DEPO LED Tail Lights Problem

[jwbriney]

Alright, this is a last ditch request on these aftermarket LED tail lights. I spliced the wire for the LED space where the rear fog light goes into the LED wire for the brake lights in order to make both LEDs light up when I braked. Upon inserting the tail light into the system, I only get both LEDs to come on if I hit the brakes hard, any soft braking only lights the left LED light. Has anyone set up their LED tail lights in this format and if so have you run into this problem / do you have a fix? I really don't want to take a $160 bath on these lights to update the look of my 2001.

[tonycarreon]

what do you mean by "both" lights? you mean the left side and right side light?


{light assm} ----------trunk-------------{light assm}

or do you mean the left/right side on the housing itself?

{white/smoke}
{led}{led}{led}

[jwbriney]

Inside each housing so:

{backup light}{turn signal}
{led}{incandescent}{led}

[tonycarreon]

yeah, i just re-read what you posted and it was clearer.

sorry, i can't be of any help. i left mine as-is with the teeny-tiny brake light.




though i did just learn (5 minutes ago) that the brake light doesn't come on when the car's not on - so i guess that's my 986 forum lesson for the day.

[jwbriney]

Thanks for checking Tony. Nice looking car btw, great color choice Anyone else have any ideas?

[WhipE350]

That teeny-tiny light is very bright, I have it and it's great.

jwbriney - Kind of cool that is you are braking for an emergency it would be brighter! I would like it like that.

[jwbriney]

Yeah, I thought about that but my concern is if the left and right don't do it together it'll look like I've got a tail out on one side and I'll constantly be getting pulled over.

[jwbriney]

Here's the updated right with the left still stock:



I love the look but I think I'm gonna scrap them if I can't get both LEDs to light up on each tail light.

[crogers106]

Man that looks nice - I hope you can get it figured out - I was looking at purchasing a set of these (smoke colored on top) for my 2002.

[jwbriney]

Well we went back to the drawing board today, and decided to scrap the idea of having both sets of LEDs light up when braking. Instead I ran wire from the left tail light to the right one and spliced it into the working rear fog light. I guess I will now use the fogs all the time now (even though with the xenons I never found that I needed them). Below are the finished product.

Right side Fog and Parking turned on:


Shot of both with fogs on:


Shot of both under braking:


I have to give thanks to Dad in the background, who shares the same passion for his 2003 Boxster that I do for mine. His is on the right:

[marymarcs]

I wanted both LED cluster to turn on my new Depo LED Tail lights. I rewired the pin on the car so that the fog lights are wired in parallel. When I plugged in the lights I still only had one LED cluster that would light up. The fix was to add a 50W 1 ohm resistor in parallel with one of the tail lights. Now both LED cluster on both tail lights come on when I apply the brake. I hope this helps!

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by marymarcs

I wanted both LED cluster to turn on my new Depo LED Tail lights. I rewired the pin on the car so that the fog lights are wired in parallel. When I plugged in the lights I still only had one LED cluster that would light up. The fix was to add a 50W 1 ohm resistor in parallel with one of the tail lights. Now both LED cluster on both tail lights come on when I apply the brake. I hope this helps!

Can you give me a few more details on how you did this? Where did you wire the 50W resistor? On the left or right light? Any pictures? Thanks.

[SF-Rockster]

What I did for my Depo hack was make the furthest out LED set be my turn signals and left the rest alone. Works great! Now NO one can tell me that they did not see me signal to make a lane change. Hahah

[speedyturtle]

So I just bought a pair of these and am not sure if I'm missing something or what, but when I turn my lights on (I've turned ALL of them one to ensure I'm not going crazy or missing something) but there seems to be no 'tail lights' illuminating...period. The brake lights work when the brake is depressed. The turn signals work, check. The driver's side 'rear fog light' works, check. But no LEDs or any light coming out of them at all from what I can tell. Am I missing something? Is there a bulb maybe I should replace? I can't figure this one out!

[BruceH]

So you are not getting this?



This is with the ignition off and the lights on.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by marymarcs

I wanted both LED cluster to turn on my new Depo LED Tail lights. I rewired the pin on the car so that the fog lights are wired in parallel. When I plugged in the lights I still only had one LED cluster that would light up. The fix was to add a 50W 1 ohm resistor in parallel with one of the tail lights. Now both LED cluster on both tail lights come on when I apply the brake. I hope this helps!

Where did you get the LED center brake light?

my Depos just arrived. Can't have mismatching lights!!

[speedyturtle]

Originally Posted by BruceH

So you are not getting this?



This is with the ignition off and the lights on.

nope not at all

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by speedyturtle

nope not at all

I assume they were working on the old lights right? Fuse check?

[Meir]

Originally Posted by speedyturtle

nope not at all

are you using your old bulbs or you replaced them with LED ones?

[speedyturtle]

thanks for the help guys..for some reason after I replaced the bulbs on both they both started working. Not entirely sure how they both went out at once but that seems to be the case. Thanks so much for the help!