Originally Posted by
Avgjohndoe
Been looking around, time to replace my brake lights and want LED. A lot of folks say it throws errors others say just get canbus error free. What was your experience and what you did to work around said errors?
I used 8 Ohm, 25 Watt load resistors from brake positive to ground on each side of the tail light before installing. Honestly I don't think I tried the lights without the load resistors - I had read on here about LED brake lights triggering limp mode so I wasn't taking any chances.
Basically the load resistor is a useless power draw which tricks the car's computer into thinking it's a normal incandescent bulb. LED's use much less power, so without the load resistor you'll get errors because the system thinks the bulb is out.
In the case of the tail lights I linked, there is actually a load resistor already integrated for the turn signal LED's. I just added an extra load resistor for the brake light LEDs.
In theory CANBUS free LEDs are just LED bulbs with a load resistor integrated somehow. So it *should* be OK, if implemented correctly. I've wasted enough time with cheap LEDs to tell you, stick with reputable brands and sellers. Let me know if you have any other questions.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 42.7 mpg (US) ... 18.1 km/L ... 5.5 L/100 km ... 51.2 mpg (Imp)