing (removing it from the wiring harness (the rectangular plug you talked about)) and plug the new lights in. they don't make that part real clear on their descriptions.

my depo lights came with two red/black wires connected to what looks like the male end of a bulb that gets plugged in to where the old bulbs were on the assembly from the old tail lights.

also you'll want to get some yellow bulbs for the turn signals since they're clear in the old tail lights and the housing is yellow. the depo (if you got the same ones i have) are clear. so your turn signal will just be white. i still have not replaced my clear light yet so when i turn on the signal the people behind me just see a white flashing light...

also, the glue on the rubber/foam seal around the tail light is kind of "iffy" and tends to want to twist and turn when it's installed. you'll want to take a little care with those since that is essentially the water seal to keep rain away...

which ones did you get? smoked? clear?
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Old 04-11-2011, 06:15 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonycarreon
yeah the old lights should have the plastic assembly that contains all of the bulbs. you'll have to reuse that. there's no way to just remove the old taillights with the housing (removing it from the wiring harness (the rectangular plug you talked about)) and plug the new lights in. they don't make that part real clear on their descriptions.

my depo lights came with two red/black wires connected to what looks like the male end of a bulb that gets plugged in to where the old bulbs were on the assembly from the old tail lights.

also you'll want to get some yellow bulbs for the turn signals since they're clear in the old tail lights and the housing is yellow. the depo (if you got the same ones i have) are clear. so your turn signal will just be white. i still have not replaced my clear light yet so when i turn on the signal the people behind me just see a white flashing light...

also, the glue on the rubber/foam seal around the tail light is kind of "iffy" and tends to want to twist and turn when it's installed. you'll want to take a little care with those since that is essentially the water seal to keep rain away...

which ones did you get? smoked? clear?

Awesome man, you have been very helpful. Much more than the actual company I ordered these from!! They're meat heads, they didn't even send me directions for installation, just a box with tail lights in them.

I will tackle this when I get home tonight more than likely. Ill let you know my findings and how things turn out for sure.

I ended up going with the Euro version- Red on the bottom- Clear on the top. I love the look of them... we'll see how everything goes! Thanks again
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Old 04-11-2011, 09:49 AM   #8
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When you get this working, let me know if both banks of LED's in the taillights light up...

I ordered these back in September and couldn't get the outer bank on both lights working. The company eventually stopped responding to my emails after i had to be out of town for a month for work and couldn't deal with the problem anyway...

Anyone know what might be causing this problem??
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Old 04-11-2011, 05:31 PM   #9
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tonycarreon:

Thanks so much for your help. I took a closer look when I got home and got these lights installed. I posted a pic on a new thread for everyone to enjoy.

SoK:

YES Both sides of LEDs do light up! the only thing that happened is I blew a regular bulb possibly, not sure it may have been out when i installed.
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Old 01-07-2012, 05:50 PM   #10
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RE: Help DEPO LED Tail Lights

I know the whole deal with the rear fog lights only being on the left side of the car, but when you install the DEPO tail lights, you lose the outside incandescent lights that somewhat wrap around the side of the cornerpanels. Does anyone know if you can cut holes in the back of the DEPO housings to accommodate those outside lights?
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Old 01-07-2012, 07:41 PM   #11
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Man you guys have a better memory then I do!...or maybe I've just done too much to remember. I think the Depo's did have a funky install but everything was there except a place for the side parking light, but then I had read that would be the case. Mine came with too many yellow lights, thought I had done something wrong when a bunch were left over. For the money I can't complain, they are awesome.
I do remember hooking them up was one of those plugin while pushing fixture in type things, ended up just working by feel.
Don't think I helped, but my post count was on 666 and supposedly that's a bad number lol.
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Old 02-26-2012, 08:51 PM   #12
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DEPO signla lights LED resistors...

Thinking about purchasing the DEPO LED's and have read releated threads. Questions:

1. Is is practical to replace the turn signal bulb with an amber LED SMD type bulb?
2. If so, will I need to install a resistor in-line to avoid error codes? I'm only putting these on the back and not doing anything with the front turn signals.

Replies appreciated...Thanks!

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