New side marker light (Turn Signal)

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DougMarker

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
46
I just replaced my side turn signal light. I thought the white plastic one looked cheap. What makes me nervous was the new one WAS cheap ($14 on EBay)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170794656954?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3007wt_1266" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Here is the old one and the new one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77942716@N06/7140037617/in/photostream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77942716@N06/7221955182/in/photostream/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Think it will last?
 
Not my particular style, but I'd watch out for fading and cracking with a product that's cheap and on ebay.

Another thing to look out for is the blinking of your lights when your turn signal is one. I think its called impedance, but basically the electrical signal that is sent to your turn signals is sent expecting a certain amount of resistance at each incandescent (all 3 turns lights on one side of the car are incandescent) and because an LED takes much less power it may either blink faster or cause your other lights to blink faster/slower (i'm not sure). Usually there's something you need to buy and wire between LEDs and the wiring harness to get the LED to blink at the correct speed.

Someone more electricity inclined will chime in I'm sure.
 
I like it... I am going to try one myself. Thanks for the link.

That LED comes with some sort of little circuit inline which will hopefully keep the blinker happy.
 
Teg:
The little box seemed to be a relay so that the light could be used as a running light AND a blinker. I just eliminated it. The flasher worked fine with no added resistor. The wires were really tiny... I soldered them to a "large" 18 guage wire, and put some shrink tubing around the splice.
 
Neat idea! I've confirmed that the side marker turn signal lights do not need a load resistor.

Can you take a farther-away picture of the car so I can see how big the light is compared to rest of the front of the car?
 
mcochris;
Here is farther-away picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77942716@N06/7229022826/in/photostream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Agreed. I ordered a set today.

By the way, how is the old marker attached? I'm also trying to decide if I want to wire it to be on with the other side marker in the headlight bezel or not... I'm leaning toward not.

mcochris said:
DougMarker said:
Here is farther-away picture
Thanks, that's perfect. I like the look, matches the side profile of the headlight. Looks better than the factory side marker lamp.
 
TomT said:
By the way, how is the old marker attached?
It's easy to remove, slide the lamp toward the front or back of the car (I forget which). It should slide along the body in one of those directions. Once you figure out which direction it moves, slide it in that direction about 1/4 inch. It's on a plastic spring, so you should feel some springy resistance. Once it stops sliding, you should be able to lift the edge you were pressing off the body with you fingernails. After you lift one edge of the lamp, it should be easy to remove the entire lamp. No tools are needed.
 
DougMarker said:
I just replaced my side turn signal light. I thought the white plastic one looked cheap. What makes me nervous was the new one WAS cheap ($14 on EBay)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170794656954?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3007wt_1266" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks to this thread, I just replaced the side turn signal and chose blue. I tapped into the factory line and did not cut the original light socket out (just removed the light and left the socket); I removed the relay box on the new lights.

Photo%2520May%252026%252C%252012%252028%252046%2520PM.jpg
Photo%2520May%252026%252C%252012%252028%252011%2520PM.jpg
 
I installed mine (amber) this week also. At first I was not sure if I'd like it but after installing it, I definitely do; it jazzes up the car nicely and the factory light was really crappy and cheap looking.
 
Thanks for the info, Doug...I ordered a set in "Red" and installed them yesterday on my LEAF...

Looking good....
 

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EricBayArea
The old style flashers used a heating element next to a bi-metalic strip that would bend when heated, opening the circuit. Then the bi-metalic strip would cool, making contact again, repeating the cycle.when you add an extra bulb, the cuurent would be higher causing the bi-metlalic strip to heat up faster, causing a faster blink.

All modern day flashers are electronic. That flash rate stays the same no matter how much load is on it.

Michael
 
Randy and Tom,
The red light on your red cars are perfect - I went with blue on my white LEAF and it fits with the zero emission badge.
 
Between amber, red, and blue, there's a color choice for everyone! And now when I'm turning, I've knocked a few watts off the car load :)
 
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