JSK333

Hey guys, I'm having a strange issue. I got no load/electronic flashers for my turn signals and hazards installed, and that worked for getting the LEDs to flash with a signal.

But the 3157/T25 LED bulbs I got (10pcs T25 3157 27 SMD 5050 LED Tail Brake Stop Turn Signal Light Bulb Lamp White | eBay) do the following when I put them in my front turn signal location ('95 Z28):

• Lights off, nothing happens, so that's good.
• Running lights on, they do not light up, but they will noticeably smoke inside the sockets. You can see and smell the smoke.
• Running lights off, turn signals (or hazards) on, they will flash properly, and do not seem to smoke at all.
• Running lights on and signals on, still no light when not flashing (driving light mode), but flash properly.

Is this a bulb issue? I got bulbs with SMD-5050 type LEDs. They look great when the turn signals blink (nice bright true white), so I really wish I could get them to work properly in running light mode too. The LED side markers I got for the front (194/T10) work fine with my running lights.

I have the same issue when putting LED bulbs in my rear light sockets for the brake and turn signal locations (these 1157). The LEDs work fine in the back-up light (1157), third brake light (194), and outside tail-light markers (194), no smoking and they light properly.

I was under the impression that I only needed to wire in resistors if I did not replace the flashers with electronic/no load versions. Resistors are not necessary for the bulbs to turn on as a driving light, are they?

Are our connectors the standard type, or are they SRCK?

Any ideas? Did I just get some weird bulbs, or am I forgetting to do something else?

Thanks in advance!

rv93

i would suspect the bulbs. i have similar bulbs in mine (theyre the orange/white kind), and they work for me with no problems. only issue im having is that the DRL system turns on the bright side of the front turn signals, which means that with the dual colored bulbs, they light up orange. after disabling drl, no problems

JSK333

Thanks for the input. It's very strange. They do it both with resistors wired in, and with no resistors but electronic flashers installed.

Which way did you go, resistors or no-load flashers?

rv93

i just bought HD electronic flashers from autozone. I think they were $12-$13 a piece (did the hazards too, though thats not technically necessary). I had bought 6 ohm resistors too, but couldn't find a way to mount them cleanly, so just went with the flashers. I'm still running the stock bulbs in the rear though, so I'm not sure if they would work for you. I think i remember bench testing the flashers i put in using a 12" LED strip, and they flashed fine, but when the bulbs were supposed to be off, the LEDs still glowed, but very very dimly (I believe those flashers have a tiny bypass wire that will let some tiny amount of current through even when off). The regular bulbs in the rear may be effectively eating that current and keeping anything from lighting up, but 2 bright LED bulbs should require enough current to keep anything from lighting anyway. I plan on switching the rear to LEDs too as soon as i get my Lt1 style tails ready (they're lightly smoked, and the same smoke on the stock rears combined with the heat from the incandescent bulbs got me a bit of warping in the plastic), so I'll let you know how that works out.

JSK333

I got these flashers: Keep It Clean FF552NLF No Load Fixed Flasher : Amazon.com : Automotive

I don't think they can be causing the socket smoking problem, though, because that was happening with the LEDs before I installed these new flashers.

rv93

aside from the print on them, those look identical to the ones i got. and i agree that they cant be causing the smoking. did you take off the bulbs and look at th sockets? you could have burned them up, and they wont work right again until you fix/replace them

JSK333

Do you think I need to replace all turn signals with LEDs at the same time for it to work properly (front and rear)?

I tried the fronts again yesterday and this time I got no smoke, although they did get somewhat hot to the touch (I cleaned some ground points in the car so maybe that's why). They still do not light up with running lights, but still flash with blinkers.

I had noticed something else I forgot to mention. If I plug them in like half-way, I can get them to light up with running lights, and no smoking/heat. When the blinkers are on, they will very noticeably flicker, you can barely tell. So it seems they work half-way. But won't flash so they're unusable as turn signals when plugged in that way.

I don't think the plugs are damaged because they still operate normal incandescents without a problem.

rv93

Nah, you definitely don't need to do both ends at once. I've been running front LED/rear incandescent for over a year now. Im putting my money on bad bulbs.

JSK333

So do your LEDs blink on and off with the signals when your running lights are on? Or do they stay lit but get brighter with the signal like the OEM bulbs?

I ordered some switchback LED bulbs (white for running light, orange for signal), so we'll see if they work properly or not.

rv93

the white bulbs turn off while the oranges do their thing, then turn back on once theyre done. so the whole thing doesnt flash between orange and red, it just flashes orange. I think that's how it works from the factory too, but im not sure

JSK333

Well, the new switchback bulbs work! They don't quite do what I was hoping, as with running lights on, when the signal is activated, they will flash orange and then go completely dark. So they don't go white then orange, etc. But they will light up white with just running lights. And no smoking from the sockets, lol. So I guess that's a win! Thanks for the input through it all!