I just replaced my housing/map/dome lights (I dont know exactly what to call them) with LED bulbs. Even when they are off, the one bulb emits a very faint glow, but like I said they are supposed to be off. It is only happening with the one bulb. I though Ive heard of people having this same thing happen before with other LED bulbs, but I may be wrong. Is this normal or should I contact the company and see if they can send me another bulb?

 

I thought someone said they measured a small amount of voltage always present on the map lights even when off.

 

It's fine ... they completely shut off in about 30 minutes ...

 

There is another thread on this, essentially you can get a bigger LED bulb that draws more power (like a flank bulb) which will then go off when you turn your car off. OR you can rest assured that they do in fact turn off, and that the power draw they take to keep that small amount of illumination has been measured by other members and would have to be on for years to equal the amount of power it takes to turn your fog lights on for 30 seconds. Seriously. So unless it bothers you, don't worry about it.

 

The reason that they turn off in 30 min is that the car cuts the circuit to the map lights if they remain on for too long, so as to prevent the battery from draining. At least that's what happens with the regular bulbs

So, while it may be fine because they turn off, it may not *technically* be fine because it is doing something that it shouldn't.

It's like saying that hitting the rev limiter all day long is fine, because that's what it's there for. OK to hit by accident, not OK to hit all day long.

 

It's fine. I measured the voltages and current through the aftermarket LED map lights. Two reasons why it's fine:

1) I don't remember off the top of my head, but basically if you leave your car still for a week, the amount of power drained through those LEDs will be the same as your fogs being on for 5 seconds as you hit the unlock button on your remote key fob. It is in the milliwatts.

2) It doesn't matter. Your stock bulbs are also draining the same amount of current, constantly, when they're "off." You do not see any light because the filament is not efficient enough to produce visible light with that small amount of current. Your LEDs, however, are efficient enough to produce that feint glow.

So it really is fine.

My license plate light glows feintly too - I haven't measured that, but I'm hoping it's the same case.

Also - for the trunk light, it's a different story. I haven't investigated or upgraded that light myself, but according to metroplex's findings, having the low load of an LED instead of a bulb confuses the SJB and causes it to output 7V to the trunk LED. So in that case, it might not be fine.

 

Which one did you get ?

Do you like them?

 

Whats the advantage of the leds?

 

I got mine from here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b....19609&next=50 and its the 6th one down on the page, the 921-x12 Wedge Base LED bulb. I got mine in green to match the rest of the dash/instrument cluster lights since I dont have the MyColor thing. I like the look, and the quality of the bulbs seems to be top notch, but Im sure the look is not everyones favorite. I read your thread on putting blue LEDs in all of your lights so if your trying to match those than heres a pic of a guy who used Blue LEDs: http://www.2005stang.com/viewtopic.php?t=4957

PS- I would highly recommend superbrightleds.com as a company. Great customer service and fast shipping, plus they were cheaper than the ebay store. I thought one of my bulbs was dead at first but then realized it just wasnt positioned in the slot right, this was after I sent the guy from superbrightleds.com an email saying one bulb didnt work. I sent him another email saying I fixed it but he said he wanted to send me a new replacement bulb anyway, free of charge, so now Ive got a spare one.

 

These look pretty cool! How bright are they compared to the stock bulbs? I was thinking of getting red ones to match my car and interior, but I don't want people to think there's an emergency vehicle coming or something if I have them on at night (LOL!)